III.

Population

Before the war in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a total population of 4,124,000. The population at present is 4,552,198 (2007 estimate), which gives a population density of 89 per sq km (231 per sq mi). Muslims, primarily of the Sunni sect, constituted the largest ethnic group with about 44 per cent of the total population. The Muslims are descendants of Turks and Slavs who converted to Islam when the region was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. Serbs constituted the second-largest ethnic group before the war with approximately 31 per cent of the population, and Croats made up 17 per cent of the population. The official languages are known as Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. Although they have different dialects, these languages are one and the same, differing only in name and in the alphabet they are written in: Bosnians and Croats use the Roman alphabet while Serbs use the Cyrillic alphabet. The language situation is very politically sensitive, and serves to highlight and reinforce the political and cultural divisions within the country. Vlax Romani, an Indo-Iranian language, is also spoken by a number of citizens. The primary religions are Islam, the major religion of ethnic Muslims; Serbian Orthodoxy, practised by Serbs; and Roman Catholicism, practised by Croats.

Nearly two thirds of the republic’s population lived in rural areas before the war. Many of the republic’s urban-dwellers lived in the three largest cities: Sarajevo (population, 1991, 415,631; 2003 estimate, 401,696), Zenica, (1991, 145,577), and Banja Luka (1991, 142,644). The Bosnian Serbs are concentrated in the Bosanka Krajina region in north-western Bosnia, which includes Banja Luka. Before the war in 1991, this region included about 625,000 Serbs and about 550,000 Muslims and Croats. In 1994 about 875,000 Serbs lived in the region and only about 50,000 Muslims and Croats remained; most of the remaining Muslims and Croats were pushed out of the region during the summer of 1994.

All children between the ages of 7 and 15 are required by law to attend school, which is free. The war, however, has seriously disrupted educational provision in many areas of the country. Before the war, most children followed this elementary education with secondary schooling at a vocational school, gymnasium, or other school. More than 85 per cent of the population over the age of nine could read and write in the early 1990s. The republic also has six universities for students seeking a higher degree: the University of Banja Luka (1975), the University of Bihać (1997), the University of Mostar (1977), the University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar (1976), the University of Sarajevo (1949), and the University of Tuzla (1976).