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Template:Infobox RS Šamac (Cyrillic: Шамац), formerly known as Bosanski Šamac (Cyrillic: Босански Шамац) is a town and municipality in the northern part of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the right bank of the Sava river. Across the river is Slavonski Šamac in Croatia.
History
The city was part of the old Ottoman province of Bosnia by the time it was incorporated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of 19th century. After the I World War, the city passed to 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, Bosanski 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 taken by Serbs who established the provisional municipal government. Most Bosniaks and Croats were ethnically cleansed. During the war, a semi-permanent front line was established against Croatian and Bosniak forces towards the neighboring Orašje. In 2003, three town leaders at the time of the Yugoslav Wars were sentenced in ICTY for crimes against humanity.
The town lies on an important strategic position – the corridor connecting north-western and south-eastern parts of Republika Srpska, near Brcko and bordering the two FBiH’s exclaves at the frontier with Croatia. As with most other places under their control, Srpska authorities removed the “Bosnian” adjective from the town’s official name. Bosniaks and Croats continue to refer to it as “Bosanski Šamac”.
Demographics
1991
The census of 1991 recorded 32,835 people in the Bosanski Šamac municipality (which includes surrounding villages under its administration). Of those there were:
- 14,670 Croats (44.7%)
- 13,619 Serbs (41.5%)
- 2,248 Muslims by nationality (6.9%)
- 1,722 Yugoslavs (5.2%)
- 576 others (1.7%)
The census of 1991 recorded 6,267 residents in the town of Bosanski Šamac, of which there were:
- 35% Muslims by nationality (2,190)
- 28% Serbs (1,777) (See: Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- 19% Yugoslavs (1,185)
- 13% Croats (834) (See: Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- 5% others (281)
2006
In 2006, the majority of inhabitants of the municipality were ethnic Serbs.
Sport
The local football club, FK Borac Šamac, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.
Famous residents
Bosanski Šamac is the birthplace of Alija Izetbegović (former leader of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Sulejman Tihić (Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zoran Đinđić (former prime minister of Serbia), and Predrag Nikolić (chess Grand Master). Dario Damjanović Ilija Katić
See also
References
- War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina: Bosanski Samac — Six War Criminals Named by Victims of “Ethnic Cleansing”, Human Rights Watch, April 1994
- FACE TO FACE WITH EVIL, Time magazine, May 13, 1996
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (Trial Chamber II): Prosecutor v. Blagoje Simic, Mirolsav Tadic and Simo Zadic (October 17, 2003)
