Bilje | |
|---|---|
| Bilje Municipality Općina Bilje | |
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Bilje  Bilje  Bilje | |
| Coordinates:45°36′25″N18°44′38″E / 45.60694°N 18.74389°E /45.60694; 18.74389 | |
| Country |  Croatia |
| Region | Baranya (Podunavlje) |
| County |  Osijek-Baranja |
| Government | |
| • Mayor of Municipality | Željko Cickaj |
| Area | |
| 259.5 km2 (100.2 sq mi) | |
| • Urban | 17.3 km2 (6.7 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 87 m (285 ft) |
| Population (2021)[3] | |
| 4,772 | |
| • Density | 18.39/km2 (47.63/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 3,163 |
| • Urban density | 183/km2 (474/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (Central European Time) |
| Website | bilje |
Bilje (Hungarian:Bellye) is a municipality in theBaranja region ofOsijek-Baranja County, in north-easternCroatia. It is 5 km northeast ofOsijek, on the edge of theKopački Ritnature park.Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) constructed a hunting lodge here,Bilje Castle, which later became property of the Teschen branch of theHabsburg family.
Its name derived from the Slavic word "bilje" ("herb" in English). InGerman the village is known asBelje, inHungarian asBellye,[4] and inSerbian Cyrillic as Биље. The area occupied by themunicipality of Bilje is 260.15 km².[5]
The municipality of Bilje include following settlements and population (2011 census):[6]
Since records began in 1981, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was 40.1 °C (104.2 °F), on 24 August 2012.[7]
At the 2011 census, there were 5,642 inhabitants in the municipality,[6] including:[8]
Although though theGovernment of the Republic of Croatia does not guarantee official Croatian-Hungarian bilinguialism here, the statute of Bilje itself does.[9]: 3 Preserving traditional Hungarian place names and assigning street names to Hungarian historical figures is legally mandated and carried out.[9]: 135
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.[10] At the2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives electionsHungarians andSerbs of Croatia each fulfilled legal requirements to elect 10 members municipal minority councils of the Bilje Municipality.[11]
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Bilje was part of theBaranya County of theKingdom of Hungary.
