| Tuzla | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Location of Tuzla within Bosnia and Herzegovina (darkgreen). | |||
| Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| Canton | Tuzla Canton | ||
| Government | |||
| • Municipality President | Jasmin Imamović (SDP) | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 302 km2 (116.6 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1991) | |||
| • City | 83,770 | ||
| • Density | 54/km2 (139.9/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 131,318 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Area code(s) | +387 35 | ||
| Website | http://www.tuzla.ba | ||
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants.[1] After Sarajevo, and Banja Luka, Tuzla is the third largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the seat of the Tuzla Canton and Tuzla Municipality. The name "Tuzla" is the Turkish word for salt mine, and refers to the extensive salt deposits found underneath the city.
The city of Tuzla has Europe's only salt lake as part of its central park[2] and also has around 100,000 people visiting its shores every year. The history of the town Tuzla goes back to 1510 when Tuzla was a Turkish garrison town. During the 19th century it passed under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was incorporated into Yugoslavia in 1918.[3]
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Tuzla is located in the northeastern part of Bosnia, settled just underneath the Majevica mountain range, on the Jala river. The central zone lies in an east-west oriented plain, with residential areas in the north and south of the city located on the Ilinčica, Kicelj and Gradina hills. The climate is moderate continental. There are abundant coal deposits in the region around Tuzla. 6 coal mines continue to operate around the city. Much of the coal mined in the area is used to power the Tuzla Power Plant, which is the largest power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
| Climate data for Tuzla | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) |
5.9 (42.6) |
10.4 (50.7) |
15.1 (59.2) |
20.3 (68.5) |
23.1 (73.6) |
25.5 (77.9) |
25.7 (78.3) |
22.0 (71.6) |
16.5 (61.7) |
9.7 (49.5) |
3.5 (38.3) |
15.03 (59.06) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −4.4 (24.1) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
0.7 (33.3) |
4.4 (39.9) |
8.5 (47.3) |
11.4 (52.5) |
12.8 (55.0) |
12.6 (54.7) |
9.7 (49.5) |
5.7 (42.3) |
1.6 (34.9) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
4.83 (40.69) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 71 (2.8) |
67 (2.64) |
70 (2.76) |
74 (2.91) |
82 (3.23) |
91 (3.58) |
79 (3.11) |
71 (2.8) |
70 (2.76) |
77 (3.03) |
94 (3.7) |
85 (3.35) |
931 (36.65) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 116 |
| Source: World Meteorological Organisation (UN)[4] | |||||||||||||
First mentioned in 950 by Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his De Administrando Imperio as a fort named Salines (Σαληνέζ). Soli means "salts" in the Bosnian language and the city's present name means "place of salt" in Turkish.[5] However, there is enough archaeologic evidence to suggest that Tuzla was a rich Neolithic settlement, and hence inhabited continuously for more than 6,000 years which makes Tuzla one of the oldest European settlements with sustained living. An open-air museum at Solni Trg, opened in 2004, tells the story of salt production in Tuzla.
On October 2, 1943, Tuzla became the largest liberated town in Europe to the time. In December 1944, the city was unsuccessfully attacked by Chetnik forces of Draža Mihailović along with the Serbian Assault Corps.[6][7] After the war it developed into a major industrial and cultural centre during the communist period in former Yugoslavia.
In the 1990 elections the Reformists won control of the municipality being the only municipality in Bosnia where non-nationalists won. During the Bosnian war, 1992-1995 the town was the only municipality not governed by nationalist authorities, and was besieged by nationalist forces.
As response, Serbian forces attacked Tuzla few days later.The town was not spared the atrocities of the Bosnian War. On May 25, 1995, an attack on Tuzla killed 71 people, mostly children and injured 200 persons in Tuzla massacre when a shell hit the central street and its promenade. The youngest who died in that massacre was only two years old.
The city has one of only two salt lakes in Europe as part of its central park; more than 100,000 people visit its shores every year. One of the most influential writers in the Balkans, Meša Selimović hails from Tuzla. In addition, Tuzla hosts the annual Meša Selimović book festival (in July), where an award for the best novel written in the languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro is presented. The first professional theatre in Tuzla, Narodno Pozorište u Tuzli, was founded by the brothers Mihajlo and Živko Crnogorčević in 1944.
Tuzla is the seat of the Tuzla Canton, which is a canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as of Tuzla Municipality, which is one of the 13 municipalities that together constitute the Tuzla Canton. Administratively, Tuzla is divided into 39 mjesne zajednice (local districts).
Apart from Tuzla, the municipality incorporates several other adjacent settlements, including the town of Gornja Tuzla (Upper Tuzla), as well as the villages of Husino, Par Selo, Simin Han, Obodnica, Kamenjaši, Plane, Šići and others.
The Mayor of Tuzla Municipality is Jasmin Imamović, a writer and lawyer born in 1957, of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was reelected to a third term in 2008.
The City council of Tuzla has 30 members, of the following parties:
The Chairwoman of the City Council, Nada Mladina, is a member of the SDP.
Extractions of the city's salt deposits, particularly in the 20th century, have caused sections of the city center to sink. Structures in the "sinking area" either collapsed or were demolished, and there are few structures in the city that predate the 20th century, despite the fact that the city was founded over 1000 years ago.
Tuzla has an international airport located at Dubrave (IATA code: TZL), and an effective and well-developed public bus network. There are plans to introduce a trolleybus network in the city soon.
The airport was opened to civilian aircraft only recently. The airport had comprised a portion of "Eagle Base", an American military base that has been home to NATO troops serving in SFOR, Bosnia's stabilization force.
Several sports teams from Tuzla have participated in international competitions. Almost all of Tuzla's sports teams are named Sloboda, meaning freedom. The most popular sports in Tuzla include football (FK Sloboda); basketball (KK Sloboda), karate (KBS Tuzla-Sinalco) and many others. The women's basketball team Jedinstvo Aida were European club champions in the late eighties, with the most famous sportswoman from Tuzla in their midst - Razija Mujanović. The first and oldest sport in Tuzla is gymnastics.
Tuzla is home to the University of Tuzla, with 16,500 students,[8] and also the American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On September 1, 2007, 6980 couples kissed for 10 seconds in Tuzla, Bosnia erasing the previous Guinness World kissing Records of the Philippines and Hungary (for synchronised osculation in 2004 with 5327 Filipino couples, overtaken by Hungary in 2005 with 5875 couples; Filipinos came back in February 2010 with 6124 couples but the Hungarians responded in June 2010 with 6613 couples). The record now awaits official certification.[9]
On September 26, 2008, Tuzla began offering free wireless internet access in the city center.[10]
Demographics in Tuzla municipality:
total: 107,293
total: 121,717
total: 131,618
Town of Tuzla, itself: total: 83,770
Lepa Brena, the Yugoslav all star, singer
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