Prijedor has been first mentioned in historical documents as a ground fortress, in letters of Count Adam Batschani during the so-called Viennese war from 1683 till 1699. However, many things refer to the town's existence since ancient times and the ancient Roman presence in this region. In Ljubija were found many monuments from the Roman age as evidence of the iron production. In Zecovi there is Illyrian necropolis from the Iron Age. A legend says that the river Sana had been named by the Romans. In the iron mine, used for production of weapons for the Roman legions, from Prijedor iron mine placers was melted in large smeltings—works of Salonica, Siscia and Sirmium.

Prijedor

Soon Prijedor has become a significant trade handcraft centre, thanks to the Roman roads, navigability of the Sana river and the first railway in the former Bosnia and Herzegovina which was built in 1873 during the time of Baron Hirsch. A century after, the town had burnt in a great fire which is why the Austro-Hungarian authorities had made the first urban plan in 1901.

Among important monuments there is a great monument on Mrakovica, the work of academic artist Dušan Džamonja, another evidence of traditional freedom-loving of the people in this region.

During the Bosnian war, the town of Omarska near Prijedor housed the infamous Omarska camp established by Serb authorities for Bosniak and Croat population. Prijedor was also a place of mass execution of Bosniaks and Croats, by Serb army. More than 3.500people had been killed, and more than 50 mass graves have been found for now. Serb high rank politician from Prijedor, Milomir Stakić, was found guilty by ICTY and got 40 years for war crimes conducted by Serb authorities in Prijedor.