The city of Tuzla is the administrative center and the economic, cultural and educational center of the Tuzla Canton and the economic-geographic region of northeastern Bosnia. Tuzla is predominantly an industrial city, the center of the municipality of the same name and the Tuzla Canton. It is also the economic, cultural, sports and educational center of northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the valley of Majevica Mountain.

The city is famous for its chemical and motor industry. It is especially known for the great wealth of salt, after which it got its name (from the Turkish language: "greed" means "so"), and this city lies on a large number of salt mines.

Natural resources and rich deposits of energy and mineral resources have been a determining factor in directing the current economic development of this region, and at the same time are an important backbone of future development.

Tuzla has made its special geological history the oldest or one of the oldest settlements in Europe. Namely, much of Europe, in the ancient geological past, represented the bottom of the Pannonian Sea. And the last remains of this must have receded from the present surface 10 million years ago. Just below Tuzla this sea left a trace of 350 million tons of salty rock and salt water. Salt water was raining to the surface, people were processing it in so still in the neolith. They later formed wells, which became more and more modern, and salt water became the basis of the chemical industry in modern Tuzla.

On July 18, 2003, local authorities decided to draw a large amount of salt water to the surface, to the previously prepared bottom, so Tuzla is now the only city in Europe that has a salt lake and the only city in the world whose salt lake is at the same time a bathing place and beach in the narrowest historical city center. The salt water of the Pannonian Lake is allegedly and healing.

Tuzla has a great industrial tradition, based on rich salt and coal deposits.

Today Tuzla is a city of new energy, in recent years it has experienced a great expansion of construction and rapid development.