Modriča

Modriča Модрича
Town and municipality
Modriča
Coat of arms
Location of Modriča within Republika Srpska
Coordinates: 44°57′23″N 18°18′04″E
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity	Republika Srpska
Geographical region	Posavina
Government
• Municipal mayor	Jovica Radulović (SDS)
• Municipality	319.8 km2 (123.5 sq mi)
Population  (2013 census)
• Town	10,137
• Municipality	25,712
• Municipality density	80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	74480
Area code	+387 53
Website	www.modrica.ba

Modriča municipality by population proportional to the settlement with the highest and lowest population

Modriča (Serbian Cyrillic: Модрича) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the town has a population of 10,137 inhabitants, while the municipality has a population of 25,720 inhabitants.

History

The first written document about Modriča is 13th century charter of Hungarian King Bela IV in which Modriča is mentioned as spring: "...fons Modricha, ubi cadit in Boznam", but it all indicates that it was minor stream which was flowing into Bosna river. According to traditional stories, Modriča was named after the small river with blue, mountain water. It is assumed that the small river is Dusa. According to other narratives, area bears the name of the old Slavic marks of the blue sky and distances, which are more discerned on the horizon than visible – modrina (the blue)/modriča.

There is archaeological evidence of human presence in the territory of present-day Modrica municipality back in the Paleolithic - Old Stone Age. This is evidenced by traces discovered at the site Gradina in the village of Dugo Polje above the valley of Bosna river. Traces of ancient Neolithic farmers were found in several places, among others at locations Kulište in Kruskovo Polje, at Zdralovo brdo in village Kladari, at location Prljaca, then in villages Vranjak, Kuznjaca, Skugric, Dugo Polje, etc. At Dobor hill is important site with seven archaeological layers of the Iron Age. Traces of old Slavic settlements can be found in several places in Modrica municipality. In the charter of Kotromanic from 1323 mentioned is parish Nenaviste with settlements Modrica and Jakes.

The events were developing around Dobor fortress which presage the end of the Bosnian national independence. Those were conflicts with Hungarians in 1393/94 and 1408th, and the cut of 170 Bosnian boyars on the ramparts of the fort. These areas then became cruel war frontier in a fit of the Turks, and they won Dobor and Modrica in the 1536th. After the defeat of the Turks at Vienna 1683rd, in the next two centuries this was the border area, and that means - the zone of conflicts, rebellions, devastation and economic stagnation. During Austrian-Hungarian rule, in 1897 Modrica has been included in list of such towns that Bosnia and Herzegovina had only 66.

In the second half of the 19th century economic and cultural - educational conditions are slowly improving. Memory was recorded that school existed, maybe even at the end of the 18th century, and in any case from the second half of the 19th century. Modrica was a nursery of schools in the rural area. From 1929 to 1939, Modriča was part of the Vrbas Banovina and from 1939 to 1941 of the Banovina of Croatia within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The conditions improved in the second half of 20th century. because in 1947 railroad Šamac-Sarajevo passed through city, with a branch line Modrića-Gradačac built in 1951. Then some factories in the city were built: oil refinery, factories of paper and plastic boxes Pamo and Plastmo, flour mill, shoe factory "Vjekoslav Bakulić", color dissolver factory "Hemija" and small wood factory "8th September", together with a required town infrastructure (residential buildings, secondary school, sport hall),. The wheat and cattle  farm "Dr. Mujbegović" (later Petar Mrkonjič) was also expanded. Volleyball team "Modriča" won the national championship of Yugoslavia in 1979.

After the 1992–95 Bosnian War, prewar municipal borders were changed, villages of Jakeš, Pećnik and Modrički Lug were excluded from Modriča and included in the new Vukosavlje municipality, and a few villages from the western part of prewar Gradačac municipality were included, thus the size of the municipality changed substantially.

Demographics

Serb families forced from their homes due to border regulations in the Dayton agreement from 1995

Population

Population of settlements – Modriča municipality
	Settlement	1948.	1953.	1961.	1971.	1981.	1991.	2013.
	Total	19,746	39,156		31,622	34,541	35,413	25,720
1	Botajica						1,019	579
2	Čardak						1,006	353
3	Dobrinja						437	446
4	Donji Skugrić							910
5	Dugo Polje						1,596	994
6	Garevac						2,795	2,993
7	Kladari Donji						1,046	362
8	Kladari Gornji						448	359
9	Koprivna						2,218	1,151
10	Krčevljani						282	253
11	Miloševac						1,735	1,323
12	Modriča	3,072		5,032	7,324	9,630	10,454	10,137
13	Skugrić Gornji						1,453	785
14	Tarevci						2,322	2,719
15	Tolisa						858	358
16	Vranjak						2,370	1,419

Ethnic composition

Ethnic composition – Modriča town
	2013.	1991.	1981.	1971.
Total	10,137 (100,0%)	10,454 (100,0%)	9,630 (100,0%)	7,324 (100,0%)
Serbs	6,952 (73,81%)	2,420 (23,15%)	1,841 (19,12%)	1,428 (19,50%)
Bosniaks	1,836 (19,49%)	5,252 (50,24%)	4,815 (50,00%)	4,910 (67,04%)
Others	284 (3,015%)	301 (2,879%)	138 (1,433%)	49 (0,669%)
Roma	168 (1,784%)		38 (0,395%)	3 (0,041%)
Croats	157 (1,667%)	1 134 (10,85%)	838 (8,702%)	732 (9,995%)
Montenegrins	13 (0,138%)		29 (0,301%)	25 (0,341%)
Slovenes	6 (0,064%)		4 (0,042%)	3 (0,041%)
Macedonians	2 (0,021%)		3 (0,031%)	4 (0,055%)
Albanians	1 (0,011%)		15 (0,156%)	12 (0,164%)
Yugoslavs		1 347 (12,89%)	1 904 (19,77%)	154 (2,103%)
Hungarias			5 (0,052%)	4 (0,055%)

Ethnic composition – Modriča municipality
	2013.	1991.	1981.	1971.
Total	25,720 (100,0%)	35,613 (100,0%)	34,541 (100,0%)	31,622 (100,0%)
Serbs	20,227 (78,64%)	12,534 (35,20%)	13,012 (37,67%)	13,457 (42,56%)
Bosniaks	3,101 (12,06%)	10,375 (29,13%)	8,578 (24,83%)	8,356 (26,42%)
Croats	1,674 (6,509%)	9,805 (27,53%)	9,598 (27,79%)	9,418 (29,78%)
Others	718 (2,792%)	1,048 (2,943%)	476 (1,378%)	138 (0,436%)
Yugoslavs		1,851 (5,198%)	2,755 (7,976%)	180 (0,569%)
Roma			38 (0,110%)	3 (0,009%)
Montenegrins			37 (0,107%)	32 (0,101%)
Albanians			29 (0,084%)	16 (0,051%)
Macedonians			7 (0,020%)	10 (0,032%)
Slovenes			6 (0,017%)	4 (0,013%)
Hungarias			5 (0,014%)	8 (0,025%)

Economy

Velika Rijeka

Modriča oil refinery

The Modriča oil refinery, currently owned by Russian investors, is located in Modriča.

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered employed people per their core activity (as of 2016):

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	62
Mining and quarrying	9
Manufacturing	1,475
Distribution of power, gas, steam and air-conditioning	45
Distribution of water and water waste management	80
Construction	128
Wholesale and retail, repair	803
Transportation and storage	206
Hotels and restaurants	158
Information and communication	47
Finance and insurance	47
Real estate activities	2
Professional, scientific and technical activities	90
Administrative and support services	28
Public administration and defence	270
Education	383
Healthcare and social work	325
Art, entertainment and recreation	17
Other service activities	122
Total	4,297

Religion

Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas

Newly built Serbian orthodox church in Višnjik

There are 18 churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox church, five mosques and three Catholic churches in the municipality.

Sports

City stadium

• FK Modriča plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska
• The local volleyball club is Modriča Optima.

Twin towns – sister cities

Modriča is twinned with:

Migliaro, Italy Ub, Serbia

Notable people

• Avdo Karabegović - Hasanbegov (1878–1909), poet
• Kristian Kreković (1901–1985), painter
• Nada Topčagić (b. 1953), singer
• Nikola Nikić (b. 1956), footballer
• Milan Jelić (1956–2007), former President of Republika Srpska
• Marta Savić (b. 1966), singer
• Jusuf Dajić (b. 1984), footballer
• Zdravko Kuzmanović (b. 1987), footballer
• Aleksandar Okolić (b. 1993), volleyball player
• Asim Sarvan (b. 1949), musician, S Vremena Na Vreme

See also

• Municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina

External links

• Official website