BihaÃÂ is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region close to the border with Croatia. In 2013 its population was 56,261.
According to documents and historical sources, the first medieval urban settlements and towns around the Una river, began to appear in the middle of the 13th century. BihaÃÂ, as the centre of Pounje, was first mentioned on 26 February 1260, in the charter of Hungarian King Béla IV, and was described as a town built on the river's Island of St. Ladislav, owned by the Benedictine abbey of Topusko. Just two years later, in 1262, Béla proclaimed Bihaàa royal free city and placed it under the direct authority of the Hungarian throne, with all rights and privileges pertaining thereto, which ensured its ability to develop completely independent from the political powers of local lords. The following mention in the charter of 1271 confirms that Bihaàat that time enjoyed the status of a free city. At the head of the municipality was the town elder or major villae, who was often called a judge, and whose decision could only be changed by the king. Bihaàalso had a curia or magistrates, an assembly of local citizens who took the oath of office for this duty, and notaries who kept court and other civil records.
In 1530 Austria sent troops to defend seven key strongholds in Croatia, one of them was BihaÃÂ and another the nearby RipaÃÂ. The Ottomans occupied BihaÃÂ in 1592 after a siege and from that time BihaÃÂ was the most important forts in Bosnia until the 19th century. Ottoman rule was briefly interrupted by Auguste Marmont, general-governor of Illyrian Provinces on 5 May 1810. He sought to prevent Ottomans from raiding French Croatia and finishing the Ottoman occupation of Cetin. After fulfilling these goals, he withdrew from BihaÃÂ. Ottoman rule in BihaÃÂ ended de facto after the Congress of Berlin.
During World War II, the town was occupied by Axis troops and was included into PaveliÃÂ's Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The fascist Ustaà ¡e regime committed the Genocide of the Serbs and the Holocaust. From July to September 1941, some 15,000 Serbs were massacred along with some Jews and Roma victims by the Ustaà ¡e at the Garavice, an extermination location near BihaÃÂ. When the German and Italian Zones of Influence were revised on 24 June 1942, Bihaàfell in , administered civilly by Croatia and militarily by Croatia and Germany. The town was the capital of a short-lived territory, the BihaàRepublic, for two months in late 1942 and early 1943, until it was recaptured by German forces. From 1943 Judita Alargiàserved near to Bihaàas an instructor of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Bihaàreturned to Bosnian territory on 28 March 1945.
BihaÃÂ was besieged for three years from 1992 to 1995 during the Bosnian War.
According to the 2013 census, the city of BihaÃÂ has a population of 56,261 inhabitants.
The ethnic composition of the municipality:
In the 1991 population census in Bosnia and Herzegovina the ethnic composition of the municipality was 46,737 Bosniaks, 12,689 Serbs, 5,580 Croats, 4,356 Yugoslavs and 1,370 Others.
According to the 2013 census, the religious makeup of BihaÃÂ includes:
The following settlements comprise the administrative area of the city of BihaÃÂ:
The agricultural sector is significant, due to the large and fertile soil.
BihaÃÂ is twinned with: