Benkovac
Encyclopedia
Zadar County
Zadar County is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its center is the city of Zadar.- Population :According to the 2001 census, Zadar County has population of 162,045...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
Geography
Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni KotariRavni Kotari
Ravni Kotari is a geographical region in Croatia. It is situated in northern Dalmatia, around Zadar. It is bordered by Bukovica to the northwest, lower Krka on the southeast and the Adriatic Sea. The biggest settlement of the region is the town of Benkovac...
and the karstic plateau of Bukovica
Bukovica
Bukovica is a geographical region in Croatia. It is situated in northern Dalmatia, between Lika in the north, Kninska Krajina in the east, and Ravni Kotari in the south-west. Prior to the war, it encompassed the western half of the Knin municipality, the eastern half of the Benkovac municipality...
meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru
Biograd na Moru
Biograd na Moru is a city and municipality in northern Dalmatia, Croatia and is significant for being the former capital of the medieval Croatian Kingdom. Its population is 6,059 . Biograd is administratively part of the Zadar County...
and 30 km from Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
. The Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
-Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
motorway and Zadar-Knin
Knin
Knin is a historical town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, located near the source of the river Krka at , in the Dalmatian hinterland, on the railroad Zagreb–Split. Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as a one-time capital of both the Kingdom of Croatia and briefly of the...
railway pass through the town. It borders the municipalities of Novigrad
Novigrad, Zadar County
Novigrad is a village and municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County. According to the 2001 census, there are 2,368 inhabitants, absolute majority which are Croats.- History :...
, Posedarje
Posedarje
Posedarje is a municipality in Zadar County of Croatia with 3,513 inhabitants....
, Obrovac
Obrovac, Croatia
Obrovac is a town located in northern Dalmatia, in the Zadar County of Croatia. Town population is 1,500 people , and the whole Obrovac municipality has a population of 4,000 people. The town is located in the canyon of the river Zrmanja....
, Lišane Ostrovičke
Lišane Ostrovicke
Lišane Ostrovičke is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County. According to the 2001 census, there are 764 inhabitants, 93% of which are Croats.-References:...
, Kistanje
Kistanje
Kistanje is a village and municipality in Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. According to the 2001 census, Kistanje municipality has 3,038 inhabitants of which 57.14% are Serbs and 41.31% are Croats.-History:...
and Stankovci
Stankovci
Stankovci is a municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County. According to the 2001 census, there are 2,088 inhabitants, of which 98.6% are Croats and 0.7% are Serbs.Settlements in the community are:* Banjevci* Bila Vlaka* Budak* Crljenik* Morpolača...
.
Demography
According to the 2001 census, the municipality had 9,786 inhabitants of which 90.4% were CroatsCroats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and 7.5% Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
. Before the war in Croatia, Serbs made up about 57%, and Croats about 41%, however Serbs only held 18% of the jobs in the local government, which led to high tensions in the 1990s. During the Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
(Oluja), almost all of the Serbs fled, and after the war many Bosnian Croat refugees settled the area.
The population of Benkovac itself is 2,622 (census 2001), the rest is distributed in 38 villages surrounding it.
History
The first traces of human life in the Benkovac area were found around the village of SmilčićSmilčić
Smilčić is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D502 highway....
that belonged to the Danilo culture. Before Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
conquest the area was inhabited by the Illyrian tribe of Liburnians
Liburnians
The Liburnians were an ancient Illyrian tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers Arsia and Titius in what is now Croatia....
. During the Roman Civil war
Caesar's civil war
The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
the Liburnians sided with Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. The Romans mention the following Liburnian settlements :Nedinum (Nadin
Nadin
Nadin is a Croatian village in the Zadar County, located between Benkovac and Škabrnja. The population is 439 .The village was inhabited since the time of the Liburnians when it was named ....
), Carinium (Karin
Karin
Karin is a common feminine given name in various Germanic languages , and in some French-speaking areas, as well as Japanese...
), Varvaria (Bribir) and Asseria (Podgrađe). In 7th century the area was settled by Croats. The area of Benkovac was at the crossroads of four Croatian župa's - Novljanska, Sidraška, Bribirska and Karinska. Near the village of Šopot
Šopot
Šopot is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D27 state road. The name of the place comes from OCS word *sopotъ and means resurgence. Branimir Inscription was found in the place among the ruins of medieval church, also founded by duke Branimir....
, an inscription from the 9th century
Branimir Inscription
The Branimir Inscription is the oldest preserved monument containing an inscription defining a Croatian medieval ruler as a duke of Croats - Dux Cruatorvm...
was found that mentions Branimir as a Croatian Duke.
In 1409 King Ladislaus of Naples sold his rights of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
to the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
and the Benkovac area became a border region. New fortresses around the border were built - Korlat, Kličevica, Polača
Polaca
Polača is a municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County. According to the 2001 census, there are 1,434 inhabitants, 94% of which are Croats....
, and behind them Benković i Perušić
Perušic
Perušić is a town and a municipality in Lika-Senj County, Croatia. It has 3,494 inhabitants of which 88.81% are Croats. The municipality is part of Lika.- Villages:...
. The fortress of Benković was named after the family of nobles that built it and the city of Benkovac was established. In 1527 Benkovac became part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. It was soon settled by Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
-Bunjevci
Bunjevci
Bunjevci are a South Slavic community and ethnic group living mostly in the Bačka region of Serbia and southern Hungary...
and Orthodox Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
& Vlahs. In 1683 Benkovac became part of the Venice Republic. The area was bombed by the Allies during World War II.
During the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, Benkovac was a center of unrest and hostilities between Croats and Serbs. On March 17, 1990, tensions erupted when groups of local Serbs rebelled against the decision of the Croatian government to disarm local police in which Serbs were most of the employes. During that time Croatian government continued arming police force and paramilitary in villages with a Croatian majority. Tensions continued to boil, and five months later, Benkovac was included in the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
. Five years later on August 5, Benkovac was retaken by the Croatian army during Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
.
Economy
Economy is based on agriculture especially viticultureViticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
and exploitation of wider known Benkovac building stone. Benkovac has also annual cattle fare and vinary.
Towns and Villages
The following settlements are part of Benkovac:- Benkovac (population 2,622)
- Benkovačko Selo (population 524)
- Bjelina (population 50)
- Brgud (population 3)
- BruškaBruškaBruška is a village located in inland Dalmatia, Croatia, northeast of Benkovac. The population is 167 ....
(population 167) - Buković (population 323)
- Bulić (population 172)
- Dobra Voda (population 114)
- Donje Biljane (population 13)
- Donje CeranjeDonje CeranjeDonje Ceranje is village within the town Benkovac. It is 5km south of Benkovac near the Vrana Lake.According to 1991 census, there were 295 inhabitants, of which 272 were Serbs, 19 Croats and 4 others. In 2001 there were only 43 inhabitants in this village....
(population 43) - Donji Karin (population 101)
- Donji Kašić (population 4)
- Donji Lepuri (population 151)
- Gornje Biljane (population 59)
- Gornje Ceranje (population 61)
- Islam Grčki (population 108)
- Kolarina (population 13)
- Korlat (population 373)
- Kožlovac (population 8)
- Kula Atlagić (population 151)
- Lisičić (population 268)
- Lišane Tinjske (population 15)
- Medviđa (population 199)
- Miranje (population 86)
- NadinNadinNadin is a Croatian village in the Zadar County, located between Benkovac and Škabrnja. The population is 439 .The village was inhabited since the time of the Liburnians when it was named ....
(population 439) - Perušić Benkovački (population 297)
- Podgrađe (population 106)
- Podlug (population 227)
- Popovići (population 209)
- Pristeg (population 368)
- Prović (population 84)
- Radošinovci (population 266)
- Raštević (population 420)
- Rodaljice (population 80)
- SmilčićSmilčićSmilčić is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D502 highway....
(population 250) - ŠopotŠopotŠopot is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D27 state road. The name of the place comes from OCS word *sopotъ and means resurgence. Branimir Inscription was found in the place among the ruins of medieval church, also founded by duke Branimir....
(population 271) - Tinj (population 551)
- Vukšić (population 462)
- Zagrad (population 103)
- Zapužane (population 25)
External links
- Historical Monuments of Benkovac
- City of Benkovac
- 1991. Census results for Benkovac county