HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
in the country after
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzeg ...
and
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of ...
, and are one of the constitutive nations of
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...
. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made significant contributions to the culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most Croats declare themselves
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and speakers of
Croatian language Croatian (; ' ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina, and other neighboring countries. It is the offici ...
. From the 15th to the 19th century,
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina were often persecuted by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, causing many of them to flee the area. In the 20th century, political turmoil and poor economic conditions caused more to emigrate.
Ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw Croats forced to go to different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite having lived in numerous regions prior to the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
. The
2013 population census in Bosnia and Herzegovina The most recent census of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 2013 census (''Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova u Bosni i Hercegovini, 2013.'' / Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова у Босни и Х ...
recorded 544,780 residents registering as of Croatian ethnicity.


History


Kingdom of Croatia

Croats settled the areas of modern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 7th century.
Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe ...
in
De Administrando Imperio ''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...
writes that Croats settled
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...
and from there they settled Illyricum and
Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now west ...
There, they assimilated with native
Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...
and Romans during the great migration of the Slavs. The Croats adopted
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
and began to develop their own culture, art, and political institutions, culminating in their own kingdom, which consisted of two principalities: Lower Pannonia ("Pannonian Croatia") in the north, and Dalmatian Croatia in the south. Red Croatia, to the south, was land of a few minor states. One of the most important events of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early Middle Ages is the First Croatian Assembly held in 753 in Županjac (present-day Tomislavgrad). The second major event was the coronation of
Tomislav Tomislav (, ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, that is widespread amongst the South Slavs. The meaning of the name ''Tomislav'' is thought to have derived from the Old Slavonic verb "'' tomiti''" or "'' tomit" meaning to "''languish ...
, the first King of Croatia, in ca. 925, in the fields of Županjac. By this act, Pannonian Croatia and Dalmatian Croatia formed a united Croatian kingdom, which included Dalmatia, Bosnia and Pannonia (eastern Slavonia and eastern Bosnia), and Savia (western Slavonia).


High and late middle age

In 1102 Croatia entered into a union with the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...
. After this, Bosnia, which was earlier part of the Kingdom of Croatia, started to disassociate with Croatia. At first, Bosnia became a separate principality under Ban Kulin who managed to solidify Bosnian autonomy at the expense of more powerful neighbours, but only in the 14th century did Bosnia become a formidable state. In the 14th century, King Tvrtko I conquered part of western Serbia and later parts of the Kingdom of Croatia, which he accomplished by defeating various Croatian nobles and supporting Hungary. Thus, the
Kingdom of Bosnia The Kingdom of Bosnia ( sh, Kraljevina Bosna / Краљевина Босна), or Bosnian Kingdom (''Bosansko kraljevstvo'' / Босанско краљевство), was a medieval kingdom that lasted for nearly a century, from 1377 to 1463, and ...
emerged, but part of the present territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina remained in the
Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to: * Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom * Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary * Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...
. Regarding culture and religion, Bosnia was closer to Croatia than the Orthodox lands to the east, and the Diocese of Bosnia is mentioned as Catholic in the 11th century, and later fell under the jurisdiction of the Croatian Archdiocese of Split and in the 12th Century under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Dubrovnik. Another connection of Bosnia with Croatia is that Bosnian rulers always used the political title " Ban Kulin" in similarity to their Croatian counterparts. Due to the scarcity of historical records, there are no definite figures dealing with the religious composition of medieval Bosnia. However, some Croat scholars suggest that a majority of Bosnia's medieval population were Catholics who, according to Zlopaša, accounted for 700,000 of 900,000 of the total Bosnian population. Some 100,000 were members of the
Bosnian Church The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква Босанска) was a Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina that was independent of and considered heretical by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodo ...
and other 100,000 were Orthodox Christians.


Ottoman Empire

In the middle of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire started to conquer Bosnia. In 1451 they took Vrhbosna province and conquered Bosnia in 1463. Herzegovina was conquered in 1481, while northern Bosnia was still under Hungary and Croatia until 1527 when it was conquered by the Ottomans. After the Turkish conquest, many Catholic Bosnians converted to Islam, and their numbers in some areas shrank as many fled from fear of conversion and persecution. The Ottoman conquest changed the demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reducing the number of Catholics, and eliminating the Bosnian Church, whose members apparently converted to Islam ''en masse''. The present-day boundaries of Bosnia and Herzegovina were made in 1699 when the
Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by ...
was signed in order to establish peace between the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
and the Ottoman Empire. Another significant event for Bosnian Croats is the boundary established by an agreement between the
Republic of Ragusa The Republic of Ragusa ( dlm, Republica de Ragusa; la, Respublica Ragusina; it, Repubblica di Ragusa; hr, Dubrovačka Republika; vec, Repùblega de Raguxa) was an aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' ...
and the Ottoman Empire, where Ragusans promised to give in a part of their territory in Neum to the Ottomans in order to protect themselves from the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...
. The activity of the Catholic Church was limited, while the Ottomans preferred the Orthodox Church because Catholicism was the faith of Austria, the Ottoman enemies, while Orthodoxy was common in Bosnia, and thus it was more acceptable to the Ottomans. In the first 50 years of Ottoman rule, many Catholics fled from Bosnia. A number of Catholics also converted to Orthodox Christianity. Franciscans were the only Catholic priests to be active in Bosnia. Before the Ottomans arrived in Bosnia, there were 35 Franciscan monasteries in Bosnia and four in Herzegovina. Some monasteries were destroyed and some were converted to mosques. In the 1680s there were only 10 Franciscan monasteries left in Bosnia. The Catholic Church in Bosnia divided its administration into two dioceses, one was the Croatian Bosnia diocese, the part which was not conquered by the Ottomans, and the other was Bosna Srebrena diocese. Between 1516 and 1524, planned persecution and forced Islamization of Catholics occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that year, Franciscan monasteries in Kraljeva Sutjeska,
Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 liv ...
, Fojnica,
Kreševo Kreševo ( sr-cyrl, Крешево, ) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kreševo is a mountainous town, located in a narrow valley of the ...
and
Konjic Konjic ( sr-Cyrl, Коњиц) is a city and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Herzegovina, around southwest of Saraje ...
, and later in
Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...
. It is believed that during that time, some 100,000 Croats converted to Islam. In 1528 the Ottomans conquered
Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wit ...
and
Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...
, thus destroying the Croatian defence line on Vrbas river. After that conquest, Croatia reduced to around 37,000 km2. During the 18th century, Turkish rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina started to weaken, and after the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
their rule rapidly decreased; the Ottoman Empire lost its demographic, civilization, and other reserves for military and territorial expansion, while the Austrian Empire, as the rest of the European countries, gained them. From 1815 to 1878 the Ottoman authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina was decreasing. After the reorganization of the Ottoman army and abolition of the
Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...
, Bosnian nobility revolted, led by Husein Gradaščević, who wanted to establish autonomy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and stop any further social reforms. During the 19th Century, various reforms were made in order to increase freedom of religion which sharpened relations between Catholics and Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Soon, economic decay would happen and
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
influence from Europe came to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the state administration was very disorganized and the national conscience was very strong among the Christian population, the Ottoman Empire lost control over Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 19 June 1875 Catholic Croats, led by Don Ivan Musić, revolted because of high taxes in West Herzegovina. Their goal was to subordinate Bosnia to the rule of the Emperor of Austria, respectively King of Croatia. During the revolt, for the first time, Bosnian Croats used the flag of Croatia. Soon after, the Orthodox population in East Herzegovina also revolted, which led to the Herzegovina Uprising. The Ottoman authorities were unable to defeat the rebels, so Serbia and Montenegro took advantage of this weakness and attacked the Ottoman Empire in 1876, soon after the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
did the same. The Turks lost the war in 1878, and this resulted in over 150,000 refugees who went to Croatia. After the Congress of Berlin was held in the same year, Bosnia and Herzegovina was transferred to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.


Austria-Hungary

Even after the fall of Ottoman rule, the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided. In the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia, Croatian politicians strived for the unification of the Kingdom of Dalmatia with Croatia. Another ambition of Croatian politicians was to incorporate the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Kingdom of Croatia. The Habsburg Governor
Béni Kállay Béni Kállay de Nagy-Kálló or Benjamin von Kállay ( hu, Kállay Benjámin; – ) was an Austro-Hungarian statesman and a Hungarian nobleman. Early life Kállay was born in Pest (today part of Budapest). His family derived their name f ...
resorted to co-opting religious institutions. Soon, the Austrian Emperor gained support to name Orthodox metropolitans and Catholic bishops and to choose the Muslim hierarchy. The first Catholic archbishop was Josip Stadler. Both apostolic vicariates, Bosnian and Herzegovinian, were abolished, and instead, three dioceses were founded; Vrhbosna diocese with a seat in Sarajevo, Banja Luka diocese with a seat in Banja Luka and Mostar-Duvno diocese with a seat in Mostar. At the time, Bosnia and Herzegovina were facing a Habsburg attempt at modernization. Between 180,000 and 200,000 people inhabited Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority were Croats, Serbs, Muslims, and in smaller percentages
Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, History ...
,
Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
and others. During this period, the most significant event is Bosnian entry into European political life and the shaping of ethnic Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina into a modern nation. At the end of the 19th century, Bosnian Croats founded various reading, cultural and singing societies, and at the beginning of the 20th century, a new Bosnian Croat intelligentsia played a major role in the political life of Croats. The Croatian Support Society for Needs of Students of Middle Schools and High Schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina was founded in 1902, and in 1907 it was merged with the Croatian Society for Education of Children in Craft and Trade, also founded in 1902, into Croatian Cultural Society Napredak (Progress). Napredak educated and gave scholarships to more than 20,000 students. Students of Napredak were not only Bosnian Croats but also Croats from other regions. Kallay tried to unify all Bosnians into a single nation of Bosniaks, but he failed to do so after Bosnians created their national political parties. Before the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, the
Croat People's Union Croat People's Union ( hr, Hrvatska narodna zajednica, ; Croatian abbreviation: HNZ) was a Bosnian Croat political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Party was founded by Ivo Pilar in 1910 with goal to represent interests of Croats in the Condominiu ...
(HNZ) become a political party; its ideology was very similar to that of the Croatian-Serbian Coalition in Croatia. In 1909, Stadler opposed such a policy and founded a new political party, the Croat Catholic Association (HKU), an opponent of the secular HNZ. HKU emphasized clerical ideals and religious exclusivity. However, Bosnian Croats mostly supported the secular nationalist policy of the HNZ. HNZ and Muslim Nation Organization formed a coalition that ruled the country from 1911 until the dissolution of the Bosnian parliament in 1914.


Kingdom of Yugoslavia

After World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the internationally unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which existed between October and December 1918. In December 1918, this state united with the Kingdom of Serbia as
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
,which was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. This new state was characterized by Serbian nationalism, and was a form of " Greater Serbia". Serbs held control over the armed forces and the politics of the state. With around 40% of Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian leadership of the state wanted to implement a Serbian hegemony in this region. Bosnian Croats constituted around a quarter of the total Bosnian population, but they did not have a single municipality president. The regime of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was characterized by limited parliamentarism, drastic elective manipulations and later King Alexander's 6 January Dictatorship, state robbery present outside Serbia and political killings ( Milan Šufflay, Ivo Pilar) and corruption. Yugoslavia was preoccupied with political struggles, which led to the collapse of the state after Dušan Simović organized a coup in March 1941 and after which Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia. King Alexander was killed in 1934, which led to the end of the dictatorship. In 1939, faced with killings, corruption scandals, violence, and the failure of centralized policy, the Serbian leadership agreed on a compromise with the Croats. On 24 August 1939, the president of the Croatian Peasant Party, Vladko Maček and Dragiša Cvetković made an agreement (''Cvetković-Maček agreement'') according to which
Banovina of Croatia The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an autonomous province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merg ...
was created on territory of
Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
and Littoral Banovina and on districts of
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...
,
Šid Šid ( sr-cyr, Шид, ) is a town and municipality located in the Srem District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It has a population of 14,893, while the municipality has 34,188 inhabitants. A border crossing between Serbia and ...
,
Brčko Brčko ( sr-cyrl, Брчко, ) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, ...
, Ilok, Gradačac,
Derventa Derventa ( sr-cyrl, Дервента) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Posavina region, northwest of the city of Doboj. As of 2013, the town has a total of 11,631 inhabitants, wh ...
,
Travnik Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 2 ...
and Fojnica. Around 30% of the present-day territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes part of Banovina of Croatia. Those parts had a Croatian majority. The creation of Banovina of Croatia was one of the solutions to the "''Croatian issue''".


World War II

After the collapse of Yugoslavia amidst German and Italian invasion in April 1941, the Axis puppet state which encompassed the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...
(NDH) under the radical Croatian nationalist
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...
regime was established. Bosnian Croats were divided, as some supported the NDH, some actively opposed it by joining or supporting the
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод� ...
, while others chose to wait, not attracted either by fascist Ustaše or communist-led resistance. After the Ustaše campaign of
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
and terror, targeting Serbs,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
, a brutal civil war ensued. At the same time, a parallel genocide against Croats and Bosniaks was carried out by the Yugoslav Royalist and Serbian nationalist
Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royali ...
. The Ustaše regime also persecuted any opponents or dissidents among Bosnian Croats, especially communists, pre-war members of the now-banned Croatian Peasant Party, and those connected with the partisan resistance. The Ustaše executed many Bosnian Croats, for instance, resistance fighters and supporters Jakov Dugandžić, Mostar's Ljubo Brešan and 19-year old Mostar gymnasium student Ante Zuanić, as well as a prominent Mostar CPP member Blaž Slišković (in Jasenovac concentration camp). Prominent Croat communist intellectual from Bosnia,
Ognjen Prica Ognjen Prica (27 November 1899 – 9 July 1941) was a Yugoslav communist politician and journalist known for his roles in the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia and the League of Communists of Croatia. He was a victim of the Nazi-backed NDH ...
, was shot by Ustaše in Kerestinec prison. Families of Bosnian Croats who left to join the partisan resistance were usually interned or sent to concentration camps by Ustaše authorities. Numerous Bosnian Croats joined the partisan movement, fighting against the Axis forces and the Ustaše regime. Some of them included
people's heroes People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights ma ...
such as Franjo Kluz, Ivan Marković Irac, Stipe Đerek, Karlo Batko, Ante Šarić "Rade Španac" and others. From the very beginning of the uprising against the Axis, many Bosnian Croats became commanders of partisan units (e.g., Josip Mažar-Šoša, Ivica Marušić-Ratko etc.), even though the units themselves were predominantly composed of Serbs. The territory that partisans liberated and managed to keep under their control from November 1942 to January 1943 (dubbed the '' Republic of Bihać'') included all of rural Western Herzegovina west of Neretva and Široki Brijeg, including Livno. Livno and its area, under partisan control from August to October 1942, was very important for Bosnian Croat resistance, as key CPP members Florijan Sučić and Ivan Pelivan joined the resistance and mobilized many other Croats. Bosnian Croats' representatives, among which Mostar lawyer Cvitan Spužević, also actively participated in the provisional assembly of the country, ZAVNOBiH (State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). ZAVNOBiH proclaimed the statehood of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the equality of Muslims, Croats, and Serbs in the country in its historic session in 1943. The first
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
of People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1945 included several prominent Croats - Jakov Grgurić (deputy prime minister), Cvitan Spužević (minister of construction), Ante Babić (
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
), and Ante Martinović (forestry). After the partisans liberated most of Yugoslavia and NDH collapsed in May 1945, some NDH soldiers and civilians retreated to the British-occupied zone in Austria. Many of them were killed in the Bleiburg repatriations. In the closing stages of the war and the immediate aftermath, some Bosnian Croats who previously supported the Ustaše regime or were merely perceived as potential opponents of the new communist Yugoslavia were persecuted or executed (notably, Herzegovina friars). Total casualties and losses of Bosnian Croats in World War II and the aftermath are estimated at 64-79,000. According to the statistician
Bogoljub Kočović Bogoljub Kočović (1920 – February 2013) was a Serbian jurist and statistician. He undertook the first objective examination of the number of people killed during World War Two in Yugoslavia and published his findings in the 1985 book ''Žrtv ...
, the relative war losses of Bosnian Croats, compared to their expected population in 1948, was 11.4%. According to the demographer
Vladimir Žerjavić Vladimir Žerjavić (2 August 1912 – 5 September 2001) was a Croatian economist and demographer who published a series of historical articles and books during the 1980s and 1990s on demographic losses in Yugoslavia during World War II and of ...
, 17,000 Bosnian Croats died in partisan ranks, 22,000 in NDH forces, while 25,000 lost their lives as civilians; of civilians, almost ¾ or 19,000 died as a result of Axis terror or in Ustaše concentration camps. At the end of 1977, 8.8% of Bosnian recipients of veteran's pensions were Croats, while during the WWII Croats composed around 23% of the country's population.


Socialist Yugoslavia

After the war,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...
became one of the 6 constitutive republics of Socialist Yugoslavia. Intensive state campaigns of nationalization of property, followed by industrialization and urbanization variously affected Bosnian Croats. While some centers and areas prospered, other rural areas underwent depopulation and urban flight, as well as (most notably in western Herzegovina) high rates of emigration to the Western world. Officeholders usually rotated among the three ethnic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the 1980s, many Bosnian Croat politicians were in high positions - for instance, Ante Marković, Branko Mikulić, and
Mato Andrić Mato may refer to: People *Ana Mato (born 1959), Spanish politician *Jakup Mato (1934–2005), Albanian publicist *Mato Miloš (born 1993), Croatian footballer *Mato Neretljak (born 1979), Croatian footballer Places *Mato, a parish of Ponte de L ...
.


Bosnian War

Citizens of the
Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...
voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
that was held between 29 February and 1 March 1992. The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats, and others who live in it?" Independence was strongly favoured by Bosniak and Bosnian Croat voters, but the referendum was largely boycotted by
Bosnian Serbs The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
. The total turnout of voters was 63.6% of which 99.7% voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 5 April 1992, Serb forces started the
Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...
. On 12 May,
Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
left Bosnia and Herzegovina and left most of the arms to the Army of Republika Srpska, headed by Ratko Mladić. The first unit to oppose Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the
Croatian Defence Forces The Croatian Defence Forces ( hr, Hrvatske obrambene snage or HOS) were the paramilitary arm of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992, during the first stages of the Yugoslav wars. During the Croatian War of Independence, the HOS ...
(HOS) founded by
Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava Bosne i Hercegovine or HSP BiH) is an extra-parliamentary party in Bosnia and Herzegovina that represents the ideology of Ante Starčević. The main goals of the ...
on 18 December 1991. The
Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia ( hr, Hrvatska Republika Herceg-Bosna) was an unrecognized geopolitical entity and quasi-state in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 November 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bos ...
established its own force, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on 8 April 1992. HVO consisted of 20 to 30% of Bosniaks who joined HVO because local Muslim militias were unable to arm themselves. Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia was founded on 18 November 1991 as a community of municipalities where the majority of the population were Croats. In its founding acts, Herzeg-Bosnia had no separatist character. The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was declared by the Bosnian Croat leadership as a temporary region, which after the war ended, would again become part of a united Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the beginning of the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
, Bosnian Croats were first to organize themselves, especially Croats in western Herzegovina who were already armed. At the end of May 1992, Croats launched a counter-offensive, liberating Mostar after a month of fighting. Also, in central Bosnia and Posavina, Croatian forces stopped the Serbian advance, and in some places, they repelled the enemy. On 16 June 1992, the President of Croatia,
Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
and the President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović signed an alliance according to which, Bosnia and Herzegovina legalized the activity of Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council on its territory. Bosnian Croat political leadership and the leadership of Croatia urged Izetbegović to form a
confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...
between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, but Izetbegović denied this since he tried to represent Serbian interests as well as those of Bosniaks and Croats. The Bosnian Croat leadership was irritated by Izetbegović's neutrality, so
Mate Boban Mate Boban (; 12 February 1940 – 7 July 1997) was a Bosnian Croat politician and one of the founders of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was the 1st President of Herzeg-Bosnia fro ...
threatened to pull back the HVO from actions in Bosnia. Since the UN implemented an embargo on Bosnia and Herzegovina on the import of arms, Bosniak and Croat forces had difficulties fighting Serbian units, which were supplied with arms from the Middle East, just before the outbreak of war. However, after Croat and Bosniak forces reorganized in late May 1992, the Serbian advance was halted and their forces mostly remained in their positions during the war. The tensions between Croats and Bosniaks started on 19 June 1992, but the real war began in October. The Croat-Bosniak War was at its peak in 1993. In March 1994, the Bosniak and Croat leadership signed the Washington agreement, according to which, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)-controlled and HVO-controlled areas were united into the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...
. After the Washington agreement was signed, the Croatian Army, HVO and ARBiH liberated southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina in seven military operations. In December 1995, the Bosnian War ended with the signing of the Dayton agreement. However, the same agreement caused problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was largely ineffective. According to the information published by the Research and Documentation Centre in Sarajevo, 7,762 Croats were killed or missing. From the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 230,000 Croats were expelled, while from the territory of
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
, 152,856 Croats were expelled.


Demographics

Comprising 15.43% of the country's population, Croats have been unequally spread across the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This has further been reflected and reinforced by the post-1995
political division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of the country. Currently, according to the 2013 census, 91% of them live in the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...
, while just 5.4% and 3.2% live in
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
and
Brčko District Brčko District ( bs, Brčko Distrikt; hr, Brčko Distrikt; sr, Брчко Дистрикт, ), officially the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Brčko Distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine; hr, Brčko Distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine; ), i ...
, respectively. In Republika Srpska, Croat share in the entity population is just 2% (29,645), while in Brčko it stands at 20.7% (17,252). On the other hand, in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croats form 22.4% of the entity's population. Four out of ten Federal cantons have a Croat majority. All Croat-majority municipalities are located in this entity as well. According to the Croatian Ministry of Interior, 384,631 Croatian citizens had registered residence in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 2019.


Municipalities

However, Croats are further variously spread in the Federation itself. Most of the municipalities with a clear Croat majority form two compact regions. One is in the southwest of the country, along the border with Croatia, from Kupres and Livno in the northwest along West Herzegovina to Ravno in the southeast (
Široki Brijeg , , nickname = , motto = , image_map = BiH municipality location Široki Brijeg.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location o ...
, Ljubuški, Livno, Čitluk, Tomislavgrad,
Čapljina Čapljina ( sr-cyrl, Чапљина, ) is a city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea. The ...
, Posušje, Grude, Prozor-Rama, Stolac, Neum,
Kupres Kupres ( sr-cyrl, Купрес) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 5,057 inhabitants, while the town of Kupres has ...
, Ravno). Around 40% of the country's and 45% of the Federation's Croats live here. The second is Posavina Canton in the north ( Orašje,
Odžak Odžak ( sr-cyrl, Оџак) is a town and municipality located in Posavina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the northern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the river Sav ...
,
Domaljevac-Šamac Domaljevac-Šamac ( sr-cyrl, Домаљевац-Шамац) is a municipality located in Posavina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 4,771 inha ...
). This canton's share of the Croat population is 6%. Other Croat-majority or -plurality municipalities are enclaves in Central Bosnia and around Zenica (
Dobretići Dobretići ( sr-cyrl, Добретићи) is a village and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of the youngest and smallest municipalities in Bos ...
, Vitez, Busovača,
Kiseljak Kiseljak (Кисељак) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies in the valley of the Fojnica River, the Lepenica and the Kreševka ...
, Usora,
Kreševo Kreševo ( sr-cyrl, Крешево, ) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kreševo is a mountainous town, located in a narrow valley of the ...
, Žepče). In ethnically mixed
Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wit ...
and Novi Travnik in Central Bosnia, Croats form 46% of the population. In
Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...
area, Croats comprise the plurality of the population both in the municipality (48.4%) and the city itself (49%).Mostar municipality, 2013 census results, statistika.ba
/ref> Mostar is the largest city in
Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
and the city with the largest Croat population in the country (51,216 in the area and 29,475 in the urban district). Croats comprise an overwhelming majority in the western part of both the city and the entire municipality. Croats comprise 41% of the population in Uskoplje, a third in Vareš and Pelagićevo, and a quarter in Glamoč and Donji Žabar. In Grahovo, Croats make up around 15% of the population. In addition to that, 762 Croats form the plurality (40.4%) in the ethnically diverse small town of Glamoč.


Cantons

There are 4 Croat-majority cantons and in total 6 cantons in which Croats form more than 10% of the population.


Demographic history


Ottoman Empire

In 1624, there were around 450,000 Muslims (67%), 150,000 Catholics (22%) and 75,000 Orthodox Christians (11%). In 1776, according to Klaić, there were around 50,000 Catholics in Bosnia. However, the Turkish censuses were biased, and they only numbered the houses and later exclusively included the male population. Throughout this period, the Catholic majority persisted in the southwest of the country (western Herzegovina), parts of central Bosnia, and Posavina, mostly in rural areas.


Austria-Hungary and Kingdom of Yugoslavia

During Austro-Hungarian rule (1878–1918), the number and share of Croats started to slowly increase. Croats from Croatia moved to the country to work in the Austro-Hungarian administration or as teachers, doctors and officers. According to the Croatian author
Vjekoslav Klaić Vjekoslav Klaić (21 June 1849 – 1 July 1928) was a Croatian historian and writer, most famous for his monumental work ''History of the Croats''. Klaić was born in Garčin near Slavonski Brod as the son of a teacher. He was raised in Germa ...
, at the beginning of the period, in 1878, there were 646,678 Orthodox Christians (respectively Serbs, 48.4%), 480,596 Muslims (35.9%), 207,199 Catholics (respectively Croats, 15.5%) and 3,000 Jews (0.2%). In 1895, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 1,336,091 inhabitants, of which there were 571,250 Orthodox Christians (42.76%), 492,710 Muslims (36,88%), 265,788 Catholics (19.89%), 5,805 Jews (0.43%) and 53 others (0.04%). The slow process of nation-building on one hand and the Austrian-Hungarian administration's downplaying of ethnic differences and nationalism while trying to keep Croatian and
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...
influence on the country at bay, on the other hand, make it difficult to assess the actual ethnic allegiance at this period. The main characteristic of the ethnic policy of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...
(1918–1941) was a Serbian attempt to implement Serbian hegemony and to serbianise the rest of the population. According to the 1931 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 2,323,787 inhabitants of which Serbs made 44.25%, Muslims 30.90%, Croats 23.58% and others made 1.02% of the total population.


Socialist Yugoslavia

The first Yugoslav census recorded a decreasing number of Croats; from the first census in 1948 to the last one in 1991, the percentage of Croatians decreased from 23% to 17.3%, even though the total number increased. According to the 1953 census, Croats were in the majority in territories which became part of Banovina of Croatia in 1939. Their total number was 654,229, which is 23,00% of the total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 1961 census, Croats made up 21.7% of the total population, and their number was 711,660. After that, districts were divided into smaller municipalities. According to the 1971 census, Croats were 20.6% of the total population, and their number was 772,491. According to the 1981 census, Croats made up 18.60% of the total population, and their number was 767,247. In comparison to the 1971 census, for the first time, the percentage of Croats was below 20%, and after 1981, their percentage continued to fall. From 1971 to 1991, the percentage of Croats fell due to emigration into Croatia and Western Europe. Nevertheless, the fall in population percentage is only absent in western Herzegovina municipalities where Croats account for more than 98% of the population. According to the 1991 census, Croats were 17.3% of the total population, and their number was 755,895.


Bosnian War

The total number of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to fall, especially after the Bosnian War broke out in 1992. Soon, an exodus of Bosnian Croats occurred when a large number of Croats were expelled from central Bosnia and Posavina. According to the 1996 census, made by UNHCR and officially unrecognized, there were 571,317 Croats in the country (14.57%). In the territory of the Herzeg-Bosnia, the percentage of Croats slightly changed, although, their total number was reduced.


Education

The first educational institutions of Bosnian Croats were monasteries, of which the most significant were those in
Kreševo Kreševo ( sr-cyrl, Крешево, ) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kreševo is a mountainous town, located in a narrow valley of the ...
, Fojnica, Kraljeva Sutjeska and Tolisa, and later monasteries in Herzegovina, of which most significant are those in Humac and
Široki Brijeg , , nickname = , motto = , image_map = BiH municipality location Široki Brijeg.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location o ...
. The most significant people working for the elementary education of Bosnian Croats in the 19th century were Ivan Franjo Jukić and
Grgo Martić Fra Grgo Martić (1822 – 30 August 1905), also known as Grga or Mate Martić, was a Bosnian friar and writer in the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. Biography Martić was born in Rastovača village near Posušje, Eyalet of Bosnia, Ottoman ...
, who founded and organized elementary schools throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1887, many elementary schools were founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina along with the
Order of Sisters of St. Francis Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
, whose classes were led methodologically and professionally, so Bosnian Croat schools were, at the end of the Ottoman era and beginning of Austrian-Hungarian occupation, the same as elementary schools in rest of Europe. The educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina during communism was based on a mixture of nationalities and the suppression of Croat identity. With the foundation of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, Bosnian Croat schools took the educational system from Croatia. At the same time, University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar was renamed to
University of Mostar The University of Mostar ( hr, Sveučilište u Mostaru; la, Universitas Studiorum Mostariensis) is the largest public university located in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously it was called the University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar, ...
with Croatian as the official language. This university is the only one in Bosnia and Herzegovina to use Croatian as the official language. After signing the Dayton accords, jurisdiction over education in Republika Srpska was given to the RS Government, while in the Federation, jurisdiction over education was given to the cantons. In municipalities with a Croat majority or significant minority, schools with Croatian as an official language also exist, while in the territories where there is only a small number of Croats, Catholic centres perform education. Other education institutes are HKD Napredak, the Scientific Research Institute of the University of Mostar, the Croatian Lexicographic Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Institute for Education in Mostar.


Language

Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina speak Croatian, a standardized variety of
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
, spoken by the people of Yugoslavia.


Politics


State level

Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other two constitutive nations, have their representative in the
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...
. The Presidency has three members, one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb. Bosniak and Croat are elected in the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...
, while Serb is elected in the
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
. The current Croat member of the Presidency is Željko Komšić of the DF. The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina has two chambers, House of Representatives and House of Peoples. House of Peoples has 15 members, five Bosniaks, five Croats, and five Serbs. Bosniak and Croat members of the House of Peoples are elected in the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while five Serb members are elected in the
National Assembly of Republika Srpska The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (, abbr. НСРС/NSRS) is the legislative body of Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current assembly is the ninth since the founding of the entity. History The Nation ...
. The 42 members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by voters, two-thirds are from the Federation while one-third is from the Republika Srpska.


Federal level

The Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists also of two chambers, House of Representatives, which consists of 98 members, and House of Peoples that consists of 58 members. Members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while members of the House of Peoples are selected by the cantonal assemblies. There are 17 representatives in the House of Peoples of each constitutive nation, Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. Other 7 representatives are those of national minorities. In electing the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and two Vice-Presidents of the Federation, at least one-third of the delegates of the respective Bosniak, Croat or Serb caucuses in the House of Peoples may nominate the President and two Vice presidents of the Federation. The election for the President and two Vice Presidents of the Federation shall require the joint approval of the list of three nominees, by a majority vote in the House of Representatives, and then by a majority vote in the House of Peoples, including the majority of each constituent people's caucus. Current President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is Marinko Čavara of the Croatian Democratic Union. The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to be composed of 16 ministers, 8 Bosniaks, 5 Croats and 3 Serbs. In January 2017, Croatian National Assembly stated that "if Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to become self-sustainable, then it is necessary to have an administrative-territorial reorganization, which would include a federal unit with a Croatian majority. It remains the permanent aspiration of the Croatian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina."


Political parties

Currently, there are several Croatian political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, many corresponding to parties within Croatia itself. The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990) are the most popular parties. HDZ was founded in 1990 and is a major political party among the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, being the most powerful during the Bosnian War (1992–1995) and the existence of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia (1991–1994). HDZ is
Christian democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democrati ...
, conservative and pro-Europeanist political party. HDZ 1990 is a split party of the Croatian Democratic Union, founded in 2006, however, their ideology is very similar to one of the HDZ. HDZ 1990 is also Christian democratic and pro-Europeanist.


Open issues

A conference was held in Neum,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...
on October 27 and 28, 2005, under the title Constitutional position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina - language, education, culture, and media ( hr, Ustavno-pravni položaj Hrvata u BiH - jezik, obrazovanje, kultura i mediji). It was organized by the
University of Mostar The University of Mostar ( hr, Sveučilište u Mostaru; la, Universitas Studiorum Mostariensis) is the largest public university located in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously it was called the University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar, ...
and the Croatian Society of Arts and Science. It produced the ''Declaration of the constitutional-law position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina''. (The words "constitutional-law position" refer to the position of
Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic ...
as one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Ivo Miro Jović sponsored the conference and it also received support from many other organizations. The Declaration produced several demands about the equal treatment of the Croatian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most significant of these was the creation of three republics within the nation: * "Starting from the scientific cognition and practical experiences, we think, that in consultation with the representatives of Serbian and Bosniak people and the International Community, we should organize Bosnia and Herzegovina as a compound federal state, composed of three federal units and three levels of government. Since only the republic, as a democratic form of the rule of nations, includes and guarantees the highest level of democracy, political, cultural, and every other autonomy, we pledge for the establishment of three republics for three sovereign nations, which is in full accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Pact on the civil, social and cultural rights to the equality of all nations regardless of their numerousness." The Declaration upheld the right to learn Croatian in school as well as the need for the preservation of their people's culture. Another important issue was the need for a Croat
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...
within the country.


Culture


Art

In the area near the Neretva river, a Hellenised Illyrian tribe, the Daorsi, spread cultural influences from Greece. Their capital Daorson on Oršćani near Stolac is today the most significant center of antic culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complex of the terraced shrine near Gradac near Posušje, built in 183, was dedicated to a dead Roman Emperor,
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
. Late Roman art in Bosnia and Herzegovina was characterized by the building of villas, Christian mausoleums, basilicas, and oratories like Vila "Mogorjelo" near
Čapljina Čapljina ( sr-cyrl, Чапљина, ) is a city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea. The ...
(early 4th century). The influence of
romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...
arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina across Croatia, but it was never completely accepted, only its elements were used. Such buildings are St. Luke's Tower in
Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wit ...
(15th century) or motives of ''stećak'' tombstones. Valuable manuscripts of Bosnian origin occur at this time. Hrvoje's Missal is the most significant artwork of the medieval Bosnian Croats, written in the 15th century. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Ottoman rule, which destroyed the influence of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
and
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
, the impact of which was only present in
Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
monasteries in
Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 liv ...
,
Kreševo Kreševo ( sr-cyrl, Крешево, ) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kreševo is a mountainous town, located in a narrow valley of the ...
, Fojnica, and Kraljeva Sutjeska. The first Bosnian Croat painters were educated in European academies in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
,
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, Krakow,
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
and
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. Their education was funded by HKD Napredak. The most famous Bosnian Croat painters are Gabrijel Jurkić, Karlo Mijić, Branko Radulović, and Petar Šain. Statuary was reduced to the memorial portraits, of which the most famous is that of Robert Frangeš-Mihanović and ''Sputani genije'', a statue on the grave of
Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević (; 17 February 1865 – 29 October 1908) was a Croatian poet. His reflexive poetry, reaching its zenith in the 1890s, was a turning point that ushered modern themes in Croatian poetry. Early life Kranjčevi ...
built by Rudolf Valdec. After World War II, the Association of Artists of Bosnia and Herzegovina was founded along with the Painting State School and Sarajevo Art Gallery. Architectural Regionalism is seen in the 1970s in buildings such as the department stores ''Razvitak'' in Mostar (1970) and in Jajce (1976). The best example of Functionalism is the multiple award-winning hotel ''Ruža'' in Mostar (1979).


Literature

Bosnian Croat literature consists of works written in Croatian by authors who originated from Bosnia and Herzegovina and are considered part of Croatian literature. It consists of pre-Ottoman literature (first written monuments, texts of the Bosnian Church, diplomatic and law documents, manuscripts on tombstones), Bosna Srebrena literature (prayer books, catechisms, collections of sermons, biographies of saints, monastery yearbooks, first historical works, poems and memoirs, travel books, grammars of Latin and Croatian, and lexicographic works), national awakening literature (the foundation of various associations, reading rooms, libraries in which writing courses were held), the literature of Bosnian Muslims (various Bosniak writers made a significant impact on Croatian literature and were influenced by other Croat authors) and modern Bosnian Croat literature. The best known contributors to the Bosnian Croat literature are
Ivan Aralica __NOTOC__ Ivan Aralica (born 10 September 1930) is a Croatian novelist and essayist. Born in Promina, Croatia, Promina near Knin, and having finished pedagogical school and Philosophical Faculty at the University of Zadar, Aralica had worked sin ...
, Matija Divković, Mirko Kovač,
Ivo Kozarčanin Ivo Kozarčanin (Hrvatska Dubica, October 14, 1911 - Zagreb, February 4, 1941) was a Croatian writer, poet and literary critic. Soon after his birth Kozarčanin's family moved to the Hungarian town of Oreglak, where his faither worked on the rai ...
,
Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević (; 17 February 1865 – 29 October 1908) was a Croatian poet. His reflexive poetry, reaching its zenith in the 1890s, was a turning point that ushered modern themes in Croatian poetry. Early life Kranjčevi ...
,
Tomislav Ladan Tomislav Ladan (25 June 1932 – 12 September 2008) was a Croatian essayist, critic, translator and novelist. Ladan was born in Ivanjica, Serbia, and spent his formative years in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina (Travnik, Bugojno), where he ...
, Vitomir Lukić,
Grgo Martić Fra Grgo Martić (1822 – 30 August 1905), also known as Grga or Mate Martić, was a Bosnian friar and writer in the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. Biography Martić was born in Rastovača village near Posušje, Eyalet of Bosnia, Ottoman ...
, Matija Mažuranić, and
Antun Branko Šimić Antun Branko Šimić (18 November 1898 – 2 May 1925) was a Croatian expressionist poet, considered to be one of the most important poets of Croatian literature of the 20th century. Life He was born to a Croat family from Drinovci near Grude o ...
.


Music

The traditional music of Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina is related to
ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
, klapa,
gusle The gusle ( sr-cyrl, гусле) or lahuta ( sq, lahutë) is a single- stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanied by ...
, tamburica and šargija. Those ways of singing and musical instruments are part of the Bosnian Croat national identity. Ganga, klapa, and gusle are most widespread on the territory of western Herzegovina, even though they can be seen in eastern Herzegovina and Bosnia. Tamburica is popular in
Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning fro ...
and central Bosnia. Šargija is widespread in northern Bosnia, from
Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning fro ...
to Olovo and Vareš. The most known singers of modern Bosnian Croat music are Željko Bebek and Jura Stublić. Some new known singers include Mate Bulić, Ivan Mikulić, Nikša Bratoš, Ivana Marić, the Feminnem girl band, and others. Some other well-known Croatian singers originate from Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Ivo Fabijan, Boris Novković,
Vesna Pisarović Vesna Pisarović (born 9 April 1978) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. Life and career 1978–1999: Early life Pisarović was born in Brčko, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia and grew up in Požega, SR Croatia, a part of the same cou ...
and others. There are two significant music festivals, '' Melodije Mostara'' (Melodies of Mostar) and ''Etnofest Neum'' on which musicians from Croatia also participate. Alongside traditional music, some other musical genres also developed, like heavy metal, hip hop,
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...
and
techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
.


Religion

Croats are the core of the
Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. According to the latest census from 2013, there are 544,114 Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, making u ...
. The metropolitan diocese is the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna. There are also dioceses centered in
Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...
and
Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...
, of which Mostar is the largest.
Vinko Puljić Vinko Puljić (; born 8 September 1945) is a Bosnian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal since 1994. He was the archbishop of Vrhbosna from 1991 to 2022. Early life and education The twelfth of thirteen children, Vinko Pulji� ...
is the current
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...
and Archbishop of Vrhbosna. The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Sarajevo is the largest cathedral in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna. The other three Roman Catholic cathedrals in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the Cathedral of Saint Bonaventure in
Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...
, the Cathedral of Mary, Mother of the Church in
Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...
, and the Cathedral of the Birth of Mary in Trebinje. There are numerous monasteries throughout the region. The oldest is the 14th century Monastery of the Holy Spirit located in Fojnica in central Bosnia, which houses a large library filled with many historical documents dating back to medieval Bosnia. Two other well-known monasteries are the Guča Gora Monastery near
Travnik Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 2 ...
and Kraljeva Sutjeska Monastery near
Kakanj Kakanj ( sr-cyrl, Какањ) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 11,796 inhabitants, with 38,937 in ...
, both located in central Bosnia. The rest of the monasteries in the region are the Monastery of St. Anthony in Sarajevo, the Monastery of St. Mark in
Derventa Derventa ( sr-cyrl, Дервента) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Posavina region, northwest of the city of Doboj. As of 2013, the town has a total of 11,631 inhabitants, wh ...
, Gorica Monastery in Livno, and the Assumption of Mary Monastery in Prozor-Rama. Oldest saved church in Bosnia is Old Church of St. Michael in Vareš. It has been built before the 16th century. The parish of Međugorje is a significant Marian shrine which attracts approximately one million visitors annually. It became a popular site of religious pilgrimage due to reports of apparitions of the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
to six local Catholics in 1981. Over a thousand hotel and hostel beds are available for religious tourism.


Sports

Croatian-run clubs are well represented in terms of national championships in relation to the percentage of Croats in the population. In
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
, HŠK Zrinjski Mostar, NK Široki Brijeg,
NK Žepče Nogometni Klub Žepče 1919 is a football club from Žepče, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The home stadium is called Žepče Gradski Stadion (Žepče City Stadium) with a capacity of 4,000. The team plays in the fourth tier League of Zenica-Doboj Ca ...
,
HŠK Posušje HŠK Posušje is a professional association football club based in Posušje that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club is best known for winning the First League of Herzeg-Bosnia in 1999 and 2000, the top flight ethnic Croat league in Bo ...
, and
HNK Orašje HNK Orašje is a professional association football club from the town of Orašje that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club was founded in 1996, being one of the newest to play in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Orašje p ...
are some of the most successful. Collectively, they have won three national Cup and five national Championships since the national competition began in 2000. Other Croatian-run clubs are
NK Brotnjo Hrvatski Nogometni Klub Brotnjo ( en, Football Club Brotnjo) is a football club based in Čitluk, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in Second League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brotnjo plays out of Bare Stadium, which has ...
,
NK SAŠK Napredak NK SAŠK Napredak is a football club from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It came into existence in 2000 through the merger of SAŠK with NK Napredak. SAŠK SAŠK's history traces back to 1910 when it was founded as Hrvatski ŠK.Fudbal u Kralj ...
, NK Ljubuški,
HNK Sloga Uskoplje HNK Sloga Uskoplje (full name: Hrvatski nogometni klub Sloga Uskoplje, en, Croatian Football Club Sloga Uskoplje) is a football club from Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club was formed in 1946 and its main colour is red. Ac ...
. The clubs are often among the nation's most multi-ethnic. Prior to 2000, the Croats ran their own unapproved
football league The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
. However, they have joined the
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...
-approved
Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nogometni/Fudbalski Savez Bosne i Hercegovine (N/FSBiH); Ногометни/Фудбалски Савез Босне и Херцеговине (Н/ФСБиХ), (FSBiH); unified abbreviation N/FS ...
's league system. Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced many successful internationals, both for the Croatian national team and the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


See also

*
Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic ...
*
List of Croats The following is a list of prominent individuals who are or were Croatian citizens or of Croatian ancestry. Art Architecture * Viktor Axmann – architect, Jewish * Nikola Bašić – architect * Vjekoslav Bastl – architect * Julio ...
* Turkish Croatia *
Christian tattooing in Bosnia and Herzegovina or is a Serbo-Croatian name for a widespread custom mostly among Roman Catholic Croat women and girls of the central regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The phenomenon predates the Slavic migration t ...


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Croats Of Bosnia And Herzegovina Croat people Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina