Brčko

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Brčko is a city in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Sava River across from Croatia. It is the administrative seat of Brčko District, a self-governing area that officially belongs to both main entities of the country but is run independently in practice. The population was about 39,900 in 2013. The district covers about 402 square kilometers and sits at roughly 92 meters above sea level.

Historically, Brčko was a key flashpoint during the Bosnian War. It was the site of the Brčko bridge massacre in 1992 and later became central to an international peace process. The Brčko Arbitration in 1997–1999 ruled that Brčko would be managed by an international representative and become a special district. International supervision was suspended in 2012, though the arbitration framework remains.

Brčko has Bosnia’s largest river port on the Sava. A railway line (Vinkovci–Tuzla) runs near the city, but there are no passenger trains to Brčko; the nearest station is in Gunja, Croatia. The city has several football clubs and strong volleyball teams, and it hosts an economics school within the University of East Sarajevo and a local theatre festival.

Brčko maintains several sister-city relationships with towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.