Udbina | |
|---|---|
 Church of Croatian Martyrs, built in honour of those who died in theBattle of Krbava | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 TheUdbina municipality within Lika-Senj County | |
 Interactive map of Udbina | |
  Udbina Location in Croatia | |
| Coordinates:44°31′53″N15°46′00″E / 44.53132°N 15.76671°E /44.53132; 15.76671 | |
| Country |  Croatia |
| County |  Lika-Senj |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ivan Pešut (HDZ) |
| • Municipal Council | 11 members
|
| Area | |
• City | 685.8 km2 (264.8 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 18.8 km2 (7.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
• City | 1,334 |
| • Density | 1.945/km2 (5.038/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 738 |
| • Urban density | 39.3/km2 (102/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| Postal code[3] | 53234 Udbina |
| Website | udbina |
Udbina is asettlement and a municipality in historicalKrbava, in theLika region ofCroatia. Administratively, it is part of theLika-Senj County.
Udbina is located in the largekarst field calledKrbava. It is approximately 45 kilometres fromGospić, the county capital and nearest sizeable town. The field has a small airport, the only one in Lika.
Between 1996 and 2015, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was 36.6 °C (97.9 °F), on 3 August 1988.[4] The coldest temperature was −18.3 °C (−0.9 °F), on 13 January 2003.[5]
Udbina was one ofIllyrian territories. In the medievalKingdom of Croatia, Udbina was known asCivitas Corbaviae (Town of Krbava) and was the seat of aDiocese of Corbavia from 1185, when it was separated from theArchdiocese of Split, until 1460, when the diocese seat moved to the Krbava's former canonical territory ofModruš due to Ottoman military campaigns in the area. The Bishop's Court was built during Bishop Bonifacio in the 14th century. In the Middle Ages, Udbina was a seat (Latin:castrum) of the historicKrbava County. The name Udbina was mentioned for the first time in 1493, following theBattle of Krbava Field in which theCroats underbanEmerik Derenčin and theFrankopans suffered defeat from theOttoman Empire.
The medieval fortified town, from which only the remains were preserved, was governed in 1509 by BanIvan Karlović and between 1527 and 1689 by the Turks as part of theEyalet of Bosnia.The 1712 census of Lika and Krbava records that 44 Croatian, 6Bunjevci and 20Vlach families live in Udbina.[6] Ancient tombstones were discovered near the remains of theChurch ofSt. Mark Graveyard (Named after the folk tradition that martyr saint and several heroes of the Battle of Krbava were buried on the site), which was a shrine with a triangular ending destroyed by the Serbs in 1942. In the vicinity, nearMutilić, there are ruins of the oldChurch of St. Augustine (quadrangular sanctuary with a bell tower).
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Udbina was part of theLika-Krbava County of theKingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. According to the 1910 census, the town of Udbina was inhabited by a Croat majority and Serb minority; 1,317 Croats and 621 Serbs.[7]
The government of theKingdom of Yugoslavia erected in Udbina a monument to the KingAlexander I which was removed after the establishment of theIndependent State of Croatia (NDH). DuringWorld War II, Udbina was part of NDH's territory. Local gendarmerie sergeant Drakulić gave 200 rifles to the local Serbs, which on 12 April 1941 began with an ethnic cleansing ofLika fromGračac toGospić.[8][better source needed][9][better source needed] On 13 July 1941, Catholic priest Father Mate Mugoša delivered a sermon to his parishioners in Udbina pledging allegiance to theUstaše and calling for the extermination of Serb population in Croatia, which preceded massacres of Serbs.[10][11][12] In 1942, Serbs burned two Catholic churches,Church of St. Nicholas[13] andChurch of St. Mark Graveyard. In December of the same year, the Croatian population was expelled from Udbina.[14] In order to conceal ruins, Serbs after the war built a hotel on the site of theChurch of St. Nicholas, and used stone from theChurch of St. Mark Graveyard for building a sheep barn. In addition, Serbs also destroyed the Church of St. Augustin inMutilić and the Catholic cemetery inKorija.[15] During the war, many local Serbs were killed by Ustaše and local Croats byChetniks andYugoslav Partisans. The Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (filial of the Church of the Holy Transfiguration of Mutilić) was also destroyed duringWorld War II.[16] Most Croats fled from Udbina after the massacre on the eve before the St. Lucy's Day. Croats fled throughTrovro mountain all the way toLovinac.[15]
After World War II, the new Yugoslav authority took away the houses and lands from the Croats and gave them to Serbs who comprised Udbina's majority, as confirmed by 1961–91 censuses, with smaller numbers of Croats and Muslims.[17] It seems that there was aFranciscan monastery of St. John on the "Udbina hill". Yugoslav authorities erected a monument to the Yugoslav Partisans on the site without doing any archeological research or getting approval from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. During the construction of the Partisan monument, remains of medieval edifices and human bones were found on the site.[18] InSFR Yugoslavia, Udbina was part of the Korenica municipality.
During theCroatian War of Independence, Udbina was under control of theRepublic of Serbian Krajina. During that time, the remaining Croats from Krbava were forced to leave. The only remaining Croatian settlement on Krbava,Podlapač was saved from the Serb militias by theUNPROFOR's Czech battalion.[15] The local airport was used as an airbase for offensive operations against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in direct defiance ofNATO'sOperation Deny Flight. The airstrip was eventually destroyed by aNATO's 39 aircraft-strong strike on 21 November 1994.[19] Udbina was taken over by Croatian forces on 7 August 1995, duringOperation Storm.[20]
In the 2001 census, 51% of Udbina's population were Croats, mostly from Bosnia. Today, Udbina is a part of theLika-Senj County. In recent years, Udbina recorded an increase in tourist visits.
In 2021, the municipality had 1,334 residents in the following 26 settlements:[2]
| population | 17016 | 18310 | 15766 | 19101 | 20755 | 18706 | 18871 | 16971 | 9629 | 9644 | 9070 | 7108 | 5318 | 4628 | 1649 | 1874 | 1334 |
| 1857 | 1869 | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1921 | 1931 | 1948 | 1953 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
According to the 2011 census, there were 1,875 residents in the municipality, of which 51% were Serbs and 45% were Croats.[21]
In 2016, on the instructions ofVlaho Orepić,Minister of Interior in theCabinet of Tihomir Orešković,Croatian police started intensive patrols and checking out the residence of local population and that resulted in 71 deletions from the residence register.[22] Voices of criticism of police action were raised, including that of the Deputy Mayor of Udbina, Milan Uzelac, claiming that the action is disproportionately and primarily targeted at theSerbs of Croatia and promoted by a president of a local right wing organization close to the rulingBridge of Independent Lists.[22] Representatives of local Serb population organized a meeting withSerb National Council to discuss the issue.[22] 2011 census was the first post-war census at which Serbs of Croatia, many of whom left the area during theOperation Storm, constituted the majority of local population.[22] Minister Vlaho Orepić in his statements prior to Police activities in Udbina and the rest of the country called out the Serb minority forelection manipulation with the fictive residences.[22]
Serbian and Croatian are co-official at the municipal level in Udbina.[23]: 2 As of 2023, most of the legal requirements for the fulfillment of bilingual standards have not been carried out. Official buildings do have Cyrillic signage, but not street signs, traffic signs or seals. Cyrillic is not used on any official documents, nor are there public legal and administrative employees proficient in the script.[23]: 133, 134 Preserving traditional Serbian place names and assigning street names to Serbian historical figures is legally mandated, but not carried out.[23]: 135 Almost uniquely among all municipalities in Croatia where it is mandated (along with the Slovaks ofPunitovci), neither minority national symbols nor holidays are officially celebrated,[23]: 136 in spite of the fact that 43% of local government employees were Serbs.[23]: 190
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs.[24] At the2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives electionsSerbs of Croatia fulfilled legal requirements to elect 10 members minority council of the Municipality of Udbina.[25]
U svom govoru 13. jula 1941, 90: udbinski župnik Mate Mugoša zmeđu ostalog kaže: »Dosad smo za katoličku vjeru radili mo venikom, a sad je došlo vrijeme da radimo puškom i revolverom. Iselit ćemo i istjerat ćete srpski narod u Hrvatskoj.. Ustaše će.. istrijebiti sve one koji nisu vjerni.. Vidite ljudi ovih 16 ustaša..imaju 16 hiljada patrona i pobiće 16 hiljada Srba.
Subdivisions ofLika-Senj County | ||
|---|---|---|
| Towns |  | |
| Municipalities | ||
