Kneževo

Kneževo Кнежево
Basic data
State :	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity :	Republika Srpska
Coordinates :	44 ° 30 '  N , 17 ° 23'  E Coordinates: 44 ° 29 '30 "  N , 17 ° 22' 47"  E
Height :	864  m. i. J.
Area :	352  km²
Residents :	8,490 (2018)
Population density :	24 inhabitants per km²
Telephone code :	+387 (0) 51
Postal code :	78230
Structure and administration (as of 2016)
Mayor :	Goran Borojević (independent)
Website :	www.opstinaknezevo.rs.ba

View of Knezevo

Kneževo ( Serbian - Cyrillic Кнежево von Knjaz , in German prince ; until the Bosnian War Skender Vakuf ) is a place and the associated community in the center of Bosnia and Herzegovina . It is located exactly 50 km southeast of Banja Luka and belongs to the Republika Srpska , one of two entities in the country.

Since the Bosnian War , the municipality has been called Kneževo , which means something like "place of the prince". She was previously called Skender Vakuf . This name refers to the foundation ( vakuf , from Arabic Waqf ) of a skender (Arabic form of "Alexander").

geography

The municipality of Kneževo is located between the rivers Ugar , Vrbas and Vrbanja between 600 and 1493 m altitude , surrounded by the mountains Čemernica and Ranča in the west, Vlašić in the south and Ježica in the northeast. The impassable mountain landscape is densely forested.

Kneževo is bordered by the municipalities of Čelinac in the far north, Kotor Varoš in the east, Travnik , Dobretići and Jajce in the south, and Mrkonjić Grad and the town of Banja Luka in the west. The southern border of the municipality also forms the inner Bosnian entity border with the federation .

The south of the municipal area is characterized by rugged limestone formations, which have their highest point in the 1493  m high Lisina , as well as the deeply cut gorges of Ugar and Ilomska . The area is almost completely forested and hardly usable for agriculture. In contrast, intensive agriculture is practiced in the north.

The municipality has a north-south extension of about 40 km; from east to west it is a maximum of 15 km.

Community structure

The municipality includes 18 settlements, which are assigned to the 8 local communities Javorani (in the north), Bastaji, Kneževo, Živinice (in the center), Imljani, Vlatković (in the south), Mokri Lug as well as Šolaji (in the west) and Kostici. The 4 local communities Davidovići, Dobretići, Kričići and Melina (all in the southwest) have formed the municipality Dobretići since 1995 .

population

At the 1991 census, the municipality (including Dobretići) had 19,418 inhabitants. Of these, 13,263 described themselves as Serbs (68.3%), 4770 as Croats (24.56%) and 1071 as Bosniaks (5.52%). 314 residents stated other affiliations (1.62%). Without Dobretići, the municipality had 14,476 inhabitants, including 13,105 Serbs (90.53%) and 1068 Bosniaks (7.38%).

At that time, 5837 people lived in the village itself. Here, too, the Serbs made up the absolute majority with 4537 residents (77.73%). 1063 residents described themselves as Bosniaks (18.21%). Skender Vakuf was the only local community with a significant Bosniak population, who were expelled or fled during the Bosnian War . The four local communities of Dobretići were almost exclusively inhabited by Croats.

At the 2013 census, the parish had 10,428 inhabitants.

history

Remains of Roman basilicas can be found in the places Imljani 12 km southeast of Kneževo and Javorani 20 km northwest. Remnants of the Roman road that led from Servitium (Banja Luka) to Levsaba (Travnik) were also found near the village .

In the 14th and 15th centuries the area belonged to the Kingdom of Bosnia ; In the village of Baštine , Marice and the surrounding area, there are still tombstones (so-called Stećci ) from this period. In January 1528 the Ottomans conquered the place.

During the Second World War the first regional conference of the Communist Party on Bosnia-Herzegovina was held between February 21 and 23, 1942 in Skender Vakuf. The area was one of the strongholds and refuges of Tito - Partisans .

Bosnian War

As early as the spring of 1991, Skender Vakuf was supposed to be integrated into the self-proclaimed union of municipalities of the Bosnian Krajina - an autonomous Serbian state around Banja Luka . However, despite Serbian dominance, the mayor and the local council opposed this plan.

On April 26, 1992, the mayor of Travnik, Boris Matišić, accompanied by an HVO soldier to talks with the commander of the Serbian troops of this region in Skender Vakuf. Such talks had taken place several times before in order to delay the outbreak of violence in the Travnik region as much as possible. However, the commander was not present; instead, Matišić and his companion were captured, mistreated and taken to a Serbian military prison in Stara Gradiška . After interrogation and further abuse, the situation cleared up in the afternoon, after which Matišić and the HVO soldier were brought back to Skender Vakuf, where the town's mayor apologized to them.

The town of Kneževo - apart from Dobretići - was largely spared from the fighting in the Bosnian War . However, some villages in the southern municipality around Imljani were damaged by artillery fire. Almost all Bosniak residents of the community fled in the direction of Travnik. Although the consequences of the war were not material, a considerable number of the Serbian and Bosniak population died in the war. Gravestones and church monuments remember the victims.

economy

Even before the Bosnian War, the community was one of the structurally weakest areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The location in the middle of densely forested mountains makes the wood industry the largest branch of the economy. It is essentially dominated by the two companies Nevas and Gater . In addition, some processing companies in the metal and textile industry have settled.

traffic

The sufficiently developed regional road Banja Luka - Travnik runs through the municipality from north to south. Most other traffic routes, on the other hand, are unpaved, some dirt roads and in some cases not passable for days in winter. In 2006–2007, the roads between Banja Luka - Travnik and individual dirt roads were asphalted and renovated by the city of Banja Luka . (including the ways to settlement areas such as: Marici , Kostici , Solaji , ...)

Web links

• Website of the municipality (Serbian, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://rzs.rs.ba/front/article/3630/ Updated population figures for 2018 from the Institute for Statistics of the Republika Srpska. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
2. ↑ http://www.bhas.ba/obavjestenja/Preliminarni_rezultati_bos.pdf (PDF; 752 kB)
3. ↑ Internet site of the community ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Enver Redžić: Bosnia And Herzegovina In The Second World War , page 213.
5. ^ Mladen Klemenčić: Territorial Proposals for the Settlement of the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina , IBRU 1994, page 30.
6. ↑ Ivana Nizich: War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina , Human Rights Watch 1993, p. 63.