Brčko (city)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brčko Брчко |
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  Brčko
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Territory | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| District | Brčko District |
| Government | |
| - Municipality president | Mirsad Đapo |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
| - Total | 39,339 |
| Area code(s) | 76100 |
| Website: www.bdcentral.net | |
Brčko (Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian: Brčko (Latin) and Брчко (Cyrillic)) is a city in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, administrative seat of the Brčko District. It lies on the country's border along the Sava river across from Gunja, Croatia. Its name is very likely linked to the Breuci, an Illyrian tribe inhabiting the area in antiquity (see [1]).
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[edit] Geography
Brčko is the seat of the Brčko District, an independent unit of local self-government created on the territory of Republika Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina following an arbitration process; the process is viewed by some as a violation of the Dayton Peace Accords because it created the district while it could only arbitrate the disputed portion of the Inter-Entity Boundary Line, also known as the Zone of Separation (ZOS). The local administration is aided by an international supervisory regime headed by Raffi Gregorian of the United States of America.
[edit] History
Brčko was a geographic point of contention in 1996 when the U.S.-led Implementation Forces (IFOR) built McGovern Base on the outskirts of the city. McGovern Base as it is known was built in the (Zone of Separatin) ZOS for the purpose of establishing peacekeeping operations, specifically between Muslims in Gornji Rahić near Brka and Serbs in Brčko.
The initial US Army unit to deploy into Brcko was Task Force 3-5 CAV, a Task Force composed of individual units of the 1st Armored Division. The commander of Task Force 3-5 was LTC Anthony Cucolo. The Task Force headquarters was located at Camp McGovern.
Tensions were mainly over disputed properties within the ZOS which both sides claimed were theirs. In some cases, Muslims rebuilt their reclaimed properties during the day, and then would find their newly-repaired homes destroyed overnight after they left the ZOS to return to Gornji Rahić. The explosions were typically in threes, which was a symbolic gesture from the Serbs known as Trojka.
Brcko remains an important component of the Dayton Peace Accords and the Brcko Arbitration which ruled in May of 1997 that Brcko would be a special district outside the jurisdiction of the Bosnian Croat Federation and the RS, the Serb "entity" connected by the 3 mile wide link to east and west. The area remains a potential hostile zone should the Bosnian forces seek to unify Bosnia & Herzogovina.
[edit] Demographics
In 1991, the largest ethnic group in the town were Muslims by nationality (Bosniaks). [2]
Since then, there is no official census conducted (as of November 2007).
[edit] Sport
The local football club, FK Jedinstvo Brčko, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.
[edit] Features
Brčko has the largest port in Bosnia, on the Sava river. It is also home to an economics faculty and to a rather important theater festival.
[edit] Famous residents
The city's most famous citizens are Edo Maajka (Edin Osmić),the most famous Bosnian rapper, Lepa Brena (real name Fahreta Jahić Živojinović), a popular folk music singer in the Balkans and Croatian football player Mladen Petric.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Brčko (city) is at coordinates Coordinates:
![[2]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1991_BiH_towns.GIF){kind=link}