Široki Brijeg
Encyclopedia
Široki Brijeg is a town and municipality in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

.

Name

The name of the city means "the wide hill" in Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...

 (as well as Bosnian
Bosnian language
Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....

 and Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

). The city is also sometime referred to as "Široki Brig" and among the inhabitants of Herzegovina simply as "Široki" ("the wide"). Between 1945 and 1990, the name was officially Lištica, after the river that flows through it.

Geography

The river Lištica
Lištica River
Lištica is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina.- External links :...

 runs through Široki Brijeg. The town is 20

-25 km from Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...

, 42 km from Međugorje and 88 km from the Adriatic coast (Ploče
Ploce
Ploče is a town and a notable seaport in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia.The total population of Ploče is 10,102 , in the following settlements:* Baćina, population 564* Banja, population 176* Komin, population 1,222...

).
The Široki Brijeg Municipality today numbers around 30,000 people, and the city itself about 10,000. The area of the municipality amounts to 1168 ha (11.680 km2). The center of town is at 270 m above sea level, while its area is known as "lower Herzegovina". Almost the entire northern part of the municipality municipality itself, however, belongs to "high Herzegovina", the highest point being the Bile stine ("White Rocks") near Donji Crnač
Donji Crnač
Donji Crnač is a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 1991 census, the village is located in the municipality of Široki Brijeg....

.

Climate

Široki Brijeg has mild submediterranean-mountain climate. Winters are chilly and often very cold. Summers are warm.

Relief

The wider area of the municipality of Široki Brijeg is located on the characteristic, complex structural forms known as the "high karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...

 zone" in geologic terms. The basic characteristic is the rocky limestone relief in various karst forms (sinks, caves, sinkholes, karst fields, etc.), as well as deeply cut valleys with occasional torrents flows. The Široki Brijeg area is located on the direction of tectonic units Rakitno-Hrgud and spreads over Rakitno, Vardi mountains, Mostarsko Blato, Rotimlje and Hrgud to Trebišnica
Trebišnica
Trebišnica is a municipality located to the southeast of Široki Brijeg in Bosnia and Herzegovina....

 in the southeast. The area is made-up of up late Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 sediments, followed by Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 and Paleogene
Paleogene
The Paleogene is a geologic period and system that began 65.5 ± 0.3 and ended 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic Era...

 age layers, then Neogene
Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...

 and Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...

 deposits. Highlights are early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 dun, well stratified limestone and dolomites. Late Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 deposits, cenoman-turon, are represented by white and pink, massive limestone with the shoot. In Paleogenic layers function Liburnijska and alveolinic-nummulitic limestones, then eocenic flysch, which is represented by marl, sandstone, calcarenite and conglomerates.

Neogenic
Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...

 layers are built of marl, sandy clay, sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 and conglomerates, and can be found in the vicinity of Grabovo Drage and Mostarsko Blato. Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...

 banks of pebbles, sand and water karst saturated found on almost all rocky fields and drifts along the river beds. Between the lower mountain Vardi, Gvozd, Rujan and Trtle (altitude 600-900m) is a karstic depression Kočerinsko, Trnsko, Mokarsko and Ruževo field and Mostar Blato (altitude of 220-300m). Široki Brijeg area belongs to typical bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

 courts Lokve Black - Kidačke Njive, Resnica - deposit and Uzarići - Knešpolje. This area was devastated shoot landfills and tailings, and rehabilitation requirements.

Waters

The water from the municipality of Široki Brijeg belong to the basin of the Neretva river. The main surface currents towards Mostar Blato the ticket with Ugrovača, Mokašnica, Crnašnica and Žvatić. The river belongs Listica of surface waters Čabulje, who bujični aquifer Brinje collected from Ladin and Dobrinja. Brinje whose rudiments north of Bogodola, below kote Kulic (1199) runs to the west and on their way to Listica receives at Prskalo stream Ladin, and 2.5 kilometers below, the stream of water Dobrinski. These streams buy all surface waters during the period of abundant precipitation and dissolution of snow on the south-western parts of the mountain Čabulje.

Surface waters come to Rakitno field are being dryed by water points, Jelica, Zmijinac and during major precipitation formed a periodic watercourse Ugrovača that going deeply carved canyon Brin, receiving side stream, and in the village of Trn
TRN
TRN may refer to:*The trn newsreader, a threading variant of rn* Taiga Rescue Network*Talk Radio Network, an American syndicator of talk radio programming...

, Kočerin
Kočerin
Kočerin is a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 1991 census, the village is located in the municipality of Široki Brijeg.-References:...

 water fields, and on the road to Blato Mostarskog, in Siroki Brijeg center connects with the river Lištica.

Ancient period

The ruins from Illyrian
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...

 period confirm that the area of Široki Brijeg had a big population even in pre-historic times. The residues can be seen on the hill Gradina which on the frontier of Mokri and Čerigaj. There can be even today seen the walls of the forts where they have been in past. Even in the ancient period they was a plenty of life in that region. From that period (Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

) there are residues of the Roman fort (refugium
Refugium
Refugium may refer to:* Refugium , an appendage to a marine, brackish, or freshwater fish tank that shares the same water supply...

) in the village Biogradci and basilica in Mokri, plus there are remainings of the forts and roads.Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...

 is mentioning the city Mokriskik built in that area .

Middle ages

The basilica in Mokri was built and destroyed several times in the Middle Ages and it was used for its purpose. In her neighbourhood is nekrepola with stećak
Stecak
The Stećci , are monumental medieval tombstones that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. An estimated 60,000 are found within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rest of 10,000 are found in Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro...

,which are present elsewhere. There number and size indicate that this region was (from 12th till 15th century) has been very populated and rich. From that period on Kočerin was kept the longest tablet on stećak written with Bosnian Cyrillic
Bosnian Cyrillic
Bosnian Cyrillic or Croatian Cyrillic, widely known as Bosančica, is an extinct Cyrillic script, that originated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was widely used in Bosnia and Croatia . Its name in Bosnian and Croatian is bosančica or bosanica, which can literally be translated as Bosnian script...

, known as Kočerinska ploča („Kočerin tablet
Kočerin tablet
The Kočerin Tablet is the longest and most important medieval tablets written in Croatian Cyrillic .-Creation:It was made in 1404 on the bottom of a tombstone in the cemetery of Viginja Miloševič, a historical village, located close to the village of Kočerin, 9 kilometers away from the city of...

“). The residues of middle-age fort can be found in the Bork, close to the source of river Lištica.

Ottoman rule

After the Turkish conquest in the middle of 15th century the population was mainly rural rural and in the mountains. Until the middle of 19th century, Herzegovina was cut off from social, cultural and political events in other European countries. The only remaining leaders were Franciscans. Christian did not have rights. The churches and monasteries which remained after the initial destructions in conquests, were destroyed by the Turks in 1563. Since then and till the middle of 19th century there were no monasteries or churches west of the Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...

 river.

World war two and afterwards

During the Second World War Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...

 held the city together with Italian
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

 troops. During their presence, the Italians built a couple forts for the city observation.

Like most of the West Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...

 cities, Široki Brijeg was labeled as a pro-Ustaše and a pro-fascisct region. Therefore it was demonized by the officials of SFRY. The investments were very poor in it. A number of people emigrated to Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, as well as to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 as gastarbeiter
Gastarbeiter
Gastarbeiter is German for "guest worker." It refers to migrant workers who had moved to West Germany mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker programme...

s.

Agriculture

Agricultural production in the municipality of Široki Brijeg is mostly reduced to the production for their own use on yards and a minor part of the arable land. It is the production of agricultural products for the market is very small compared to the alternatives, and refers primarily to the production of wine, a little bit in the production of vegetables and flowers, very little in the livestock and milk production.

This resulted in a large percentage of agricultural land is not used- according to latest statistics - even 60% that could be used for agricultural land is not processed.

The lack of clear government strategy and orientation towards the launching and development of agricultural production is also very important feature of the present situation in agriculture .

Prior the war

Unlike twenty years ago, is now in agricultural production there is no fundamental cultural production, production that would be meaningful and possible in a larger area of the municipality. For many years it was tobacco. Together with the war has fallen down and the existing state system and thus the former system of organization of agricultural production. In the entire period since then until today, the new system was established.

It is the whole country, especially the area where the municipality brought nekontroliranom import all kinds of things. So the majority of agricultural products has become cheaper to import than produce.

The result has already been mentioned drastically reducing obrađivanih area, reducing the number of cattle and even up to five times, the entire reduction in volume of agricultural production. Finally it came to life the feeling that it is impossible to engage in agricultural production as the production activity of which can be live or something and make money.

After the war

The municipality's overall economic performance is stronger than that of the surrounding municipalities - primarily in the Entrepreneurial Sector, and the time orientation and working-age population by non-sector higher. Therefore, the percentage of uncultivated land is the largest in the municipality in comparison to the surrounding ones- 60% (Posušje 59%, 49% Ljubuski and Grude 47%). The number of residents who are engaged solely in agriculture is relatively smallest in Siroki Brijeg.

Industry

In the area of industrial production in the municipality are significantly represented meat industry and metal industry, and to a smaller production of footwear, manufacture of construction products and stone processing, production of insulation materials, graphic activity, etc.

Official statistics, which regularly publishes the Federal Bureau of Statistics tracked the movement of industrial production at the level of the Federation and cantons, so that these (official) data for the municipality does not have. However, the basic features of industrial production in this region in the West would be essentially similar and reflect the movement of industrial production for the municipality of Siroki Brijeg.

In the period 2004./2005. The recorded slight growth of the index of industrial production (101.3). When the production of metals and production of metal products recorded a significant growth (index 2005./2004. = 134.3 and 180.4), production of paper products (index = 110.7), while other areas of industrial production recorded a significant decrease ( such as food and beverages: Index = 80.0, mining: index = 71.4).

For further growth of industrial production are essential investments in the development of existing industrial capacity in the areas that are currently represented in the municipality and which employ a large number of workers. This primarily refers to the production of metals and metal products. These activities according to official statistics reported a continued growth during 2005. year. The establishment and construction of new or expansion of existing business and industrial zones is prerequisite for the growth of manufacturing sector, attract domestic and foreign capital and create new jobs.

Sport

Široki Brijeg has multiple national champion in many sports, including football and basketball. NK Široki Brijeg
NK Široki Brijeg
NK Široki Brijeg is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian team from the town of Široki Brijeg that currently plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina....

 is a double champion and conqueror of BiH Cup champion five consecutive league HB, and their domestic matches played on stadium Pečar, which meets all the criteria of the UEFA-e, while Mostar in the mud works modern Sports-recreation center / training camp Musa-Karačić with the ambulance, equipped with shower, two natural and one playground with artificial grass. Basketball Club, founded in 1974., Still bears the name of HKK Široki
HKK Široki
HKK Široki is a Bosnia-Herzegovinan basketball team from the town of Široki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club currently plays in the Adriatic League and the Bosnian basketball championship....

 Eronet HT and the multiple champion, as well as won multiple State Cup and most postwar BiH club titles with 6 National Championships and 6 titles Cup conquerors of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Culture

The town is the birthplace of the soccer player of the year in Austria Mario Bazina
Mario Bazina
Mario Bazina is a retired Bosnian-born Croatian footballer.He last played as an offensive midfielder for Austria Wien in the Austrian Bundesliga and signed with the club until 2009...

, as well as Stanko Bubalo and popular Croatian singer Ivan Mikulic
Ivan Mikulic
Ivan Mikulić is a Bosnian Croat singer, best known outside his country for having represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, singing "You Are The Only One"...

 who appeared on the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 representing Croatia in 2004. The town is also the birthplace of former Croatian defence minister Gojko Šušak
Gojko Šušak
Gojko Šušak was the Croatian Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998. A Bosnian Croat emigreé to Canada, he entered the political life of Croat diaspora in North America, subsequently becoming a close friend and associate to Franjo Tuđman, the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union, a nationalistic...

, a naturalised Canadian citizen, and the native town/municipality of a number of Croatian politicians. The town holds a memorial football tournament in Gojko Šušak's honour each year. The town also hosts the Dani Filma (Days of Film) film festival. www.siroki.com

1971

27.285 total
  • Croats - 26.940 (98,73%)
  • Serbs - 234 (0,85%)
  • Muslims - 43 (0,15%)
  • Yugoslavs - 12 (0,04%)
  • Others - 56 (0,20%)

1991

In the 1991 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, the municipality of Široki Brijeg had 26,437 inhabitants:
  • 26,231 Croats
    Croats
    Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

     (99.2%),
  • 147 Serbs
    Serbs
    The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

     (0.6%),
  • 19 Yugoslavs
    Yugoslavs
    Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...

     (0.07%),
  • 9 Bosniaks
    Bosniaks
    The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

    (0.03%),
  • 31 others (0.1%).

The town itself had 6,864 inhabitants, 99.37% being Croats.

External links

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