Šamac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Šamac
Шамац
Town and municipality

Location of Šamac within Republika Srpska
Coordinates: 45°04′N 18°28′E / 45.067°N 18.467°E / 45.067; 18.467Coordinates: 45°04′N 18°28′E / 45.067°N 18.467°E / 45.067; 18.467
Country Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity Republika Srpska
Government
 • Mayor Savo Minić (SNSD) [1]
 • Municipality 177.54 km2 (68.55 sq mi)
Population (2013 census)
 • Town 5,390
 • Municipality 17,273
 • Municipality density 97/km2 (250/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code(s) 54
Website www.opstinasamac.org

Šamac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шамац, pronounced [ʃâmat͡s])[2] is a town and municipality located in the northeastern part of the Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,390 inhabitants, while the municipality has 17,273 inhabitants.

It is situated on the right bank of the Sava river. Across the river is Slavonski Šamac in Croatia.

History

The city was founded by Bosnian settlers from Ottoman province of Smederevo in 1862. It was part of the Ottoman province of Bosnia by the time it was annexed by Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1887. After World War I, the city became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. From 1929 to 1939, it was part of Drina Banovina; and from 1939 until 1941 it was part of the Banovina of Croatia. During World War II, Šamac, as all the rest of Bosnia-Herzegovina, was included into Nazi-controlled Independent State of Croatia. After 1945, the city was reintegrated within the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tito's Yugoslavia.

In the early stages of the Bosnian war the town was occupied by Bosnian Serbs who established the provisional municipal government. Most Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were ethnically cleansed.[3][4] During the war, a semi-permanent front line was established against Croatian and Bosniak forces towards the neighboring Orašje. In 2003, three Bosnian Serb town leaders at the time of the Yugoslav Wars were sentenced in ICTY for crimes against humanity.[5]

The town lies on an important strategic position in Republika Srpska, near Brčko. As with most other places under Serb control, Srpska authorities removed the "Bosnian" adjective from the town's official name and changed it to "Šamac". Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats continued to refer to it by its historical name of "Bosanski Šamac" (Serbian Cyrillic: Босански Шамац, pronounced [bǒsanskiː ʃâmat͡s])[2] causing tension among the inhabitants. A court order had the official name changed to simply Šamac removing any ethnic divisions in its previous names.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
194837,512—    
195344,269+3.37%
197131,374−1.89%
198132,320+0.30%
199132,960+0.20%
201317,273−2.89%

According to the 2013 census results, the municipality of Šamac has 17,273 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Ethnic group Population
1971		 Population
1991		 Population
2013[6]
Serbs 14,230 13,628 13,256
Croats 14,336 14,731 2,426
Bosniaks/Muslims 2,192 2,233 1,265
Yugoslavs 481 1,755 -
Others 135 613 326
Total 31,374 32,960 17,273

Settlements

Aside from the town of Šamac, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Sport

The local football club, FK Borac Šamac, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ From Centralna izborna komisija Bosne i Hercegovine Archived 2006-12-21 at the Wayback Machine. — in Serbo-Croatian
  2. 1 2 Mangold (2005:212)
  3. ↑ War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina: Bosanski Samac — Six War Criminals Named by Victims of “Ethnic Cleansing”, Human Rights Watch, April 1994
  4. ↑ FACE TO FACE WITH EVIL, Time magazine, May 13, 1996
  5. ↑ International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (Trial Chamber II): Prosecutor v. Blagoje Simic, Mirolsav Tadic and Simo Zadic (October 17, 2003) Archived February 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "POPIS STANOVNIŠTVA, DOMAĆINSTAVA I STANOVA U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI, 2013. REZULTATI POPISA" (PDF). popis2013.ba (in Serbian). Retrieved 15 December 2016.

References

  • Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina population, by municipalities and settlements, 1991. census, Zavod za statistiku Bosne i Hercegovine - Bilten no.234, Sarajevo 1991.
  • Mangold, Max (2005), Das Aussprachewörterbuch, Duden, ISBN 9783411040667
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