Mostar

Mostar is a city of 75,613 (1991) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The capital of Herzegovina, Mostar is situated on the Neretva river.

Mostar's name means Old Bridge in Turkish, referring to a 16th century stone bridge built by Suleiman the Magnificent. This bridge, along with numerous other mosques and houses from the Ottoman era, were destroyed during the nine month 1993-1994 siege on the city during the Bosnian war.

Prior to the war, Mostar was a producer of tobacco, bauxite, wine and aluminium products. Hydroelectric power was also generated by several dams in the region.

Founded in the late 15th century, Mostar was the chief administrative city for the Ottoman Empire in the Herzegovina region. The Austro-Hungarian Empire absorbed Mostar in 1878 and then it became part of Yugoslavia after the First World War.

In 1992, after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independance from Yugoslavia, the town was bombarded by the Bosnian Serbs from the mountains to the east. In 1993, the Bosnian Croats and Muslims began a long struggle for control of Mostar. Bosnian Croats relentlessly bombarded the Bosniak quarter of the city, reducing much of it (including many landmarks) to ruin.

Since the 1994 ceasefire and the end of the war in 1995, great progress is being made in the reconstruction of the city of Mostar.