Vinkovci Municipality Basic Information Vinkovci municipality is situated in the Slavonia region, in the north-eastern part of Croatia. It is placed between the rivers of Sava and Drava, along the border with the Republic of Serbia (Voivodina). It occupies a land area of some 102.808 ha (60.623 ha of arable land and 29.149 of forest). This is a plain continental area, situated on 77 to 125 meters above the sea level. It is an agricultural and forestry area because of its fertile land and mild climate. Two rivers that meander in the south and the north of the central elevated ground (Vinkovci- Djakovo plain and the slopes of the mountain of Fruska gora) are the rivers of Bosut (Sava outlet) and Vuka (Danube outlet). Due to the favorable natural features, the people inhabited this region very early, some 5.500 years ago. The oldest traces of culture that can be found in this area is the neolithic "Starcevci" culture (3.500 B.C.). In the course of several thousand years, various cultures intermingled in this region. It was also the intersection of the most important European road communications between western and eastern Europe (from the Adriatic coast to Scandinavia). Today, Vinkovci is the center of the road and rail network from the directions of Zagreb, Belgrade, Subotica, Osijek, Zupanja, Brcko and Sarajevo. The rivers of Sava and Danube will soon be linked by a Vukovar-Samac canal. The city of Vinkovci was built in the Roman times, under the name of Colonia Aurelia Cibalae, an extremely important traffic and business center. The Roman emperors Valens and Valentian were born there. Furthermore, the Avaric, Slavic and Croatian cultural remnants testify of an early settlement of a Croatian tribe on this territory, as well as of its ethnic predomination to this present day. Population According to the last census (March 31, 1991), Vinkovci municipality accounts for 98.454 inhabitants: 80 percent being Croats, 13 percent Serbs and 7 percent other ethnic groups (predominately Hungarians, Albanians and Germans). The Croats are the original people in the area. On the other hand, the Serbs and other ethnic groups have immigrated into the area, with the exception of the Hungarian ethnic group in the village of Korodj (Korog). Vinkovci municipality consists of the city of Vinkovci and thirty-nine other villages. The largest village is called Ivankovo and it has 6.236 inhabitants, while the smallest one, Mala Antinska, has 126 inhabitants. All the villages are linked by the road and rail communications. They have been urbanized since the eighteenth century; they all have electricity and some have aqueducts as well. A lot of the population emigrated from the area, mostly because of the unfavorable employment policy of the former, communist regime. Thus, the increase in the number of the population became inadequate and the age structure of the area deteriorated. Economy The Vinkovci economy resources include: fertile land, advanced cattle-breeding, Spacva forest basin abundant in Slavonian oak trees, natural deposits of high-quality clay, oil and gas, and good traffic links. An annual production of the area includes 65.000 tons of wheat, 250.000 tons of corn, considerable amounts of sugar-bet, sunflower, soya beans, tobacco and wood, and large amounts of meat, milk, eggs and apples. There are manufacturing industries producing flour, bread, cattle-food, building elements, parquet, veneer, wood products, doors and staircases, bricks, tiles, leather, shoes and metal products, as well as construction companies building apartments, public buildings, roads and bridges. In the public services sector, railroad transport is in the first place with some nine million passengers and 620.000 freight cars per year. Road transport of passengers and goods is also satisfactory. Vinkovci retail and wholesale trade supplies the whole area of Slavonia (Eastern Croatia) and Northern Bosnia. The catering industry total capacity includes: hotel "Slavonia", two motels, several exclusive restaurants, cafes, etc. Culture And Education There are many remnants from the various periods in the history of this region, from the period of the prehistoric cultures, the ancient city of Cibalae, through to the period of immigration of the Croats, with the St.Elias marketplace built in the Middle Ages, to the cultural heritage of Vojna Krajina (1707-18) and the urban life of the time. The first grammar school in Vinkovci was established in 1779. At the time, Vinkovci was also the headquarters of the School Commission for Slavonia and henceforth the high percentage of the people's literacy since that time. Thus, it is not surprising that over three hundred great Croatian scientists, artists, economists and sportsmen were either born or educated in Vinkovci, such as the famous author Matija Antun Reljkovic, the composer of the Croatian national anthem Josip Runjanin, the pedagogue Iva Filipovic, the doctor Andrija Stampar, the mathematician and the astronomer Oton Kucera, the pharmacologist Julije Domac, the archeologist Josip Brunsmid, the author Josip Kozarac, the sculptor Vanja Radaus, the painter Slavko Kopac and many others. The significant institutions in Vinkovci are the Croatian Art and Science Academy, the City Museum, the Art Gallery and the National Library. Most if those buildings are now badly damaged, and the National Library with some 85.000 books and rare manuscripts was destroyed and burnt down. There are six kindergartens, six elementary schools, an elementary music school, five high schools and the College of mechanics of the Osijek faculty of agriculture. All the school buildings in the villages are either newly built or renovated. 11.000 students attend the elementary schools, and 4.500 students attend high schools. Vinkovci is a baroque city with the elements of nineteenth and twentieth century style. In the city center there is a park surrounded with eighteen century buildings, including a Catholic Church built in 1777, the buildings of Municipal Court and the nineteenth century grammar school. The family residences in the streets of Jurij Dalmatinac, Marsal Tito and King Zvonimir were built in the beginning of the twentieth century, and many other buildings such as the Gross residence, Vinkovacka banka (a bank built by the famous architect De Luca), railway station and the management building of the agri-business, hotel "Slavonija", the Lapovci residential area etc, were built in a modern architectural style. The city has got its own radio-station and the local weekly "Vinkovacki list". Every year, several cultural manifestations take place in the Vinkovci municipality. The manifestations of particular significance for Croatian culture are the "Vinkovacke jeseni" (Vinkovci Autumns), a festival of Croatian folklore; "Mladost i ljepota Slavonije" (Youth and Beauty of Slavonia) in Stari Mikanovci; "Smotra dramskih amatera" (Festival of Amateur Actors) in Retkovci; and "Sijelo puckih pisaca" (Meeting of Folk Writers) in Djeletovci. The Vinkovci Society of Croatian Writers, a branch of Matica Hrvatska, is very active, as well as the publishing house Slavonska naklada "Privlacica". War Damages Vinkovci area has paid its price in brutal destruction and blood. The YU-Army and Chetniks occupied twenty-six villages, forced away the villagers of Croatian and Hungarian nationalities and pillaged and burnt their homes. Not all the atrocities committed against the innocent civilians have yet been uncovered, but it is well known that hundreds of civilians have been killed in some villages. The damages to the Vinkovci economy have been enormous and are hard to estimate at the moment. Companies are out of function, nobody works on the fields, and the crops have not yet been harvested. Many a cultural monument is either damaged or totally destroyed, kindergartens and schools are closed, and the newly built old people's home is razed to the ground. Lost human lives and an enormous part of the damaged economy and the cultural monuments, are impossible to restore ever again.