Valpovo is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is close to the Drava river, northwest of Osijek. The population of Valpovo is 7,406, with a total of 11,563 in the municipality.
In Hungarian the town is known as Valpó and in German as Walpach. In antiquity, it was called Iovalum. There are several suggested etymologies. One is that it comes from the Latin root *Iov-, meaning "divine". However, the ending can't be explained by Latin. One explanation is that it comes from the Indo-European words *yow and *h2elut, so that it means "magical beer." The other, more likely, is that it comes from the Indo-European roots *yow and *h2elom, so that it means "magical herb", whatever plant that signified. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that it comes from the Indo-European word *wel, meaning "valley", whatever "Io-" meant.
The settlements in the municipal area of Valpovo are:
Harkanovci, population 506
Ivanovci, population 460
Ladimirevci, population 1,587
Marjančaci, population 308
Nard, population 516
Šag, population 429
Valpovo, population 7,406
Zelčin, population 351
In the census of 2011, the absolute majority were Croats.
The town is first mentioned in 1332. It was captured by Ottoman Empire in 1543. It was initially kaza centre in Sanjak of Pojega till 1601. It was later in sanjak centre in Kanije Eyalet till Austrian conquest in 1687.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Valpovo was part of the Virovitica County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In March 1945, German forces launched Operation Spring Awakening. On the southern arm which moved north through Valpovo was the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division. The operation was as disastrous as it was ambitious. Yugoslav partisans of the 3rd Army (Yugoslav Partisans) continuously harassed and delayed the Cossacks. Shortly after the end of World War II, officials in the communist Yugoslav regime established a labor camp for Germans which operated until May 1946.
Economy is based on farming, livestock breeding, forestry, wood and timber and foodstuffs industries; close to the town are oil and natural gas deposits.