Tuzla

Overview

Tuzla is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina . At the time of the 1991 census, it had 131,000 inhabitants. Taking into account the influx of refugees , the city is currently estimated to have 160,000 inhabitants. 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.

Evidence of settlements from the remotest past, which have existed in the area of the present-day Tuzla, is evident from the remains of archeologically discovered and investigated cultural layers. The remains of the oldest discovered cultural material provide evidence that Tuzla, with its close surroundings, is one of the oldest settlements in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and that the area of Tuzla's salt water springs has been uninterruptedly inhabited from earliest times - the younger neolithic age to the present day. Starting from the neolithic age to the present day, settlement of Tuzla was always related to its salt resources. The oldest written records left behind by the Greeks Aristotle and Strabo say so, also providing evidence that the Ancient Greeks knew the region of Tuzla. In his historic writings, the Byzantine historian and cezar Constantine Porfirogenet, around the year 950, mentions the existence of Tuzla's salt water springs and settlements surrounding them.

Tuzla was named after its natural resource - SALT. The present day name is derived from the Turkish word TUZ meaning salt.

During the Middle Ages Bosnia experienced many changes in rulers from Byzantinium and  Austria-Hungary in this area.  The region was first...more

History