Population of the Republic of Srpska

The population of the Republic of Srpska is 1,391,593 (1996), as already mentioned, and the average population density is 56 inhabitants per one square km, which places the state in the group of scarcely populated European countries. Also, the regional distribution of the population is rather uneven (e.g. Herzegovina with 20 inhabitants per one sq km and Posavina and Semberija with 150 inhabitants per one sq km), which is an additional problem for the economic and overall development of the Republic of Srpska.

In the last century the majority of the population in the former Federal Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was Orthodox (Serbs), which was evident in the 1865 census indicating 46.3% Orthodox Christians, 30.7% Moslems, and 22.7% Catholics. A similar ethnic structure was recorded in the last Austrian-Hungarian census in 1910 (43.5 Orthodox, 32.2% Moslems, 23.3% Catholics). The Orthodox population was in majority in both censuses between the two world wars (1921 and 1931), and in the greater part of the post war period (the 1948, 1951, 1961 censuses). The 1971 census indicated for the first time that the ethnic structure of the population in the former FR B&H changed and Moslems became a relative majority (39.6% Moslems, 37.2% Serbs, 20.6% Croats).

The Serbs comprise over 90% of the total population of the Republic of Srpska, but numerous national minorities are also present: Bosniaks, Croats, Czechs, Ukrainians, Slovacks, etc. The official language is Serbian and the letter is Cyrillic. The prevailing religion is Orthodox-Christian and besides the Serbian Orthodox Church there are other religious communities such as Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, etc.
The natural geographic conditions (river valleys, availability of mineral resources, etc.), as well as transport-geo-graphic conditions are the main factors in the growth and concentration of the population, the development of settlements and economic activities. In big river valleys numerous settlements developed, including the biggest urban centres in the Republic. Some of these centres are macroregional, some are regional or subregional by function. Banja Luka, as the only macroregional leading economic and cultural centre in the Republic of Srpska developed on the banks of the Vrbas river; Brcko as a subregional centre developed in the Sava valley; Trebinje as the regional centre developed on the banks of the Trebisnjica river. Prijedor, an important subregional centre, developed in the valley of the Sana river near ore deposits; and, Zvornik, a regional centre developed in the valley of the Drina River. At the meeting point of the rivers Spreca and Bosna, the important railway junction and the regional centre Doboj developed; Novi Grad developed at the meeting point of the rivers Sana and Una; and the regional centre Srbinje developed at the meeting point of the rivers Cehotina and Drina. Numerous urban settlements that developed in the valleys of these river courses and other small ones became centres of different importance. The process of industrialization and the process of modernization of the transport network after World War II have not significantly influenced the distribution of urban settlements but have instigated the process of urbanization. This means that the urban centres expanded by incorporating the surrounding rural settlements, and increased the scope of their functions. Apart from that, numerous rural settlements acquired various urban functions (new industrial plants, new shops, out-patient clinics, schools, sports centres, etc.) with a tendency to become genuine urban settlements.