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Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two
entities An entity is something that exists as itself, as a subject or as an object, actually or potentially, concretely or abstractly, physically or not. It need not be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually ...
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists ...
. It is located in the north and east of the country. Its largest city and administrative centre is Banja Luka, lying on the Vrbas river. Republika Srpska was formed in 1992 at the outset 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 ...
with the stated intent to safeguard the interests of the
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 war saw the expulsion of the vast majority of Croats and
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
from the territory claimed by Republika Srpska and an inflow of Serbs expelled from
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists ...
. Following the Dayton Agreement of 1995, Republika Srpska achieved international recognition as an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today most of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Serb population lives in Republika Srpska. Republika Srpska is a parliamentary-style government, with the National Assembly holding legislative power within the entity. Republika Srpska is relatively centralised, although it is split into 64 municipalities called '' opštine''. The legislature holds 83 seats, and the current session is the tenth since its founding.


Name

In the name ', ' is a noun
derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...
from the
ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
of the Serbs with a different
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
than ' ‘ Serbia’. In
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 (disambiguat ...
, many names of countries are formed with the ' suffix (e.g. ' ‘Bulgaria’, ' ‘Denmark’, ' ‘Finland’, ' ‘Croatia’, ' ‘Ireland’, ' ‘Turkey’). An analogous English formation would be ''Serbland'' (which has been used sporadically). Since the suffix ' originally forms adjectives and the country names of this type are nominalisations, ' has often been misunderstood to mean ‘Serb Republic’. However, the noun ' is often used without ' as a stand-alone noun in Serbian, e.g. in the names of the political party United Srpska ', of the newspaper ', of the postal service ' or of the entity's writers’ association '. As a proper noun, ' is always
capitalised Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term a ...
in Serbian, whereas postponed adjectives in names and titles are not (cf. the cultural organisation ', with a small ''s'' in the adjective ' ‘Serbian’). The government uses the name “Republic of Srpska” in English. Although is variously glossed in English as “Serb Republic”, “Bosnian Serb Republic”, or “Republic of Srpska”, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and English-language news sources such as the BBC, '' The New York Times'', and '' The Guardian'' generally refer to the entity by its transliteration. According to '' Glas Srpske'', a Banja Luka daily, the modern entity's name was created by its first minister of culture, Ljubomir Zuković.


History


Early history

Archaeological evidence in Republika Srpska, as well as bordering areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, attest to pronounced human activity in the
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
. Specifically, in 1976, near the modern-day town of Stolac in the then relatively hospitable
Neretva basin The Neretva ( sr-cyrl, Неретва, ), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four HE power-plants with large dams (higher than 150,5 metres) provide flood protection, power and water s ...
, archaeological artifacts in the form of cave engravings in Badanj and deer bones in the area were discovered to show hunter-gatherer activity from as far back as 14,000–10,000 BC. Within the wider region of Herzegovina, similar discoveries tie the region's early activities to Montenegro and coastal Croatia. With the Neolithic, however, came more permanent settlement. Naturally, this occurred along the rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina as farming spread from the southeast; most notably, the Butmir culture developed near today's East Sarajevo on the river Bosna. A variety of idols, mostly of female character, were found in the Butmir site, along with dugouts. With the
Indo-European migrations The Indo-European migrations were hypothesized migrations of Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) speakers, and subsequent migrations of people speaking derived Indo-European languages, which took place approx. 4000 to 1000 BCE, potentially expla ...
of the Bronze Age came the first use of metal tools in the region. Along with this came the construction of burial mounds— tumuli, or kurgans. Remains of these mounds can be found in northwestern Bosnia near Prijedor, testament to not only denser settlement in the northern core of today's Republika Srpska but also Bronze Age relics. With the influx of the Iron Age, the Glasinac culture, developing near
Sokolac Sokolac ( sr-Cyrl, Соколац) is a municipality of the city of Istočno Sarajevo located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 12,021 inhabitants, while the town of Sokolac has a populat ...
in eastern Republika Srpska, was one of the most important of the country's long-standing Indo-European inhabitants, the Illyrians. Later, these Illyrians—the Autariatae—were influenced by the Celts after the
Gallic invasion of the Balkans Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a southeastern movement into the Balkans from the 4th century BC. Although Gallic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable ...
.


Roman period

With the end of the Illyrian Wars, most of Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Roman control within the province of Illyricum. In this period, the Romans consolidated the region through the construction of a dense road network and the Romanisation of the local population. Among these roads was the ''Via Argentaria'', or 'Silver Way', which transported silver from the eastern mines of Bosnia to Roman population centres. Modern placenames, such as the Una and
Sana Sana may refer to: Places * Sanaa, the capital of Yemen * Sana (river), a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Sana, Bhutan, a town in Bhutan * Sana, Haute-Garonne, a commune in France * Sana, Iran, a village in Iran * Sana, Mali, a commune in M ...
rivers in the northwest, have Latin origins, meaning "the one" and "the healthy", respectively. This rule was not uninterrupted, however; with the suppression of the once-dominant Illyrian population came revolts such as the Bellum Batonianum. After 20 AD, however, the entirety of the country was conquered by the Romans and it was split between
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 wes ...
and
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
. The most prominent Roman city in Bosnia was the relatively small
Servitium Serbinum, also known as Servitium or Servicium, was an ancient Roman Empire, Roman city in the province of Pannonia. It was situated in the location of present-day Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gradiška in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. S ...
, near modern-day Gradiška in the northern part of the entity. Christianity spread to the region relatively late at least partially due to the countryside's mountainous nature and its lack of large settlements. In the fourth century, however, the country began to be
Christianised Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
en masse. With the split of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires in 395, modern-day Republika Srpska fell under the Western Roman Empire. Testament to its and Bosnia and Herzegovina's later religious polarisation, it was later conquered as a frontier of the Eastern Roman Empire, a harbinger for religious division to come.


Middle Ages

With the loosening of Roman grip on the region came the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
which, given Republika Srpska's position in southeastern Europe, involved a wide variety of peoples. Among the first was the invasion of Germanic peoples from the east and north, and the territory became a part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 476. By 535, the territory was taken once again by the Byzantine Empire. At this time, the Empire's grip was once again relatively loose and Slavs, including the White Serbs and the White Croats, invaded the surrounding area. Modern-day Republika Srpska was therefore split between the mediaeval
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 ...
and, according to
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 ...
, mediaeval Serbian '' županije'', including, Bosna, Zachlumia, Travunija, and Serbia, then including land in eastern Bosnia. Parts of present-day Srpska were locations of settlement of the original White Serb people. The entirety of Bosnia became part of the
Hungarian Crown Lands The "Lands of the Hungarian Crown"Laszlo PéterHungary's Long Nineteenth Century: Constitutional and Democratic Traditions in a European Perspective BRILL, 2012, pp. 51–56 was the titular expression of Hungarian pretensions to the various territo ...
by the end of the 11th century. The area was known under Hungarian rule as the
Banate of Bosnia The Banate of Bosnia ( sh, Banovina Bosna / Бановина Босна), or Bosnian Banate (''Bosanska banovina'' / Босанска бановина), was a medieval state based in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although Hungarian kings ...
. Later, however, with the rule of Ban Kulin, who is regarded as the founder of Bosnia, the region became ''de facto'' independent. In 1377, the Banate of Bosnia became the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia, under Tvrtko I of House of Kotromanić. The capitals of the kingdom were all located in its centre, while the northern periphery remained under nominal Hungarian rule as the region of Usora. Architectural legacies from this period include Kastel Fortress in Banja Luka, as well as castles, churches, and monasteries across the country. With the growth of the Ottoman Empire,
Stefan Tomašević Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...
, the last Kotromanić ruler, surrendered Bosnia and Serbia to Ottoman tributary status. A Catholic, he was unpopular among the Orthodox population of Serbia, as well as the 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 Orthodox ...
. Refusing to pay tribute to Mehmed the Conqueror, King Stefan was executed and much of Bosnia fell under the direct Ottoman rule in 1463 as the Eyalet of Bosnia. The entirety of the country fell in 1482, with the founding of the Sanjak of Herzegovina.


16th to 19th centuries

Ottoman rule in modern-day Republika Srpska saw another addition to its religious fabric—Islam. Members of the Bosnian Church, as well as many Orthodox and Catholic Bosnians, gradually converted to Islam. Ottoman rule left a profound architectural legacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The most famous mosque from this period is the Ferhadija mosque, located in Banja Luka. In addition, the subject of Ivo Andrić's book '' The Bridge on the Drina,''
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge ( sr, Мост Мехмед-паше Соколовића, Most Mehmed-paše Sokolovića) is a historic bridge in Višegrad, over the Drina River in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was completed in 1577 by ...
in Višegrad, was constructed by Mimar Sinan, the most famous Ottoman architect, in 1577, for
Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. Years earlier, the same Grand Vizier was born into an
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
family in a small town in Bosnia and taken from his parents as a child for upbringing as a janissary. His bridge is a symbol of the religious and cultural spans—and eventually conflict—that characterise Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the Ottoman-Habsburg conflicts of the late 17th and 18th centuries, parts of northern Republika Srpska became a part of the Habsburg Empire for relatively short periods of time. Rule was more permanent following Austro-Hungarian invasion in 1878. Characterised by economic and social development not seen in the by-then backwards Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian rule was welcomed by many. However, many Muslims left Bosnia, leaving Serbs as the majority in the entirety of the
Condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
.


20th century

With the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...
, carried out by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Yugoslavist
Mlada Bosna Young Bosnia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Mlada Bosna, Млада Босна) was a separatist and revolutionary movement active in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary before World War I. Its members were predominantly ...
, World War I broke out in 1914. Following the war, the territory of modern-day Republika Srpska was incorporated into the Vrbas, Drina, and Zeta banovinas of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. Following the outbreak of World War II and the
invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
in 1941, Republika Srpska fell under the rule of the Nazi puppet state, The Independent State of Croatia. Around 300,000 Serbs are estimated to have died under the Ustashe regime as a result of their genocide campaign; a slew of massacres, as well as the use of a variety of concentration and extermination camps, took place in Republika Srpska during the war. The Jasenovac concentration camp, located in modern-day Croatia, was the site of the deaths of some 100,000 people, about 52,000 of which were Serbs. Massacres also occurred at
Garavice Garavice ( sr-Cyrl, Гаравице) was an extermination location established by the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II in Yugoslavia near Bihać, west Bosnia. Between 12,000 and 15,000 people, mostly Serb civilians, were mu ...
and
Kruščica concentration camp Kruščica was a concentration camp established and operated by the fascist, Croatian nationalist Ustaše movement near the town of Vitez, in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), between August and October 1941, during World War II. The camp ...
in the eastern part of Bosnia. The regime systematically and brutally massacred Serbs in villages in the countryside, using a variety of tools. The scale of the violence meant that approximately every sixth Serb living in Bosnia-Herzegovina was the victim of a massacre and virtually every Serb had a family member that was killed in the war, mostly by the Ustaše. An estimated 209,000 Serbs or 16.9% of its Bosnia population were killed on the territory of Bosnia–Herzegovina during the war. Today, monuments honouring these victims can be found across Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Yugoslav royalist
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 Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
, a guerilla force that engaged in tactical or selective
collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
with the occupying forces for almost all of the war, pursued genocide against Croats and Bosniaks, which included thousands of Croat and Muslim civilians killed on the territory of modern-day Republika Srpska. The Chetniks killed an estimated 50,000 to 68,000 Muslims and Croats. About 300 villages and small towns were destroyed, along with a large number of mosques and Catholic churches. During the entire course of WWII in Yugoslavia, 64.1% of all Bosnian Partisans were Serbs. After World War II came a period of relative peace and economic development.
Ljubija mine The Ljubija mine is a large open pit mine Ljubija ore f ...
and companies like
Agrokomerc Agrokomerc is a food company headquartered in Velika Kladuša, Bosnia and Herzegovina with former operations extending across the entire area of former Yugoslavia. The company became internationally known in the late 1980s due to a corruption sca ...
played a vital role in much of the economic development of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Literacy rates increased greatly, and the University of Banja Luka was founded in 1975.


Bosnian War


Bosnian War and the proclamation of the Republika Srpska

Representatives of main political parties and some other national organisations and institutions of Serb people in Bosnia and Herzegovina met on 13 October 1990 in Banja Luka and formed the 'Serbian National Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina' as a Serb political body. In a session on 14–15 October 1991, the People's Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, approved the 'Memorandum on Sovereignty', as had already been done by Slovenia and Croatia, as a way to proclaim independence from the rest of Yugoslavia. The memorandum was adopted despite opposition from 83 Serb deputies belonging to the Serb Democratic Party (most of the Serb parliamentary representatives) as well as the Serbian Renewal Movement and the Union of Reform Forces, who regarded the move as illegal. On 24 October 1991, the Serb deputies formed the
Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 ...
(''Skupština srpskog naroda u Bosni i Hercegovini'') to be the highest representative and legislative body of the Bosnian Serb population, ending the tripartite coalition. The Union of Reform Forces soon ceased to exist but its members remained in the assembly as the Independent Members of Parliament Caucus. The assembly undertook to address the achievement of equality between the Serbs and other peoples and the protection of the Serbs' interests, which they contended had been jeopardised by decisions of the Bosnian parliament. On 9 January 1992, the assembly proclaimed the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), declaring it part of Yugoslavia. On 28 February 1992, the assembly adopted the Constitution of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the name adopted instead of the previous ''Republika srpskog naroda Bosne i Hercegovine''), which would include districts, municipalities, and regions where Serbs were the majority and also those where they had allegedly become a minority because of persecution during World War II. The republic was part of Yugoslavia and could enter into union with political bodies representing other peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian parliament, without its Serb deputies, held a referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29 February and 1 March 1992, but most Serbs boycotted it since the assembly had previously (9–10 November 1991) held a plebiscite in the Serb regions, 96% having opted for membership of the Yugoslav federation formed by Serbia and Montenegro. The referendum had a 64% turnout and 92.7% or 99% (according to different sources) voted for independence. On 6 March the Bosnian parliament promulgated the results of the referendum, proclaiming the republic's independence from Yugoslavia. The republic's independence was recognised by the European Community on 6 April 1992 and by the United States on 7 April. On the same day the Serbs' assembly in session in Banja Luka declared a severance of governmental ties with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name ''Republika Srpska'' was adopted on 12 August 1992. The political controversy escalated into 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 ...
, which would last until the autumn of 1995. The war was ended by the
General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски мир ...
, reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, on 21 November and formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. Annex 4 of the Agreement is the current Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognising Republika Srpska as one of its two main political-territorial divisions and defining the governmental functions and powers of the two entities. The boundary lines between the entities were delineated in Annex 2 of the Agreement. Between 1992 and 2008, the Constitution of Republika Srpska was amended 121 times. Article 1 states that Republika Srpska is a territorially unified, indivisible, and inalienable constitutional and legal entity that shall perform its constitutional, legislative, executive, and judicial functions independently.


Impact of war

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in major changes in the country, some of which were quantified in a 1998 UNESCO report. Some two million people, about half the country's population, were displaced. In 1996 there were some 435,346 ethnic Serb refugees from the Federation in Republika Srpska, while another 197,925 had gone to Serbia. In 1991, 27% of the non-agricultural labour force was unemployed in Bosnia and this number increased due to the war. By 2009, the unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina was estimated at 29%, according to the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
's '' The World Factbook''. Republika Srpska's population of Serbs had increased by 547,741 due to the influx of ethnic Serb refugees from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former unrecognised state of the
Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...
in the new
Republic of Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
. In Eastern Bosnia, Bosnian Serbs besieged the town of Srebrenica, among others. Srebrenica was declared a UN 'Safe Area' in 1993 and it served as an enclave for Muslim refugees for the final years of the Bosnian War. In the middle of July 1995, more than 8,000 Muslim
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
, mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica, were killed in what became known as the Srebrenica massacre, which was subsequently designated as an act of genocide by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...
and the International Court of Justice. Acts of
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 ...
against the non-Serb populations reduced the numbers of other groups. Serb police, soldiers, and irregulars attacked Muslims and Croats, and burned and looted their homes. Some were killed on the spot; others were rounded up and killed elsewhere, or forced to flee. The number of Croats was reduced by 135,386 (the majority of the pre-war population), and the number of Bosniaks by some 434,144. Some 136,000 of approximately 496,000 Bosniak refugees forced to flee the territory of what is now Republika Srpska have since returned home. , 40% of Bosniaks and 8.5% of Croats had returned to Republika Srpska, while 14% of Serbs who left their homes in territories controlled by Bosniaks or Croats, also returned to their pre-war communities. In the early 2000s, discrimination against non-Serbs was alleged by NGOs and the Helsinki Commission. The
International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...
reported in 2002 that in some parts of Republika Srpska a non-Serb returnee is ten times more likely to be the victim of violent crime than a local Serb. The Helsinki Commission, in a 2001 statement on 'Tolerance and Non-Discrimination', pointed at violence against non-Serbs, stating that in the cities of Banja Luka and Trebinje, mobs attacked people who sought to lay foundations for new mosques. Non-Serbs have reported continuing difficulties in returning to their original homes and the assembly has a poor record of cooperation in apprehending individuals indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Organisations such as the Society for Threatened Peoples, reporting to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2008, have made claims of discrimination against non-Serb refugees in Republika Srpska, particularly areas with high unemployment in the Drina Valley such as Srebrenica, Bratunac, Višegrad, and Foča. According to the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, European Union Police Mission, UNHCR, and other international organisations, security in both Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is at present satisfactory, although some minor threats, real or perceived, can still influence the decision of individuals as to whether they will return to their pre-war addresses or not.


Politics

According to its constitution, Republika Srpska has its own president, legislature (the 83-member unicameral National Assembly of Republika Srpska), executive government, police force, court system, customs service (under the state-level customs service), and postal service. It also has official symbols, including a coat of arms, a flag (a variant of the
Serbian flag The flag of Serbia ( sr, Застава Србије, Zastava Srbije), also known as the Tricolour ( sr, тробојка, ''trobojka''), is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the middle, and white o ...
without the coat of arms displayed) and its entity anthem. The Constitutional Law on the Coat of Arms and Anthem of Republika Srpska was ruled not in concordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as it states that those symbols 'represent the statehood of Republika Srpska' and are used 'in accordance with moral norms of the Serb people'. According to the Constitutional Court's decision, the Law was to be corrected by September 2006. Republika Srpska later changed its emblem. Although the constitution names Sarajevo as the capital of Republika Srpska, the northwestern city of Banja Luka is the headquarters of most of the institutions of government, including the parliament, and is, therefore, the ''de facto'' capital. After the war, Republika Srpska retained its army, but in August 2005, the parliament consented to transfer control of Army of Republika Srpska to a state-level ministry and abolish the entity's defence ministry and army by 1 January 2006. These reforms were required by NATO as a precondition of Bosnia and Herzegovina's admission to the Partnership for Peace programme. Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the programme in December 2006.


Geography

Situated in Southeast Europe, Republika Srpska is located on the
Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, with its northern extents reaching into the Pannonian Basin. Republika Srpska lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N and longitudes 16° and
20° E The meridian 20° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic and Indian oceans, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 20th meridian east ...
. The entity is split into two main parts by the Brčko District; a hilly western part and a more varied eastern part, with high mountains in the south and flat, fertile farmland in the north. Republika Srpska, unlike its counterpart entity, is landlocked. Like the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska is split into a Bosnian region in the north and a Herzegovinian region in the far south. Within these two macroregions exist smaller geographical regions, from the forested hills of Bosanska Krajina in the northwest to the fertile plains of Semberija in the northeast. Republika Srpska covers , excluding the Brčko District, which is held in
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
by both entities, but is '' de facto'' sovereign within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Republika Srpska, if it were a country, would be 146th largest in the world. Elevation varies greatly, with Maglić, a peak in the Dinaric Alps near Montenegro, reaching , and parts nearer the
Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
going down to sea level. The largest and most popular ski resort in Bosnia and Herzegovina is situated on the slopes of the mountain Jahorina, in the eastern part of the entity. Other major mountains in Republika Srpska include Volujak, Zelengora, Lelija, Lebršnik,
Crvanj Crvanj ( sr-cyrl, Црвањ) is a mountain in the municipality of Nevesinje and Konjic Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has an altitude of . See also *List of mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina List of mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Refere ...
, Orjen, Klekovača, Vitorog, Kozara,
Romanija Romanija ( sr-cyrl, Романија) is a mountain, karst plateau, and geographical region in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, including numerous villages and towns, such as Pale, Sokolac, Rogatica and Han Pijesak. Its highest point is Veliki ...
, Treskavica and Trebević.


Boundary

Republika Srpska shares international borders with Croatia to the north, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast. Within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Inter-Entity Boundary Line (IEBL) marks Republika Srpska's administrative division with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and essentially follows the front lines at the end 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 ...
with some adjustments (most importantly in the western part of the country and around Sarajevo) as defined by the Dayton Agreement. The total length of the IEBL is approximately km. The IEBL is an administrative demarcation uncontrolled by military or police and there is free movement across it.


Forests

Republika Srpska is one of the most forested areas in Europe, with over 50% of its area consisting of forest cover.
Perućica Perućica ( sr-cyrl, Перућица) is one of the last remaining primeval forests in Europe. It is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Montenegro. It is part of the Sutjeska National Park.
is one of the last
old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
s in Europe. Two densely-wooded national parks—
Sutjeska National Park The Sutjeska National Park ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Национални парк Сутјеска, Nacionalni park Sutjeska, ) is a national park located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Established in 1962, it is Bosnia and Herzegovina's oldest national pa ...
and Kozara National Park—are located in the entity.


Waters

Most rivers belong to the Black Sea drainage basin. The principal rivers are the Sava, a tributary of the Danube that forms the northern boundary with Croatia; the Bosna, Vrbas,
Sana Sana may refer to: Places * Sanaa, the capital of Yemen * Sana (river), a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Sana, Bhutan, a town in Bhutan * Sana, Haute-Garonne, a commune in France * Sana, Iran, a village in Iran * Sana, Mali, a commune in M ...
and Una, which all flow north and empty into the Sava; the Drina, which flows north and forms a significant part of the eastern boundary with Serbia, and is also a tributary of the Sava. The Trebišnjica is one of the longest sinking rivers in the world. It belongs to the Adriatic Sea drainage basin. Skakavac Waterfall on the
Perućica Perućica ( sr-cyrl, Перућица) is one of the last remaining primeval forests in Europe. It is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Montenegro. It is part of the Sutjeska National Park.
is one of the highest waterfalls in the country, at about in height. The most important lakes are
Bileća Lake Bileća ( sr-cyrl, Билећа) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 10,807 inhabitants. History ...
,
Lake Bardača A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
(which includes a protected wetland area) and
Balkana Lake Balkana (Bosnian/Serbian cyrillic: Балкана) is an artificial lake located on the slopes of Lisina mountain, in the municipality of Mrkonjić Grad, entity of Republika Srpska, in the western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The lake, actuall ...
.


National Parks


Demographics

, Republika Srpska (excluding the Brčko District) has a total population of 1,228,423 and a population density of 49.9 inhabitants per square kilometre; both of these figures are much lower than in Republika Srpska's counterpart entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Republika Srpska comprises 48% of the land area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is home to 34.79% of the country's total population. The overall life expectancy in Republika Srpska at birth was 77.15 years in 2019. The total fertility rate in Republika Srpska is, as of 2019, 1.34 children per mother— one of the world's lowest. In 2019, the total number of live births, according to the Institute of Statistics of Republika Srpska (RZS), was 9,274. That same year, the number of deaths was 15,081, resulting in a natural population decrease for 5,807 inhabitants. Along with this natural population decrease, the entity faces considerable emigration. A large number of people have left the entity in recent years for the nearby European Union and beyond.


Education

Literacy in Republika Srpska stands at 96.8 percent as of 2013. Free primary education is provided as a right to all people in Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are 187 primary schools in addition to 11 music schools and 4 centres of education for students with learning disabilities. Secondary education exists in three main channels: three-year vocational schools, four-year technical schools, and four-year grammar schools (''gimnazije''). Ten independent grammar schools exist, while an additional 30 are integrated into other schools. Music schools offer another option for students to continue their education following primary school. The oldest and largest public university in Republika Srpska is the University of Banja Luka, which was established in 1975. The second of two public universities in Republika Srpska is
University of East Sarajevo The University of East Sarajevo ( sr, Универзитет у Источном Сарајеву, Univerzitet u Istočnom Sarajevu, abbr. UES) is a public university located in Lukavica, East Sarajevo, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A ...
. After the end of the Yugoslav wars several private institutions of higher education were established, including:
American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina The American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina (''abbr''. AUBiH) was a private university located in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2021, the State Investigation and Protection Agency raided the university, the founder and owner Denis ...
, Slobomir University, and
University Sinergija University Sinergija is a private university located in Bijeljina, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally ...
. The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska, founded in 1996, is the highest representative institution of science and art in Republika Srpska. National and University Library of Republika Srpska is a national library, located in Banja Luka. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MSURS) houses a collection of Yugoslav and international art and is located in Banja Luka.


Ethnic groups


Healthcare

The health care system of Republic of Srpska is intended to provide organized and planned health care to the population on its territory, both in public and private health care institutions. Health care activities are performed by health care workers and associates under the conditions and in the manner primarily prescribed by law and regulations, adopted on the basis, and in accordance with, the Law on Health Care of the Republic of Srpska.''Zakon o zdravstvenoj zaštiti Republike Srpske, Službeni glasnik Repulbike Srpske'' no. 106/09 and 44/15. The public sector of Srpska includes 54 health centers, along with family medicine clinics, 11 hospitals, 4 specialised hospitals, 1 clinical centre and 7 institutes. Stationary treatment is provided in hospitals located in Derventa and Prnjavor. Hospitals specialised for physical medicine and rehabilitation are "Mlječanica" in Kozarska Dubica and Institute "Dr Miroslav Zotović" in Banja Luka. Patients with mental illnesses are treated in
Institute for Forensic Psychiatry Sokolac An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...
, which is the first and only institution of this type in BiH, and
Hospital for Chronic Psychiatric Patients Modriča A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...
. University hospitals are located in Foča and Banja Luka. The University Clinical Center of Republika Srpska (UCC RS) is the largest and most important public health institution in Republika Srpska. The main activity of the University Clinical Center is hospital treatment (admission, diagnosis and care) of patients at the secondary and tertiary level of health care. It consists of 21 clinics, 6 institutes and 10 services.


Religion

Republika Srpska has no official religion. Freedom of religion is a right defined by the Constitution of Republika Srpska, which provides for legal equality of all people, irrespective of religious belief. According to the 2013 census, around 85% of the residents of Republika Srpska identify as Christian. Members of the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...
form the largest religious group, accounting for a little less than 83% of the population, followed by followers of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. 0.59% of people describe themselves as atheist or
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
.Religion plays an important role in ethnic identification in Republika Srpska. Serbs generally identify as followers of Eastern Orthodoxy, Croats as followers of the Catholic Church, and
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
as followers of Islam. Religious architecture takes on a similarly diverse character in the entity, with its mix of mosques and churches. File:Igumanija manastira Tavna.jpg, Tavna Monastery, near Bijeljina File:NKD138 Ferhadija2.jpg,
Ferhat Pasha Mosque Ferhat Pasha Mosque, also known as ''Ferhadija Mosque'', may refer to: Bosnia and Herzegovina *Ferhat Pasha Mosque (Banja Luka) Ferhat Pasha Mosque ( bs, Ferhat-pašina džamija, tr, Ferhad Paşa Camii), also known as the Ferhadija Mosque, is ...
, after it was reconstructed in 2016 File:Samostan Marija zvijezda trapisti (2).JPG, The Mariastern abbey, a Trappist abbey famous for its own variety of cheese


Economy

Republika Srpska, in monetary union with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, uses the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark (KM). The currency is pegged to the euro at a unit rate of 1.95583 convertible marks. Along with the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska is classified as an upper-middle income economy by the United Nations. According to the IRBRS, the entity's development bank, Republika Srpska's nominal GDP per capita is 8,739 km (€4,457) as of 2017. Republika Srpska's
corporate tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...
rate is lower than that of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is among the lowest in the region. In November 2020 governments of Serbia and Srpska announced construction of three hydropower plants on the Drina estimated at EUR 520 million.


External trade


Taxation and salaries

Since 2001, Republika Srpska initiated significant reforms in the sector of the tax system, which lowered the tax burden to 28.6%, one of the lowest in the region. The 10% rate of capital gains tax and income tax are among the lowest in Europe.
VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
has been introduced in 2006. These tax advantages have led to some companies moving their business to Republika Srpska from the other entity. As of 2018, there are 266,309 employed people within legal entities in Republika Srpska. The average net wage, according to the Institute of Statistics of Republika Srpska (RZS), is 896 km (€458) per month as of February 2019, a nominal growth of 1.0% compared to the previous month.


Transport

Transport and telecommunications infrastructure in Republika Srpska is regulated by Ministry of Transport and Communications. Traffic infrastructure includes roads, railways, railway stations, airports, waterways, ports on the whole territory of Republika Srpska, while telecommunication infrastructure includes telephony, telegraphy, optical cables, terrestrial communication stations, traffic telematics and others.Министарство саобраћаја и веза Републике Српске: Саобраћајна инфраструктура у Републици Српској
/ref> State-owned companies like Republika Srpska Railways, Pošte Srpske, Republika Srpska Roads are in charge of maintaining traffic on the territory. The basic road traffic network in Srpska includes 4,192 kilometers of public roads, of which 1,781 km of trunk roads and 2,183 km of regional roads. There are currently two highways in Republika Srpska: Gradiška - Banja Luka highway, and the "9th January highway" (Banja Luka - Doboj). Arterial highways in Srpska which are a part of the International E-road network are: * European road E761 (M5): (Federation of BiH) — Istočno Sarajevo
Podromanija Podromanija ( sr-cyr, Подроманија) is a village in the municipality of Sokolac, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geography The village, named "below the Romanija", is located within the Romanija geographical region. History ...
Rogatica
Ustiprača Ustiprača ( sr-cyrl, Устипрача) is a village in the municipality of Novo Goražde, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and ...
VišegradVardište/
Kotroman Kotroman may refer to: * Kotroman, unknown medieval Bosnian nobleman who was the eponym of the Kotromanić dynasty * Stephen I Kotroman (1242–1314), medieval Bosnian ban * Kotroman (Užice), a village in Serbia {{disambig ...
( Serbia) *
European route E761 European route E 761 is a road part of the International E-road network. It begins in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina and ends in Zaječar, Serbia. Route * ** E71 Bihać ** E661 Jajce ** E661 Donji Vakuf ** E73, E661 Zenica ** E ...
(M5): (Federation BiH) —
Velečevo Velečevo is a village in the municipalities of Ribnik, Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia an ...
Čađavica
Rogolji Rogolji ( sr-cyrl, Рогољи) is a village in the municipality of Gradiška, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often know ...
Mrkonjić GradJezero — (Federation of BiH) * European route E73 (M17): ( Croatia) Slavonski Šamac
Modriča Modriča ( sr-cyrl, Модрича) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the town has a population of 10,137 inhabitants, while the municipality has a population of 25,72 ...
RudankaDobojKaruše — (
Federation of BiH 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 governm ...
) * European route E661 (M16): ( Croatia) Stara GradiškaLaktašiBanja Luka — Karanovac — Ugar — (Federation of BiH) * European route E762 (M18): (Federation of BiH) — Istočno SarajevoTrnovoFoča
Hum Hum may refer to: Science * Hum (sound), a sound produced with closed lips, or by insects, or other periodic motion * Mains hum, an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon * The Hum, an acoustic phenomenon * Venous hum, a physiological sensation ...
/ Šćepan Polje ( Montenegro) The total length of the regular gauge railway in Srpska is 425 km. Republika Srpska Railways transports around 1 million passengers and 5 million tons of goods each year. The international code of the Republika Srpska Railways is 0044.Жељезнице Републике Српске
/ref>


Tourism

Some types of tourism in the Republic of Srpska are: mountain, spa, religious, ethno-tourism and ecotourism. Republika Srpska has rich but fragmented natural resources. Popular mountains include: Zelengora, Treskavica, Jahorina,
Romanija Romanija ( sr-cyrl, Романија) is a mountain, karst plateau, and geographical region in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, including numerous villages and towns, such as Pale, Sokolac, Rogatica and Han Pijesak. Its highest point is Veliki ...
, as well as Grmeč, Kozara, Ozren and many others, with rich flora and hunting grounds. Jahorina ski resort is a
mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or scen ...
and the largest and most popular winter tourism resort in the country. The ski resort is situated on the slopes of Jahorina mountain in Dinaric Alps. It is located from the municipality of
Pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...
and from the Sarajevo International Airport. The Jahorina ski resort hosted alpine skiing competitions during the
1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...
. Royal village Kontromanićevo near Doboj and Stanišići are popular destinations for ethno-tourism.
Andrićgrad Andrićgrad (, lit. " Andrić's town") is the name of a construction project located in Višegrad, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina by film director Emir Kusturica. The town is dedicated to the Yugoslav novelist and Nobel Prize winner I ...
is a tourist complex inspired by the works of Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić, located on Drina near Višegrad. It is made of stone with around fifty object, including a local theatre, cinema, art gallery, church, Andrić's institute, hotels and various shops. Several rivers with clear water and potential for fishing are located in Srpska, such as Una,
Sana Sana may refer to: Places * Sanaa, the capital of Yemen * Sana (river), a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Sana, Bhutan, a town in Bhutan * Sana, Haute-Garonne, a commune in France * Sana, Iran, a village in Iran * Sana, Mali, a commune in M ...
, Tara, Drina and Ukrina. The best known
spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
s in Srpska are Vrućića, Dvorovi, Guber, Laktaši, Lješljani, Mlječanica and Višegrad spa. An important annual event of Serbs from the region of Bosanska Krajina is Corrida of Grmeč. So far 248 bullfighting events have been held at Grmeč.


External relations

In September 2006, Republika Srpska officials signed a '
special ties agreement Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...
' with Serbia aimed at promoting economic and institutional cooperation between Serbia and Republika Srpska. The accord was signed by Serbia's President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, former Republika Srpska President Dragan Čavić, and Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik.


Representative offices

In February 2009, Republika Srpska opened a representative office in Brussels. While European Union representatives were not present at the ceremony, top Republika Srpska officials attended the event, saying it would advance their economic, political and cultural relations with the EU. This notion has been strongly condemned by Bosniak leaders, saying that this is further proof of Republika Srpska distancing itself from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The president of Republika Srpska,
Rajko Kuzmanović Rajko Kuzmanović ( sr-cyr, Рајко Кузмановић; born 1 December 1931) is a Bosnian Serb politician in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He served as President of the Republic of Srpska from 7 December 2007 to 15 November 2010. He succeeded ...
, told reporters that this move did not jeopardise Republika Srpska's place within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He added that Republika Srpska merely used its constitutional right 'to open up a representation office in the centre of developments of European relevance'. Republika Srpska maintains official offices in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Moscow,
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Jerusalem, Thessaloniki, Washington D.C., Brussels, and Vienna.


Culture

The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska is the most important scientific, cultural, working and representative institution of Republika Srpska. The task of this academic institution is to develop, promote and encourage scientific and artistic activity. The academy is an institution of special national interest for the Republika Srpska. An important carrier of the development of dramatic art in Banja Luka and in the whole region is the National Theater of the Republic of Srpska, which has eighty full-time employees and, within the ensemble of actors themselves, twenty-six dramatic artists. One of the most important and certainly the most visited cultural events in the city is the Theater Fest, which is held every year in this theater, with the participation of numerous ensembles of domestic and foreign actors. The National and University Library of Republika Srpska is the central library of the University of Banja Luka, the main library of all public universities in Republika Srpska and the umbrella and central national library of Republika Srpska. The Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage is the official administrative institution of the Republika Srpska and an organization within the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republika Srpska. The Institute registers, protects and maintains a central register of cultural, historical and natural monuments throughout the territory of the Republika Srpska. In 1993, the Association of Serbian Writers was founded in Jahorina, under the chairmanship of professor and politician Nikola Koljevic. Since 2003, the president of the association has been Zoran Kostic, who moved its headquarters from Serbian Sarajevo to Banja Luka. The president of the Sarajevo-Romanija-Drina branch is Nedeljko Zelenovic. The founding assembly of the Association of
Historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
of the Republic of Srpska "Milorad Ekmecic" was held in Banja Luka in December 2015 . Draga Mastilović, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of East Sarajevo, was elected president . The objectives of the Association are the improvement of scientific research activities in the field of historical science in the Republic of Srpska and dissemination of these results, improvement of history teaching and professional development of teaching staff.


Sport

Sport in Republika Srpska is managed by the entity's Ministry of Youth, Family, and Sport. The most popular sports in the entity include basketball,
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 c ...
, and volleyball. The most popular football club, and generally the largest sports organization, is
FK Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the major part of th ...
. FK Borac has, especially with regard to the former Yugoslavia, experienced considerable success: it won the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2011, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup in 2010, the Yugoslav Cup in 1988, and the Central European Cup in 1992, its last year. Other popular football clubs include FK Rudar Prijedor, FK Radnik Bijeljina, and FK Leotar, though these clubs face a considerable loss of talent to larger clubs of Serbia, Croatia, and the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo. The oldest basketball club in Bosnia and Herzegovina, KK Borac, was founded in Banja Luka in 1947. The most successful sportspeoples born on the territory of present-day Republika Srpska are football players
Tomislav Knez Tomislav Knez (born 9 June 1938 in Banja Luka) is a former footballer from Yugoslavia. He was part of the Yugoslav squad that won gold at the 1960 Summer Olympics. During his club career he played for Borac Banja Luka, NK Dinamo Zagreb, SV Schw ...
,
Velimir Sombolac Velimir Sombolac (Serbian Cyrillic: Велимир Сомболац; 27 February 1939 – 22 May 2016) was a Serbian footballer and manager. He was part of the Yugoslav squad that won gold at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Playing career Club Followi ...
( 1960 Olympics Champions) and Mehmed Baždarević ( 1976 Olympics Bronze medalist); handball players
Đorđe Lavrnić Đorđe "Đoko" Lavrnić (; 6 June 1946 – 27 November 2010) was a Yugoslav handball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics. Club career After starting out at Slatina, Lavrnić played for Krivaja Zavidovići and Crvenka, before moving a ...
,
Milorad Karalić Milorad Karalić ( sr-cyrl, Милорад Каралић, born 7 January 1946) is a Serbian former handball player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He was born in Potkozarje, Bosnia an ...
, Nebojša Popović ( 1972 Olympics Champions) and Zlatan Arnautović ( 1984 Olympics Champion); basketball players Ratko Radovanović ( 1980 Olympics Champion) and
Slađana Golić Slađana Golić (February 12, 1960 in Banja Luka) is a former Yugoslav basketball player who participated at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly ...
( 1988 Olympics Silver medalist); boxers
Anton Josipović Anton "Ante" Josipović (born 22 October 1961) is a former Yugoslav boxing, boxer from Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia). He won the Olympic medalists in boxing, light heavyweight gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Though Cr ...
( 1984 Olympics Champion),
Slobodan Kačar Slobodan Kačar ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Качар; born 15 September 1957) is a retired Serbian boxer who was the IBF Light-Heavyweight world champion. He won the Light Heavyweight Gold medal for Yugoslavia at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In t ...
( 1980 Olympics Champion) and
Tadija Kačar Tadija Kačar (born 5 January 1956 in Peručica, near Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a retired Bosnian Serb boxer who represented Yugoslavia at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, Canada. There he won the silver medal in the light middlew ...
( 1976 Olympics Silver medalist), table tennis player
Jasna Fazlić Jasna Rather born Jasna Fazlić, born December 20, 1970 in Foča, SFR Yugoslavia is former American table tennis player who played for Yugoslavia and then for United States, competing on four Olympics: in Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics, Barcelona 19 ...
( 1988 Olympics Bronze medalist). After the
breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, an especially large amount of successful athletes from Republika Srpska have chosen to represent Serbia (or former
Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, FR Yugoslavia), such as basketball players Vladimir Radmanović ( 2002 World Champion),
Saša Čađo Saša Čađo ( sr-cyr, Саша Чађо, born July 13, 1989) is a Serbian professional women's basketball player who plays for İstanbul Üniversitesi SK of the Turkish League. She also represents the Serbian national basketball team. Internatio ...
( 2015 European Champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist) and Ognjen Kuzmić ( 2015 NBA Champion, 2018 EuroLeague champion and 2017 EuroBasket silver medalist); volleyball players Tijana Bošković ( 2018 World Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist) and
Saša Starović Saša Starović ( sr-cyrl, Саша Старовић; born 19 October 1988) is a Serbian volleyball player, a member of Serbia men's national volleyball team and French club Tourcoing Lille Métropole, a participant of the Olympic Games (Beijin ...
( 2011 European Champion); football players Savo Milošević ( 2000 European Championship top scorer), Neven Subotić (two-time Bundesliga Champion), Mijat Gaćinović,
Miladin Stevanović Miladin Stevanović ( sr-cyr, Миладин Стевановић; born 11 February 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Čukarički. He is capable of playing as a central defender or as a full-back on the rig ...
and Srđan Babić ( 2015 U-20 World Champions),
Ognjen Ožegović Ognjen Ožegović ( sr-cyr, Огњен Ожеговић, ; born 9 June 1994) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Greece club Volos. Club career Born in Gradiška, Ožegović made his first football ste ...
( 2013 U-19 European Champions) and
Luka Jović Luka Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Лука Јовић; born 23 December 1997) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Fiorentina and the Serbia national team. Early life Jović was born in Loznica, FR Yugoslavia. He was rais ...
. Other famous athletes are swimmer
Velimir Stjepanović Velimir Stjepanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велимир Стјепановић; born 7 August 1993) is a Serbian professional swimmer currently representing DC Trident at the International Swimming League. He has won gold medals at the European C ...
( 2014 European Champions), taekwondo practitioner
Zoran Prerad Zoran Prerad ( sr-cyrl, Зоран Прерад; born August 15, 1971 in Banja Luka) is a Bosnian Serb taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the men's heavyweight category. He claimed a bronze medal in the 83-kg division at the 1995 World Taekw ...
(1998 European Champion), judoka Nemanja Majdov ( 2017 World Champion) and alpine skier
Jelena Lolović Jelena Lolović (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Лоловић; born in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia on 14 July 1981) is a Serbian alpine skier. She participated at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics and was the fla ...
( 2005 Universiade Champion).


Holidays

According to the Law on Holidays of Republika Srpska, public holidays are divided into three categories: entity holidays, religious holidays, and holidays which are marked but do not include time off of work. The entity holidays include New Year's Day (1 January), Entity Day (9 January),
International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...
(1 May), Victory over Fascism Day (9 May), and Day of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (21 November). Religious holidays include Christmas and Easter according to both the
Julian Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (give ...
and the Gregorian calendars for, respectively,
Serbian Orthodox Christians The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population in ...
and Roman Catholics, as well as Kurban Bajram and Bajram for Muslims. Holidays which are marked but do not include time off work include School Day (the Feast of Saint Sava, 27 January), Day of the Army of Republika Srpska (12 May), Interior Ministry Day (4 April), and Day of the First Serbian Uprising (14 February). The most important of the entity holidays is the Day of Republika Srpska, which commemorates the establishment of Republika Srpska on 9 January 1992. It coincides with Saint Stephen's Day according to the Julian calendar. The Orthodox Serbs also refer to the holiday as the ''
slava Slava may refer to: Ships * ''Slava'' class cruiser, a modern Russian warship ** Soviet cruiser Slava (1979), now Russian cruiser ''Moskva'', a ''Slava'' class guided missile cruiser sunk during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine * Russian ba ...
'' of Republika Srpska, regarding Saint Stephen as the patron saint of the entity although it is designated as a secular holiday. Republika Srpska does not recognise the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 March).


References


Bibliography

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External links

* * * * * * {{Authority control Entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina States and territories established in 1992 1992 establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina Separatism in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian-speaking countries and territories Regions of Europe with multiple official languages Bosnian-speaking countries and territories