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Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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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.

1463 - 1557 campaign against Bosnia

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:

Serbian insurrections 1875-1878

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:

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

Composition of Muslims (Bosniaks), Serbs and Croats within Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991.

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.

Bosnian War victims9
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)

Ethnic (2000 estimate)

See also

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.