Slavic tribes settled in this area in the 6th century. In the 9th century the region was part of the Slavic Balaton Principality ruled by prince Pribina, part of the Principality of Pannonian Croatia ruled by prince Ljudevit, and part of the Bulgarian Empire. In the 11th�12th century, the region was part of the Kingdom of Croatia; from the 13th to 16th century part of the Kingdom of Hungary; and in 16th�17th century part of the Ottoman Empire.
Vukovar was mentioned first in the 13th century as Volko, Walk, Wolkov (original Croatian/Slavic name of the town was Vukovo). Since the 14th century, the most common name used for the town was Vukov�r (Vukovar). During administration of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, the town was a seat of the Valk� (Croatian: Vuka) county, which was located between rivers Drava and Sava, while during Ottoman administration it was part of the Sanjak of Syrmia. At the end of the Ottoman administration, the town's population numbered about 3,000 inhabitants.
Habsburg Monarchy and Yugoslavia
Since the end of the 17th century, Vukovar was part of the Habsburg Monarchy and was subsequently included into Kingdom of Slavonia, a Habsburg province that formally was part of both the Kingdom of Croatia and the Kingdom of Hungary. During this time, Vukovar was a seat of the Syrmia County. Later, Vukovar was part of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, created when the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Kingdom of Croatia were merged in 1868.
In 1918, Vukovar became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia). Between 1918 and 1922, Vukovar was administrative seat of Syrmia (Srijem, Srem) county, and between 1922 and 1929 it was the administrative seat of Syrmia oblast. Since 1929, it was part of the Sava Banovina, and beginning in 1939 it was part of the Banovina of Croatia. Between 1941 and 1944, Vukovar was part of the Independent State of Croatia. During World War II the city
