Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Livno Valley and mountain Dinara

Livno is a city in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is in the Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located between Tomislavgrad, Glamoč and Bosansko Grahovo.

In 2003, the municipality of Livno was populated by 32,454 people (down from 39,526 in 1991). There were 27,244 Croats 83.4% (28,456 or 71.99% in 1991), 4,189 Bosniaks 12.9% (5,927 or 15% in 1991), 725 Serbs 2.2% (3,782 or 9.57% in 1991), and 296 others 0.9% in 1991, there were 1122 Yugoslavs and 239 others). The city of Livno itself had 10,925 residents in 1991.

History

The plains of Livno have been populated since approximately 2000 BC, and well into the Roman era. Livno celebrates its founding as being September 28, 892 due it being mentioned in a document of the Croatian Duke Mutimir released at that time. Settlement at Livno certainly existed prior to this date as Croatians arrived to the region over a hundred years before this.

From 1326 until 1463 Livno was part of the Bosnian banate. This changed as the Ottoman Empire invaded and administrated most of Bosnia for the next 400 years. In 1878 Livno came to belong to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by way of the Berlin Congress.

The 20th century was very tumultuous for the region. From 1918 it was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929 the kingdom was renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia and divided into nine banates (banovine). Livno was divided into the Primorje banate, with its centre in the city of Split. This division brought Livno politically closer to Croatia proper than it had been in over 600 years. In 1939, the banates were further redrawn so that there was a Croatian banate (Banovina Hrvatska) which Livno was also a part of. From 1941 to 1945 Livno was part of the Independent State of Croatia. During this time, renowned Croatian writer Ivan Goran Kovačić wrote his epic poem Jama (The Pit) near the city.

With the end of World War II, Livno was once again in the union of Yugoslavia, this time part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992 the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence, but was the scene of intense ethnic conflict until 1995.

Miscellaneous

In recent years there has been some debate over whether Livno is part of the historical region of Bosnia, or of Herzegovina. Whatever the case, the city is culturally on the crossroads between Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The city's main landmark is a monument to King Tomislav, who was crowned at the nearby fields of Duvno.