Šamac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Šamac
Шамац
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]
Population (1991)
 • Total 32,835
 • Municipality ?
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Area code(s) 54
Website [1]
Square in Šamac's center

Šamac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шамац) previously known as Bosanski Šamac, is a town and municipality in the northeastern part of the Republika Srpska entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, located 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.[citation needed] 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.[2][3] 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.[4]

The town lies on an important strategic position –near Brčko. As with most other places under Serbian control, Srpska authorities removed the "Bosnian" adjective from the town's official name and changed it to "Srpski" meaning Serbian. Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats continued to refer to it by its historical name of "Bosanski Šamac" causing tension among the inhabitants. A court order had the official name changed to simply Šamac removing any ethnic divisions in its previous names.

A monument in Šamac for the Serbs who fought and died during occupation of Bosanski Šamac, has the Serbian eagle in the center, the years which occupation occurred (1992–1995) and the Serbian slogan: "Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava" on the left and right sides.[5]

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Settlements

• Batkuša • Bazik • Bosanski Šamac • Brvnik • Crkvina • Domaljevac • Donja Slatina • Donji Hasić • Gajevi • Gornja Slatina • Gornji Hasić • Grebnice • Kornica • Kruškovo Polje • Novo Selo • Obudovac • Pisari • Prud • Srednja Slatina • Škarić • Tišina • Zasavica

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Demographics

1887

  • Muslims - 12,832 (72,55%)
  • Croats - 4,239 (23,96%)
  • Serbs - 234 (1,32%)
  • others - 81 (0.45%)

Total: 17,686

1971

31.374 total

  • Croats - 14.336 (45,69%)
  • Serbs - 14.230 (45,35%)
  • Muslims - 2.192 (6,98%)
  • Yugoslavs - 481 (1,53%)
  • others - 135 (0,45%)

1991

Municipality

Total: 32,960

Town

Total: 6,239

2006

Municipality

  • Serbs 96%
  • Bosniaks 2%
  • Croats 2%
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Sport

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

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Famous people

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See also

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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.
  1. ^ From Centralna izborna komisija Bosne i Hercegovine — in Serbo-Croatian
  2. ^ War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina: Bosanski Samac — Six War Criminals Named by Victims of “Ethnic Cleansing”, Human Rights Watch, April 1994
  3. ^ FACE TO FACE WITH EVIL, Time magazine, May 13, 1996
  4. ^ International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (Trial Chamber II): Prosecutor v. Blagoje Simic, Mirolsav Tadic and Simo Zadic (October 17, 2003)
  5. ^ Jean-Arnault Derens, EU plans trade routes across the continent
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External links
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
Capital
Municipalities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Municipalities and cities of Republika Srpska
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Šamac
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Last modified on 9 May 2013, at 07:50