Bijeljina

Template:Infobox RS Bijeljina (Cyrillic: Бијељина) is a town and municipality in northeastern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The town is situated on the Semberija plain, near the borders with Serbia and Croatia.

History

In 1991-1992 Bijeljina was the center of the local Serb Autonomous Region, organized by the local Serb authorities - SAO Semberija i Majevica.

During the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bijeljina saw a significant demographic change. Before the war, the town was predominantly Bosniak, while its vicinity consisted of mostly Serbian villages, except for the large village of Janja. Bijeljina was one of the first places to be dragged into the war, being located at a key strategic location. In the first days of April 1992, the town was attacked by Serb paramilitary groups led by Arkan. According to contemporary news reports, up to 100 civilians were killed, and the non-Serb population was driven out. This was one of the first instances of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is surmised that Bijeljina was attacked first because of its strategic location in the north-eastern corner of Bosnia near the Serbian border.^[1] During the war, Bijeljina saw a large influx of Bosnian Serbs expelled by Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from other regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina^{[citation needed]}.

Population

According to the 1910 census, the absolute majority in the Bijeljina municipality were Orthodox Christians (70.57%).

At the 1991 census, Bijeljina municipality had 96,796 inhabitants, including:

57,541 (59%) Serbs (See: Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
30,314 (34%) Bosniaks
4,256 Yugoslavs
517 Croats
4,168 others

Muslims by nationality were in the majority in the town itself while Serbs were in majority in most of the surrounding villages. Nowadays, the overwhelming majority of Muslims by nationality consider themselves Bosniaks.

At present, the municipality has about 105,000 inhabitants (estimate), 98.75% of whom are Serbs.