BANJA LUKA OF TODAY

As a town in which the headquarters of all the state institutions are situated, Banja Luka is the second biggest town in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the biggest one in the Republic of Srpska. Situated on both banks of the Vrbas River, it occupies more than 15.000 hectares and is inhabited by about 250.000 people. It was in the 1494 written documents that the current name of the town was originally referred to.

Banja Luka is a university, cultural and sports centre... but above all it is a town of the young. There are 14.216 university students, 11.278 secondary school students and 16.568 elementary school pupils in Banja Luka at present. The International League of Humanists has recently conferred Golden Charts for Peace and Humanism upon the most meritorious individuals from the entire world. The Golden Chart for Peace has been conferred upon The Children`s Home of Rada Vranjesevic, while the town at the Vrbas River has been officially proclaimed the international town of the young, sport and culture. Furthermore, the mayor of the town of Banja Luka, Dragoljub Davidovic, has been proclaimed a member of honour of the International League of Humanists as he is proved to have made a personal contribution to the promotion of peace and humanism.

The messages of peace, tolerance and aspirations to stop wars were sent to the world from Banja Luka in the May of 2003.

Banja Luka of today is an open and hospitable town that hosts and recognises friends from the entire world... As a matter of fact it has always been like that...

The cooperation with the German town of Kaiserslautern and Austrian town of Graz has been strengthened for the past three years. What is more, Banja Luka has had strong and friendly relations with Novi Sad and Nis (Serbia), Budva and Herceg Novi (Montenegro), Kranj (Slovenia). The cooperation protocol has been signed with Moscow and Patras.

CULTURE – Being a town of the young, of long history and rich tradition, it is not unusual for Banja Luka to have an adequate environment for a long tradition of cultural institutions. There have been multifarious manifestations in the field of culture that take place in the town from day to day. The town is visited by many artists from Europe and the entire world. Finally, three festivals that took place in the town in May are to confirm the above. The youngest got together at the Saint George`s Musical Festival, while the older enjoyed the performances of the former Yugoslavia theatres that were given during the Theatre Festival. Furthermore, the performances given during The Children`s Theatre Festival enthralled the children of Banja Luka. The traditional manifestation called Banjalucke ljetne igre revives the fortress of Kastel during summer.

SPORT – Not only did the sportspeople from Banja Luka win gold medals in the past, but also their successors get considerable results that would be even more considerable if training conditions were better. The hope for the better is given by the latest project The Integrated Centre of Sport and Culture, the implementation of which will make Banja Luka a modern town closer to Europe. An elite facility construction valued at € 145 mil. and occupying 20 hectares will offer social, cultural and sports events. After the centre has been built Banja Luka will be in a position to organise important sports matches on an international level.

CLIMATE - Sometimes affected by air masses from the Pannonian plain, Banja Luka`s climate is temperately continental. The average annual temperature reaches 10.7 °C, with 0.8 °C in January and 21.3 °C in July.

More information about Banja Luka: www.banjaluka.rs.ba