The settlement has existed since Roman times. It was conquered by the Ottoman Empire somewhere between 1520 and 1530. From 1929 to 1941, Bosanski Petrovac was part of the Vrbas Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the Second World War, it was a Partisan stronghold which was conveniently located close to Marshal Josip Broz Tito's headquarters in Drvar. On 6 December 1942 the Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia (AFŽ) was established in the town. Judita Alargić was a key figure in the first generation of AFŽ organisers.
During the 1992–95 Bosnian War, the town's Serb majority remained in the city while the Bosniaks and Croats were forced to leave their homes. Then in 1995, as the war was nearing its end, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina seized Bosanski Petrovac and it remained in Bosnian hands until the end of the war. In the following years, the Serbs' right to return would be hindered. However, the town would eventually return to its pre-war ethnic composition.
Settlements
Landscape from one of the villagesSerbian Orthodox ChurchMosqueMonument representing notable people from Bosanski Petrovac
