Borovo (, , ), also known as Borovo Selo (; ; ), is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern part of Croatia. Situated on the banks of the Danube river, it shares its border with Serbia and the municipality of Bač on the opposite side. The historical development of Borovo is closely linked with the Danube, which has played a central role in its development as a notable industrial hub in the region.
The etymological genesis of the toponym "Borovo" stems from the Serbo-Croatian word "bor" which signifies "pines." Although Borovo is an independent municipality, it is physically contiguous with the neighbouring town of Vukovar and functions as its satellite settlement. Borovo is the most populous settlement in Croatia in which ethnic Serbs constitute a majority of the population. It's Serb community also ranks as the second-largest Serbian community in the county, coming after the Serb community in Vukovar itself.
During the early 1990s process of breakup of Yugoslavia, Borovo was affected by escalating interethnic tensions in the Socialist Republic of Croatia. This volatile atmosphere culminated in the 1991 Battle of Borovo Selo, one of the first armed clashes in the conflict which became known as the Croatian War of Independence. Borovo became a part of the self-proclaimed unrecognized SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia within the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina. Since the end of the war and the UNTAES transition in 1998, Borovo is one of the municipalities which according to the 1995 Erdut Agreement elect its representatives to the Joint Council of Municipalities, a consultative body of Serb minority's cultural autonomy in the region.
Geography The municipality is situated on the Danube River, the second-longest river in Europe. It covers a total area of . The territory is almost entirely flat, as it lies within the Pannonian Plain, and is characterized by fertile chernozem (black soil), which is well suited for agricultural crop production. Borovo is closely linked to the neighbouring town of Vukovar, to which it is physically connected, and it is connected to the rest of the country via the D519 road. Along its Danube riverbank, the municipality borders Serbia.
To the north, it borders the village of Dalj in the Erdut municipality, to the west, the municipality of Trpinja, to the south, the town of Vukovar and its Borovo Naselje district. Approximately 30% of the municipality’s total area consists of residential zones.
According to the 2021 census, the settlement itself had a larger population than several Croatian towns, including Vodnjan, Mursko Središće, Hvar or Orahovica.
Climate Borovo experiences a humid continental climate, characterized by hot summers and cold winters. During the period from 1981 to 1989, the highest temperature recorded at the local meteorological station was , measured on 3 August 1981. The lowest recorded temperature in the same period was , observed on 31 January 1987. Snowfall occurs regularly in most winters, and temperatures below 0 °C are common between December and February. Spring is marked by variable weather conditions and a rapid rise in average temperatures with mild to warm days relatively cool nights. Summers are generally warm to hot, with occasional sudden heavy showers, particularly in late spring and early summer. Autumn, from mid-September to late October, is typically characterised by relatively low precipitation and extended periods of sunny weather with moderate temperatures, before a sharper cooling sets in during late October or early November. Compared to more western parts of continental Croatia, Borovo experiences a high number of sunny days and lower levels of precipitation.
History
Prehistoric and Early Settlements The area of present-day Borovo Municipality has been inhabited since the Stone Age. During the Late Iron Age, the region was settled by Celtic communities. Archaeological evidence from the Gradac site, located northeast of Borovo on a high bank of the Danube, confirms continuous human presence from the Neolithic period (c. 6250 BCE) through the Middle Ages. Due to erosion of the riverbank, remains of prehistoric and medieval settlement layers have been identified, including Neolithic and Eneolithic material as well as medieval structures. The site also contains burial grounds associated with the Second Avar Khaganate and the Bijelo Brdo culture.
Roman Period In the Roman period, it formed part of the Danubian Limes, the fortified frontier of the Roman Empire. Archaeological evidence from the Šanac–Savuljski put site, located approximately 2 km northeast of Borovo, indicates the presence of a permanent or temporary Roman military camp dating from the 1st to the 5th century CE. Finds of Roman pottery, brick fragments, and traces of burning suggest military or logistical activity connected to frontier defence and river communication. The site also shows evidence of continued use during the Middle Ages.
Medieval and Ottoman Period The region had been settled by Slavic populations during the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, who gradually mixed with earlier inhabitants of Pannonia. In the 9th–10th centuries, the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin settlement of the Hungarians in the region.
The village of Borovo was first mentioned in 1231 as a possession of the town of Vukovar in the Kingdom of Hungary. At that time, the settlement was located further north than its present-day site. Following the Ottoman conquest of much of Hungary in the 16th century, Borovo was resettled around 1540 by Serbs originating from the upper Drina region and Polimlje. This migration led to a linguistic shift, as the local Ikavian reflex of the vowel Yat in the Shtokavian dialect was replaced by the Ekavian pronunciation.
Habsburg Period
Following the end of the Great Turkish War and the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz the area was incorporated into reestablished Habsburg Kingdom of Slavonia. At that time, the Lordship of Dalj was established, and the village became part of its domain. The Serbian Orthodox Church of St Stephen the Archdeacon was built between 1761 and 1764 and at the time parish was under the religious jurisdiction of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci. During this period, Borovo acquired municipal status for the first time and was administered by a local knez (village head). In 1736, the village had 49 houses. By 1811, this number had increased to 231 households, with a total population of 1,754 inhabitants.
In 1880, Borovo regained municipal status for the second time. The municipality adopted a coat of arms in 1884, which continues to be used by the modern municipality.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Borovo became an important regional industrial center during the existence of Yugoslavia. In the period between the two world wars, Czech entrepreneur Jan Baťa's factory Bata Shoes opened one of their major factories in Borovo creating the economic growth after the crisis that followed the end of World War I. At that time, as the result of the development of business, modern day Borovo Naselje was built up. The village itself rise from 2213 inhabitants in 1932 to 4530 in 1936. In 1935 Borovo even included and airfield and Yugoslav airliner Aeroput connected the town with regular flights to Belgrade and Zagreb.Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput at europeanairlines.no In that time Borovo became municipality for the third time in its history.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia In 1945 Borovo footwear factory was nationalized. While being state owned, factory was workers managed through the Yugoslav workers' self-management system. The company produced everything from shoe polish to shoeboxes and was selling its products across the former Yugoslavia through the 620 local Borovo shops. Company was producing around 23 million pairs of shoes a year in that period.
Croatian War of Independence On 31 March 1991 Serbian National Council of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (body established on 7 January 1991) organized a meeting in Borovo where it declared unification of the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia with Vojvodina calling for an urgent extraordinary meeting of the Assembly of Vojvodina and National Assembly of Serbia to confirm the decision. Both assemblies received the request but never formally decided on it. The return of Goran Hadžić from the prison in Zagreb temporarily deescalated situation with most of road barricades being removed till the end of the first week of April. The escalation went further, however, when on 8 April 1991 the story was published about high-ranking Croatian officials shooting towards the village of Borovo. On the next day Josip Reihl-Kir tried to deescalate situation by stating that the firing with launch projectiles on Borovo was a response after the attack on Croatian Police without mentioning any Croatian officials. The interpretation of the event remained controversial and relevant in narratives about the beginning of the war in the region. On 1 May 1991 elderly Serb resident of Bršadin was killed by his Hungarian neighbour with media reporting that the murderer was a member of HDZ leading to blockade of the D55 road despite victim's family calls against it. Serbian media reported that the victim worn Serbian tricolor and was murdered by a Croat while on the same night two Croatian policemen were taken hostages in Borovo in the event which led next day to the Battle of Borovo Selo, and to the direct involvement of the Yugoslav People's Army in the conflict in the region.
The Battle of Borovo Selo on 2 May 1991 was one of the first armed clashes in the conflict which became known as the Croatian War of Independence. The immediate cause for the confrontation was a failed attempt to replace a Yugoslav flag in the village with a Croatian one. The unauthorized effort by four Croatian policemen resulted in the capture of two by a Croatian Serb militia in the village. To retrieve the captives, Croatian authorities deployed additional police, who drove into an ambush. Twelve Croatian policemen and one Serb paramilitary were killed in the battle before the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) units from Osijek intervened and stopped the fighting. On 4 May a river link across the Danube was established between Borovo and the village of Vajska in Vojvodina. It was reported that between 10-30,000 passengers from Borovo, Vera, Trpinja and Bobota used the river service while JNA used it to evacuate local Croats from Borovo to Vojvodina with four (including a minor 5 years old girl) among remaining Croats being killed by paramilitary units.
Croatian independence referendum was called on 19 May 1991 while Serb local authorities called for a boycott of the vote, which was largely followed by Croatian Serbs. On 25 June 1991, the day that the Socialist Republic of Croatia declared its withdrawal from Yugoslavia, a self-proclaimed Serbian Autonomous Oblast SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was established. In 1992, the oblast joined the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina. After the fall of Republic of Serbian Krajina rump Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia remained as a short-lived Serb parallel entity. After the Erdut Agreement, the territory was reintegrated into Croatia within UN peacekeeping mission UNTAES. On 22 May 1997 Borovo Municipality was established for a fourth time. It became one of the founding municipalities of the Joint Council of Municipalities.
Demographics
Population