Zvornik Travel Guide

Zvornik is a city on the Drina river in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, located southwest of Tuzla and north of Srebrenica. It is administratively part of Republika Srpska. The town Mali Zvornik lies directly across the river in Serbia, and not far north is Loznica.

Before the war in Bosnia, the Zvornik municipality was one of the largest in the country with a population of 81,111. The city of Zvornik itself had 14,852 inhabitants. 

Zvornik is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia, being first mentioned in the year 1410, although it was known as Zvonik ("bell tower") at that time. The town's geographic location has made it an important trade link between Bosnia and the east. For instance, the main road connecting Sarajevo and Belgrade runs through the city. Zvornik also has the distinction of being the only city in Bosnia that directly lies on the border to Serbia.

During the Ottoman occupation, Zvornik was the capital of the Zvornik sanjak (an administrative region), which was a result of the city's crucial role in the economy and the strategic location.

The city's demographic situation has changed drastically in the last 15 years. Up until 1992, the municipality had a clear Bosniak majority and a Serb minority. There were 59.43% Bosniaks, 38.02% Serbs, 1.51% Yugoslavs, 0.15% Croats and 0.89% others.

But, through ethnic cleansing practiced widely in the Bosnian war, Zvornik's Bosniak population was forced to flee. In addition, there were numerous instances of mass killings in Zvornik and the surrounding villages. It is known that the suburb of Karakaj was the place of concentration camps where hundreds of Bosniaks were brutally murdered.

After the war, the town's population consisted of only Serbs with no trace of the long Bosniak tradition, such as mosques. With the help of the international community, there has been an effort to return refugees back to the municipality, but the process has been slow and will take many years to complete.

Just like most of Bosnia, Zvornik has very hot summers and cold winters. Except for the area near the river Drina, the city is surrounded by mountains with preserved forests, which creates a beautiful scenery with the town's location at the bottom a valley.