Prehistory and Antiquity The earliest established evidence of human life in the area of today's Bijeljina date from the
New Stone Age (5000–3000BC). Characteristics of pottery, tools and weapons confirm cultural connections of indigenous inhabitants of Semberija with the eneolithic and Bronze Age cultures – Vučedol, Kostolac and
Baden culture.
Old Slavs and Middle Ages monument The oldest archeological site of this period is located on both sides of the Bistrik channel, between the villages of Batković and Ostojićevo and it consists of four smaller sites which date from the period of the 7th to the 12th century. At Jazbina and Oraščić, remains were found of a settlement with half-buried huts, but the most significant discovery was a complex of metallurgical workshop at Čelopek where iron was melted in the 8th century and iron tools were manufactured. The oldest religious building, the
Tavna Monastery, was built in the Middle Ages. The region was incorporated into the
Bosnian banate during the reign of
Stephen Kotromanić. At this time the village Bistrik was called Bistrica and it was the center of the parish, which covered the entire territory of present-day city of Bijeljina. The first documented mention of the name Bijeljina occurred in 1446. The city fully fell to the Ottomans in 1530. Following the
Great Turkish War, it was incorporated into Austrian possession. Upon the conclusion of the
Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, Bijeljina was to be transferred to the
Habsburg monarchy. It was retaken by the Ottomans in 1739. Many of the settlements were decimated as a result of unsuccessful Serb rebellions against the occupation. In front of City Hall is a statue of King
Peter I of Serbia, who ruled the
Kingdom of Serbia between 1903 and 1918. During the
Second World War, the
Ustaša removed it. After
World War II, the communist government refused to return the monument. The first non-communist local government returned the monument in the early 1990s.
Bosnian War In September 1991,
Bosnian Serbs proclaimed a
Serbian Autonomous Oblast with Bijeljina as its capital. In March 1992, the
Bosnian referendum on independence was passed with overwhelming support from Bosniaks and
Bosnian Croats. Local Bosniak
Patriotic League had been established in response to the Bosnian Serb proclamation and started the clashes. The majority of those killed were
Bosniaks (or Bosnian Muslims). The dead included members of other ethnicities, such as Serbs deemed unloyal by the local authorities. The village of
Batković in the municipality of Bijeljina was the site of the
Batković camp, believed to be the first concentration camp in operation during the
Bosnian War. It was run by Serbs from 1 April 1992 until late January 1996. The prisoners were predominantly ethnic
Bosniaks, who were tortured, sexually assaulted, and killed. A "State Commission for the Free transfer of the Civilian Population" or "Commission for the Exchange of Population" was created and headed by Vojkan Đurković, a
Major in the SDG.
Post-war period The
Serb Democratic Party (SDS) governed Bijeljina for 28 years since 1992. Following the
2018 Bosnian general election, in March 2020 mayor
Mićo Mićić (governing the city since 2004) left the party to found the Party of Democratic Srpska of Semberija (SDSS) and signed a coalition agreement with
Milorad Dodik's
SNSD. In June 2020, SDSS and SNSD put SDS in minority in the local council. At the
2020 Bosnian municipal elections, SDS's Ljubiša Petrović became the new mayor, succeeding Mićić. ==Demographics==