Udbina

Udbina Удбина (Serbian)
Church of Croatian Martyrs built in Udbina in honour of the people who died in the Battle of Krbava.
The Udbina municipality within Lika-Senj County
Udbina Location in Croatia
Coordinates:
Country	Croatia
County	Lika-Senj County
Government
• Mayor	Ivan Pešut (HDZ)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,874
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)

Udbina is a village and a municipality in the Lika region of Croatia. It is an administratively part of in the Lika-Senj County.

Geography

The village is located in the large karst field called Krbava. The field has a small airport, the only one in Lika.

History

The Krbava field and Udbina itself was the location of a medieval bishopric and the Battle of Krbava field of September 9, 1493, where the Croats under ban Emerik Derenčin (Hungarian: Imre Derencsényi) and the Frankopans suffered one of the major defeats at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Udbina was managed by Ottomans between 1527-1689 (nominally to 1699) and included to the Sanjak of Lika in the Eyalet of Bosnia.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Udbina was part of the Lika-Krbava County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. According to the 1910 census, Udbina was inhabited by a Croat majority and Serb minority; 1244 were Catholics and 231 were Orthodox.

During World War II, Udbina was part of the Independent State of Croatia. In December 1942, the Croatian population was expelled from the town. The Catholic Church of St. Nicholas was subsequently destroyed. The Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (filial of the Church of the Holy Transfiguration of Mutilić) was destroyed in World War II.

After World War II, Serbs became the majority of the population. Serbs were the majority of the population according to the 1961–91 censuses, with smaller numbers of Croats and Muslims. During Socialist Yugoslavia, Udbina had a football club named "Krbava". The settlement of Udbina was part of the Korenica municipality.

Udbina was under control of the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-95). The local airport was used as airbase for offensive operations against Croatia and Bosnia, in direct defiance of NATO's Operation Deny Flight. The airstrip was eventually disabled by a 39 aircraft-strong strike on 21 November 1994. It was captured by Croatian forces during the Operation Storm on 7 August 1995.

The Roman Catholic Church in Croatia built the "Church of Croatian Martyrs" in Udbina after the war, to commemorate the Battle of Krbava Field in 1493 and Croatian War.

Settlements

The settlements in the municipality are (2011 census):

• Breštane, population 5
• Bunić, population 133
• Čojluk, population 11
• Debelo Brdo, population 78
• Donji Mekinjar, population 31
• Frkašić, population 33
• Grabušić, population 66
• Jagodnje, population 32
• Jošan, population 66
• Klašnjica, population 3
• Komić, population 20
• Krbava, population 37
• Kurjak, population 28
• Mutilić, population 38
• Ondić, population 40
• Pećane, population 35
• Podlapača, population 74
• Poljice, population 9
• Rebić, population 22
• Srednja Gora, population 25
• Svračkovo Selo, population 10
• Šalamunić, population 38
• Tolić, population 9
• Udbina, population 960
• Vedašić, population 2
• Visuć, population 69

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, there were 1,874 residents in the municipality, of which 51% Serbs and 45% Croats.

Notable people

• Rade Šerbedžija (born 1946), actor, born in Bunić
• Tomislav Sertić (1902–1942), Ustasha, born in Udbina
• Jovanka Broz (1924–2013), wife of Josip Broz Tito, born in Pećane