Banja Luka
Banja Luka or Banjaluka is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the most populous in Republika Srpska. It is Republika Srpska‘s main economic, political, and administrative center. Banja Luka is the traditional centre of the densely forested Bosanska Krajina region of northwestern Bosnia & Herzegovina., the city proper has a population of 138,963, while its administrative area comprises a total of 185,042 inhabitants.
The city is home to the University of Banja Luka and the University Clinical Center of the Republika Srpska, as well as numerous entities and state institutions for the Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively. The city is located on the Vrbas river. Banja Luka was designated a European city of Sport in 2018.
Name
The name Banja Luka was first mentioned in a document dated 6 February 1494 by Ladislaus II of Hungary. The name is interpreted as the 'Ban's meadow', from the words ban, and luka. The identity of the ban and the meadow in question remains uncertain, and popular etymology combines the modern words banja, or bajna, and luka. A different interpretation is suggested by the Hungarian name Lukácsbánya, in English 'Luke's Mine'. In modern usage, the name is pronounced and occasionally written as one word.Geography
Overview
Banja Luka covers some of land in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on both banks of the Vrbas in the Banja Luka valley, which is characteristically flat within the otherwise hilly region. Banja Luka's centre lies above sea level.The source of the Vrbas River is about to the south at the Vranica mountain. Its tributaries — the Suturlija, the Crkvena, and the Vrbanja — flow into the Vrbas at various points in the city. Numerous springs can be found nearby.
The area around Banja Luka consists mostly of woodland and acre fields, although there are many mountains further from the city, especially south of the city. The most notable of these mountains are Ponir, Osmača, Manjača, Čemernica, and Tisovac. These are all part of the Dinaric Alps mountain range.
Settlements
The city of Banja Luka includes the following settlements:Climate
Banja Luka has a moderate humid subtropical climate with mild winters, infrequent frosts, and warm summers. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average temperature of. The coldest month of the year is January, when temperatures average around.The annual precipitation for the city is about. Banja Luka has an average of 104 rainy days a year. Due to the city's relatively high latitude and inland location, it snows in Banja Luka almost every year during the winter period. Strong winds can come from the north and northeast. Sometimes, southern winds bring hot air from the Adriatic sea.
Highest recorded temperature: on 10 August 2017
Lowest recorded temperature: on 15 January 2003
History
Roman times
The history of inhabitation of the area of Banja Luka dates back to ancient times. There is substantial evidence of Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including the "Kastel" fort in the centre of the city. The area comprising Banja Luka was entirely in the kingdom of Illyria and then a part of the Roman province of Illyricum, which was split into the provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia, of which Castra became a part. Ancient Illyrian maps refer to the settlement in Banja Luka's present-day location as Ad Ladios, a settlement located on the river Vrbas.Middle Ages
Slavs settled in the Balkans in the 6th century. Mediaeval fortresses in the vicinity of Banja Luka include Vrbas, Župa Zemljanik, Kotor Varoš, Zvečaj, and Bočac. In one document written by KingVladislav II on 6 February 1494, Juraj Mikulasić was mentioned as castellan of Banja Luka. Below the town was a smaller settlement with one Catholic monastery.
Ottoman rule
Banja Luka fell to the Ottomans in 1527. It became the seat of the Sanjak of Bosnia sometime before 1554, until 1580 when the Bosnia Eyalet was established. Bosnian beylerbeys were seated in Banja Luka until 1639. Ferhad Pasha Sokolović, a relative of Grand Vizier Mehmed-pasha Sokolović, had, upon his return to Bosnia in 1574, begun the building of over 200 buildings ranging from artisan and sales shops to wheat warehouses, baths, and mosques. Among the more important commissions were the Ferhadija and Arnaudija mosques, during whose construction plumbing infrastructure was laid out, which served the surrounding residential areas. This stimulated the economic and urban development of Banja Luka, which soon became one of the leading commercial and political centres in Bosnia. It was also the central sanjak in the Bosnia Eyalet. In 1688, the city was burned down by the Austrian army, but it quickly recovered. Later periodic intrusions by the Austrian army stimulated military developments in Banja Luka, which made it into a strategic military centre. Orthodox churches and monasteries near Banja Luka were built in the 19th century.In the 19th century, Sephardic Jews and Trappists migrated to the city and contributed to the early industrialization of the region by building mills, breweries, brick factories, textile factories, and other important structures. The Trappist monastery built in the 19th century lent its name to the neighbourhood of Trappisti and has left a significant legacy in the area through its Trappist cheese and its beer production. In 1835 and 1836, during Ottoman administration, numerous people from Banja Luka emigrated to Lešnica, Lipnica, and Loznica, the villages around Loznica, and to Šabac.
The Ferhadija Mosque, built in 1579, was demolished in 1993 during the Bosnian War. It was rebuilt in 2016.
Austro-Hungarian rule
Despite its leading position in the region, Banja Luka as a city was not modernised until the Austro-Hungarian occupation in the late 19th century. Railroads, schools, factories, and infrastructure were constructed and developed, which turned Banja Luka into a modern city.Yugoslavia
After World War I, the town became the capital of the Vrbas Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The provincial capital owed its rapid progress to the first Ban Svetislav Milosavljević. During that time, the Banski dvor and its twin sister, the Administration building, the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, a theatre and a museum were built, the Grammar School was renovated, the Teachers College enlarged, a city bridge was constructed, and the park renovated. 125 elementary schools were functioning in Banja Luka in 1930. The revolutionary ideas of the time were incubated by the "Pelagić" association and the Students' Club. Banja Luka naturally became the organisational centre of anti-fascist work in the region.World War II
During World War II, Banja Luka was occupied by Axis troops and was included in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet-state led by Pavelić's Ustaše. Most of Banja Luka's Serbs and Jews were deported to concentration camps such as Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška. The Jasenovac camp was one of the largest extermination camps in Europe, which was notorious for its high mortality rate and the barbaric practices that occurred in it. On 7 February 1942, Ustaše paramilitaries, led by a Franciscan friar, Miroslav Filipović, killed more than 2,300 Serbs in Drakulić, Motike, and Šargovac.The city's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity were totally demolished by the Ustaše, as was the Church of St. George in Petrićevac. The Bishop of Banja Luka, Platon Jovanović, was arrested by the Ustaše on 5 May 1941 and was tortured and killed afterwards. His body was thrown into the Vrbanja river. The city was liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans on 22 April 1945.
1969 earthquake
On 26 and 27 October 1969, two devastating earthquakes damaged many buildings in Banja Luka. Around 20 to 23 people were killed, and over a thousand were injured. A large building called Titanik in the centre of the town was razed to the ground, and the area was later turned into a central public square. With contributions from all over Yugoslavia, Banja Luka was repaired and rebuilt. During this period, a large Serb population moved to the city from the surrounding villages and from more distant areas in Herzegovina.Bosnian War
Even though there were no open hostilities between the warring sides in Banja Luka, the city's Bosniak and Croat populations were systematically intimidated, harassed, tortured, their property was seized, and the city was ethnically cleansed.1994 Banja Luka incident
On 28 February 1994, an incident occurred in which four Republika Srpska Air Force aircraft, which had violated Bosnia's no-fly zone and bombed a factory, were shot down southwest of Banja Luka by planes from the United States Air Force on behalf of NATO, marking the first active combat action in the alliance's history.Demographics
The 2013 census in Bosnia indicated a population of 185,042, overwhelmingly Serbs.Population
Ethnic composition
Government
Banja Luka plays an important role on different levels of Bosnia and Herzegovina's government structures. Banja Luka is the centre of the government for the Municipality of Banja Luka. A number of entity and state institutions are seated in the city. The Government of Republika Srpska and its National Assembly are based in Banja Luka.The Bosnia and Herzegovina State Agencies based in the city include the Indirect Taxation Authority, the Deposit Insurance Agency, as well as a branch of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Serbia, the United Kingdom, and the United States maintain diplomatic representation through consulates-general in Banja Luka.
As of 2021, the mayor of the city is Draško Stanivuković of the Party of Democratic Progress, who was elected in 2020.