Borovo (, , ), also known as Borovo Selo (; ; to distinguish it from Borovo Naselje suburb which up until 1980 was also a part of the Borovo cadastral municipality), is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern part of Croatia. Situated on the banks of the Danube river, it shares its border with Serbia and the municipality of Bač on the opposite side. The historical development of Borovo is intricately linked with the Danube, which has played a pivotal role in its development as a notable industrial hub in the region.
The etymological genesis of the toponym "Borovo" stems from the Serbo-Croatian word "bor" which signifies "pines." Despite functioning independently as a municipality in its own right, Borovo is closely related with the neighbouring town of Vukovar. The two are physically connected with Borovo effectively functions as a satellite town of Vukovar. Borovo stands as the most populous settlement in Croatia where the majority of residents are Serbs of Croatia. It's Serb community also ranks as the second-largest Serbian community in the county, coming after the Serbian community in Vukovar itself.
During the early 1990s, Borovo was affected by escalating interethnic tensions in the Socialist Republic of Croatia. This volatile atmosphere culminated in the 1991 Battle of Borovo Selo, one of the first armed clashes in the conflict which became known as the Croatian War of Independence. Borovo became a part of the self-proclaimed unrecognized SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia within the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina until 1995. Since the end of the war and the UNTAES transition, Borovo is one of the municipalities which according to the 1995 Erdut Agreement elect its representatives to the Joint Council of Municipalities, a consultative body of Serb minority's cultural autonomy in the region.
Geography
The municipality is located on the Danube river, the second longest European river. The municipality has a total area of . The territory of the municipality is almost completely flat as it is located in Pannonian Plain, and it consist of fertile black soil adequate for the agricultural production of crops. Borovo is closely related with neighboring Vukovar, to which it is physically connected. It is connected by the D519 road to the rest of the country. Along its Danube bank municipality is bordering neighboring Republic of Serbia.
To the north it is bordered by the village of Dalj in Erdut municipality in Osijek-Baranja County, to the west the Trpinja municipality, to the south the town of Vukovar and its Borovo Naselje district and to the east the Danube river. About 30% of the entire territory of the municipality consists of residential area.
Per 2011 census, settlement itself was by population larger than some of the towns in Croatia with notable examples being Krapina, Pazin, Glina or Senj.
History
Borovo Municipality has been inhabited since the Stone Age. In the younger Iron Age this region was settled by the Celts. During Roman times area was a part of Danubian Limes. Several villages and the only crossing over the Danube in the entire empire existed in this area. The village of Borovo itself was mentioned for the first time in the year 1231 when it was a property of the town of Vukovar in the Kingdom of Hungary. At that time village was centered more to the north from its present-day location. Around 1540 Borovo was populated by Serbs who originated from the upper Drina and Polimlje. This migration caused linguistic change in the region since the local Ikavian pronunciation of the vowel Yat in Shtokavian dialect was changed with the Ekavian pronunciation. The Church of St Stephen the Archdeacon was built in the period between 1761 and 1764. At that time Borovo gained municipality status for the first time in its history. Municipality was administrated by local knez. In 1736 there was 49 houses in the entire village. Until 1811 this number increased to 231 of them. At that time Borovo had a population of 1754 inhabitants. In 1880 Borovo became the gain the municipality status for the second time and this municipality created a coat of arms in 1884 used by the modern day municipality as well.