Stopan ( sr-Cyrl, Стопан) is a village in the

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 ...

Kotor Varoš Kotor Varoš ( sr-cyrl, Котор Варош) is a town and municipality located in north-western Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 19,710 inhabitants, while the town of Kotor Varo ...

Municipality,

Šiprage Šiprage ( sr-Cyrl, Шипраге) is a settlement municipality in the Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska entity, Kotor Varoš Municipality. The administrative status of this populated place was changed – from the local community has gro ...

local community. At the census in 1991, Stopan had a population of 346. According to preliminary results of the census 2013 there were 119 citizens.

Geography

Stopan is located on the pass (altitude about 680 m) sandwiched between

Crkvenica The Crkvenica ( sr-cyrl, Црквеница) is a Bosnian river. It is a right bank tributary of the Vrbanja River. Crkvenica rises between the northwestern slopes of Očauš and Šipraška brda mountains, flowing southeast at around above se ...

and Stopanski river, right tributaries of

Vrbanja river The Vrbanja ( sr-cyrl, Врбања) is a river in Central Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina; with Ugar, the largest right tributary of the Vrbas. Its basin covers an area of approximately 703.5 km2. It has significant hydropower potential. Th ...

. From this village to

there is a mostly gravel local road, length of about 8 km. Stopan used to be a relatively big village in Šiprage's area, with drinking water and orchards, domestic

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

products and hospitality.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the village took part in the defense forces and was a significant

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * '' Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also kno ...

jump refuge. In January 1944, it received a large number of wounded partisans, who were evacuated from the Divisional Hospital in the gorge of

Demićka Demićka is a river that flows through Bosnia. It is the largest left bank tributary of the Vrbanja river. It rises above the Dunići village at around 1,050 meters above sea level, on the southern slopes of Zāstinje (Backstones, 1,230 m), in ...

, near Šiprage, during the

sixth enemy offensive Operation Kugelblitz ("ball lightning") was a major anti-Partisan offensive orchestrated by German forces in December 1943 during World War II in Yugoslavia. The Germans attacked Josip Broz Tito's Partisan forces in the eastern parts of the Indep ...

. Because of the distance of the main local communications, Stopan was a safer refuge for the civilian inhabitants of surrounding localities. During the

War in Bosnia 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 ...

(1992-1995), army, police and paramilitary forces of the

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 and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

destroyed the surrounding

Bosniak 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 ...

villages, especially those upstream of Vrbanja to

Kruševo Brdo Kruševo Brdo is a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, municipality Kotor Varoš in geographical region Bosanska Krajina. It is administratively divided into Krševo Brdo I and II. Geography This settlement is located at the ...

as well as those downstream to

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. I ...

. Local inhabitants were being killed, and the majority were expelled. After 1996, most Bosniak villages in Šiprage community were partly restored, thanks to the BELUGA battalion of the EUFOR-

SFOR The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

Mission. The only mosque in the wide area was renewed.

Population

References

{{coord, 44.4839, N, 17.5636, E, source:wikidata, display=title Populated places in Bosnia and Herzegovina Populated places in Kotor Varoš