Zvornik
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Zvornik (Cyrillic: Зворник) is a city on the Drina river in northeastern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located southeast of Tuzla and north of Srebrenica. The town Mali Zvornik lies directly across the river in Serbia, and not far north is Loznica.
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[edit] Population
Before the war in Bosnia, the Zvornik municipality was one of the largest in the country with a population of 81,111. The city of Zvornik itself had 14,852 inhabitants.
The city's demographic situation has changed drastically in the last 15 years. Up until 1992, the municipality had a population of 81,111 residents with a Muslim by nationality majority and a large Serb minority. There were 48,205 Muslims by nationality (59.43%), 30,838 Serbs (38.02%), 1224 Yugoslavs (1.51%), 122 Croats (0.15%), and 722 others (0.89%). (See: Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
[edit] History
[edit] Early history
Zvornik is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia, being first mentioned in the year 1410, although it was known as Zvonik ("bell tower") at that time. The town's geographic location has made it an important trade link between Bosnia and the east. For instance, the main road connecting Sarajevo and Belgrade runs through the city. Zvornik has also the distinction of being the only city in Bosnia that directly lies on the border to Serbia.
During the Ottoman occupation, Zvornik was the capital of the Zvornik sanjak (an administrative region). This was primarily the case because of the city's crucial role in the economy and the strategic importance of the city's location.
[edit] Bosnian War
However, during the Bosnian War, most of Zvornik's Bosniak population was expelled, and there was a massive intake of Serbs expelled from other areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Krajina region of Croatia. After the war, the town's population consisted of only Serbs.
With the help of the international community, there has been an effort to return refugees back to the municipality, but the process has been slow and will take many years to complete.
This process is now well under way. There are few villages in Zvornik municipality that are now inhabited by muslim population (aka Bosniaks). Good example is village of Divic which is now completely occupied by Bosniaks. At the same time almost none of the Serbian refugees that settled in Zvornik during the Bosnian civil war and right after did not go back to their prewar location. It is also worth mentioning that because of huge influx of Serbian refugees from Tuzla and Sarajevo region Zvornik population nearly doubled in the post war years.
[edit] Climate
Just like most of Bosnia, Zvornik has very hot summers and cold winters. Except for the area near the river Drina, the city is surrounded by mountains with preserved forests, which creates a beautiful scenery with the town's location at the bottom a valley.
