Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina
This article is about the Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and deals with the country's documented demographics over time. For an overview of the various ethnic groups and their historical development, see Nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Due to a variety of factors (such as frequent boundary shifts and a relative isolation from the rest of Europe) there are no detailed statistics dealing with Bosnia's population during the middle ages. It is generally estimated that the population of the Bosnian Kingdom at the height of its power was between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people[1]. There were very few significant urban centers in Bosnia at this time, and even these paled in comparison to the far more urbanized areas along the nearby Dalmatian coast. Among the more notable cities were Jajce, Srebrenica, and Visoko. The overwhelming majority of the population was rural and the social organization of Medieval Bosnia developed into what was called Zadruga. In this system, communities were organized by a few families of common interests usually situated in a cluster housing formation. Leaders of the community were selected according to their age and high ethical standards. Zadruga was primarily an agrarian community greatly dependent on natural resources.
During and shortly after the Ottomans' conquest of Bosnia; the Ottoman forces captured around 100,000 Bosnian men, women and children; took with them 30,000 young men and turned them into Janissaries as a result of devshirmeh (blood tax) and executed the entire Bosnian nobility.
Population censi
Religious population census conducted in Bosnia by Ottoman officials1:
Religious population census conducted by Ottoman oficials in Bosnia in 16241:
During the liberational wars fought by the Serbs between 1875 and 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 13,64% of its population (150,000 out of total 1,100,000) of whom most were Serbs.
Population census
According to the Austro-Hungarian population census conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 April 1895: Next to some 30,000 Albanians that lived in the south-east, a contigent of Jews that emigrated earlier from Spain, a few Ottoman Turkish merchants and official and Austrian troops, the rest of the population (about 98%) were a Slavic nation, the Serbs1; of which:
- Greek Orthodox — 674,000 (43%)
- Sunni Muslims — 550,000 (35%)
- Roman Catholics — 334,000 (21.3%)
Land ownership census
Conducted in 1910 by Austro-Hungary. Percentages land ownership:
The First World War left Bosnia and Herzegovina without 360,000 citizens or 19% of its population; dominantly being Serbs.
In 1918, the Serbs, as the peasant people of Bosnia-Herzegovina inhabited 64% of its territory (Bosnian arable land and forests).
Following Agrarian reforms of 1918 and 1919 [2], the government confiscated numerious lands owned by Moslem Bosnians. Large contigents were split among the Serbian populace.
Bosnia has suffered the following losses during World War II8:
Population censi
- Serbs 1,136,116 (44.3%)
- Croats
- Montenegrins 3,094 (0.1%)
- Serbs 1,264,372 (44.4%)
- Croats
- Montenegrins 7,336 (0.3%)
- Serbs 1,406,057 (42.9%)
- Muslims3 842,248 (25.7%)
- Croats 711,665 (21.7%)
- Yugoslavs 275,883 (8.4%)
- Montenegrins 12,828 (0.4%)
- Muslims4 1,482,430 (39,6%)
- Serbs 1,393,148 (37.2%)
- Croats 772,491 (20.6%)
- Yugoslavs 43,796 (1.2%)
- Montenegrins 13,021 (0.3%)
- Muslims 1,630,033 (39.5%)
- Serbs 1,320,644 (32%)
- Croats 758,140 (18.4%)
- Yugoslavs5 326,316 (7.9%)
- Montenegrins 14,114 (0.3%)
- Muslims 1,902,956 (43.5%)
- Serbs 1,366,104 (31.4%; cca. 38% with all Yugoslav Serbs)
- Croats 760,852 (17,4%)
- Yugoslavs 242,682 (5.6%)
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
1992 estimate
4.4 million people of which:
During the Yugoslav Wars, in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992-1995 ethnic cleansing and genocide drastically changed the ethnic composition and population distribution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
| Total 93,837 |
Bosniaks | 63,687 | 67.9% |
| Serbs | 24,216 | 25.8% | |
| Croats | 5,057 | 5.4% | |
| others | 877 | 0.9% | |
| Total civilians 34,610 |
Bosniaks | 30,514 | 88.2% |
| Croats | 2,076 | 5.9% | |
| Serbs | 1,973 | 5.7% | |
| others | 47 | 0.2% | |
| Total soldiers 54,223 |
Bosniaks | 30,173 | 55.6% |
| Sebs | 21,399 | 39.5% | |
| Croats | 2,619 | 4.8% | |
| others | 32 | 0.1% | |
| unconfirmed | 4,000 |
Modern
3,922,205 (2002)
4,025,476 (July 2005 estimate)
- Bosniaks — 48% (of whome around 90% are followers of Islam)
- Serbs — 37.1% (of whome around 99% are followers of the Serb Orthodox Church)
- Croats — 14.3% (of whome around 88% are followers of the Catholic Church)
- others — 0.6%
- Muslims — 40%
- Orthodox Christians — 31%
- Roman Catholics — 15%
- other — 14%
See also
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Republika Srpska
- Herzeg-Bosnia
- Western Bosnia
- History of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Notes
1 Note: coming soon
2 Note: large contigent of the Catholics were actually Croats and of Muslims, Bosniak ancestors.
3 Note: In 1961 Moslem Bosnians were still not recognized as a nationality but on the 1961 census about 800,000 people declared themselves as "undecideds" as their other options were to declare themselves as Serbs, Croats or Yugoslavs. Because of large muslim community in Bosnia, the census comission logically concluded to group them as "Muslims in a national sense".
4 Note: In 1971 with constitutional amendments Muslims became a nationality which explained the drop in numbers in Serb, Croat and Yugoslav columns as many chose this over their previous option. Although a prefered option of Bosnian leadership was to use the term "Bosnians" in the constitutional amendment, Muslims was the officially accepted term (see Hamdija Pozderac)
5 Note: Following the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980 there was a surge in Yugoslavian patriotism that was evident in 1981 census as much of the population decided to declare themselves as Yugoslavs.
6 Note: the part was found in official economic edicts issued to the Republic of Dubrovnik, so factual aplliability of it is not present
7 Note: Following the 1991 census Bosnian-Herzegovinian governement in constitutional amendment in 1993 introduced the name Bosniaks to replace the name Muslim.
8 Note: the number of casualtiess was much higher, particularely of Serbs and Jews; but lack of information from that period is the problem; there were also Roma losses
9 Note: Preliminary data by Reasearch and Documentation Center in Sarajevo. Reasearch about 95% complete.