On the eve of the Greater-Serbian aggression against the Republic of Croatia in 1991 the Vukovar area was administratively organized as the Vukovar municipality covering an area of 606 km2 with 29 inhabited settlements.
According to the census of April 1991, the total number of
inhabitants was 84189.
There were 43.8% Croats, 37,4% Serbs, 7.3%
ethnically uncommitted, i.e. those who declared themselves
Yugoslavs, 2.7% Ruthenians, 1.6% Slovaks, 1.6% Hungarians, 0.9%
Ukrainans, etc.
Over half of the population, i.e. 44639, lived
in the town of Vukovar, which was the centre of the municipality.
Since the area had been de-ruralized and industrialized at
a fast rate in the previous period, the Vukovar municipality was
a very signifacant industrial area in the Republic of Croatia.
People employed in farming and public services made up 30% of the
population.
The crops grown on the arable land were cereals, industrial
plants, vegetables and fodder crops on 44500 hectares, while
vineyards and orchards accounted for about 2000 hectares.
The Vukovar area was a large producer of livestock and milk.
Woodlands covered about 6200 hectares.
In 1991 there were over 250 companies and institutions
registered in the Vukovar municipality. The most important of
these was the Borovo industrial complex, an internationally known
producer and exporter of footwear, tyres, rubber technical goods
and machines.
Vuteks was an internationally renowned producer of
bed covers and other textile goods. Vupik was a larger producer
of wheat, maize sugar-beet, wine, livestock and milk, and its
high yields served as an example to the whole of Croatian
agriculture.
The Vukovar port, several industrial plants in Ilok,
a well-developed retail network, and catering facilities
completed the extensive economic activity of the Vukovar area.
In 1991 there were 19 kindergartens, 38 primary schools and
5 secondary schools registered in Vukovar municipality. They were
attended by a total of 15000 pupils and employed 1000 people.
There were 200 doctors and pharmacists employed in the well-
developed health care system. As a whole, the Vukovar area was
one of the best developed in the Republic of Croatia.
Numerous historical sites testified to the rich cultural
heritage of the Vukovar area.
Ilok, in the eastern part of the
Vukovar municipality, was a complex of monuments making up a
single whole. It was encompassed by massive brick walls and
incorporated the remains of medieval Croatian and Turkish
architecture.
The church and the Franciscan monastery preserve
the memory of the St. John of Capistrano.
In the neighbouring village of Bapska is the Romanesque church of the Virgin.
The old medieval fortress of Sarengrad ( Vocin ) was situated on the Danube. The Franciscan monastery and church preserve the remains of Gothic architecture, a noteworth library and objects of art.
Vukovar was a town recognizable by its Baroque centre. The
atmosphere of the streets and squares was provided by buildings
with Baroque arches and arched doorways.
From the early 18th century several significant buildings were
built in the Baroque and neo-Classical style: the Catholic churches
of St. Philip and James and of St. Roch, the Ortodox church of
St. Michael, the Eltz manor-hause, which was a cultural monument
of international significance, the building of the Srijem Zupanija.
The Grand Hotel, later converted into the Worker`s Club,
was built in the 19th century.
Vukovar proudly exhibited its rich past, with its economic and cultural significance, in its museums.
The Town Museum collected several thousand documents and
objects testifying to the Vukovar area, from the earliest
paleontological and archaeological finds to exhibits from recent
times.
All this was exhibited in an up-to-date manner in the Eltz
manorhouse.
The memorial museum of the Nobel lauerate Lavoslav Ruzicka in Vukovar was set up with the cooperation of the Nobel lauerate himself in his native house.
The Bauer Collection and the Art Gallery in Vukovar originated in a donation by Antun and Antonia Bauer. There were over a thousand valuable works of art, paintings, prints and drawings, and sculptures, with a special emphasis on modern Croatian art.
A permanent exhibition in the Workers` Club in Vukovar threw light on the great contribution of citizens of Vukovar to the workers` movement.
The Ilok Town Museum in the Odescalchi manor-house represented, in an up-todate manner, the history of this Croatian town on the Danube.
In Petrovci was a museum representing the life of Ruthenian and Ukrainians in these parts.
The Franciscan Monastery in Vukovar had an extensive art collection, library and archives. It is known worldwide as the keeper of the remains of St. Bonus the martyr.