Gospić

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**Gospić**
Coordinates	44.32° N 15.22° E
Mayor	Milan Kolić
Surface (km²)	?
Population (2005)	5,795
Time zone (UTC)	UTC+1 Central European Time

Gospić is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj county with a population of 5,695 (2005), while its entire municipality is populated by 12,980 inhabitants (2001), 93% which are Croats. Gospić is located on the Lika river in the middle of a karst field.

Gospić is the third smallest seat of a county government in Croatia. Its status as the county capital helped to spur some development in it, but the town as well as the entire region have suffered a constant decrease in population over the last several decades.

Gospić

Gospić on the map of Croatia

[edit] History

The first organized inhabitation of the area was recorded in 1263 as Kaseg or Kasezi. The name Gospić was first mentioned in 1604, which likely originates in the Croatian word for "Lady", "Gospa" or another archaic form, "Gospava".

Today's town was built around two Ottoman forts (the towers of Aga Senković and of Aga Alić). The Turkish incursion was repelled by the end of the 17th century and Gospić became an administrative centre of the Lika region within the Military Frontier.

Historically, the town had a mixed population of Croats and Serbs. The municipality was the birthplace of such great men as the physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla, and also national thinkers like Ante Starčević.

In the 1990s, during the course of the Croatian War of Independence, Gospić suffered greatly. The town was held by Croatian government forces throughout the war, while the rebel Serb forces of the Republic of Serbian Krajina occupied positions directly to the east and often bombarded the town from there. The area was liberated with the success of Operation Storm, and Krajina was dissolved.