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Kneževo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Coordinates: 44°29′24″N 17°22′45″E / 44.49000°N 17.37917°E / 44.49000; 17.37917
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(Redirected from Skender Vakuf / Kneževo)
Kneževo
Кнежево
Town and municipality
Kneževo
Kneževo
Coat of arms of Kneževo
Coat of arms
Location within Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location within Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location of Kneževo
Coordinates: 44°29′24″N 17°22′45″E / 44.49000°N 17.37917°E / 44.49000; 17.37917
Country Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity Republika Srpska
Government
 • Municipal mayorGoran Borojević (SNSD)
Area
 • Total332.9 km2 (128.5 sq mi)
Population
 (2013 census)
 • Total9,793
 • Density29/km2 (76/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code51
WebsiteOfficial Kneževo Municipality Website

Kneževo (Serbian Cyrillic: Кнежево), formerly Skender Vakuf (Serbian Cyrillic: Скендер Вакуф), is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 9,793 inhabitants.

Name

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Up until the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, the town was known as Skender Vakuf. During the war, the town was renamed Kneževo by the Serb authorities as part of their ethnic cleansing policies.[1] Accordingly, many media outlets in the region continue to refer to the area as Skender Vakuf-Kneževo.[2]

History

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A plaque dedicated to local Serb victims of fascism

A Roman basilica has been found in Imljani and Javorani, and the remains of the Roman road from Servitium (Banja Luka) to Levsaba (Travnik) were also found in the vicinity. Tombstones of the Stećak type date back to the 14th and 15th centuries, when the area was part of the Kingdom of Bosnia. The town was founded during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. It was first mentioned in the records of a Muslim judge from Jajce in 1693, while there is no record of it in the census of the Bosnia Eyalet of 1604. Two generations of imams are mentioned in the records, which means it was most likely founded in the latter half of the 17th century. The architecture of the Old Mosque in Skender Vakuf also indicates it was built in the latter half of the 17th century. The charitable endowment (vakuf) that is reflected in the town's traditional name Skender Vakuf (after Ali-dedo Skender) contributed to its urbanization.[3] The Old Mosque was significant and one of the first in the region. It was destroyed, along with the New Mosque, in 1992 during the Bosnian War. In the Korićani Cliffs massacre of 21 August 1992, some 200 Bosniak and Croat detainees were massacred in the municipality by the Bosnian Serb police and army forces from Prijedor. After the Bosnian War, a part of the municipality was split off to form the Dobretići municipality of the entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina .

Geography

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The Ugar river
Landscape from Osmača
Lake Bočac and Čemernica
Café in the nature
Nature park Čemernica

Kneževo is located between the rivers Ugar, Vrbas and Vrbanja and surrounded by the mountain chains of Čemernica and Ranča to the west, Vlašić to the south and Ježica to the northeast. The municipality has an official altitude of 864 metres (2,835 ft), but in reality it ranges from 600 to 1,493 metres (1,969 to 4,898 ft). Kneževo is 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Banja Luka by the M56 motorway.

Neighbouring municipalities are Čelinac (far north), Kotor Varoš (east), Travnik, Dobretići, Jajce (south), Mrkonjić Grad (west) and the city of Banja Luka (northwest). The southern border is defined by the border of the Republika Srpska with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's other entity. The mountainous region in the south is forested and inpenetrable; its limestone mountains reach a height of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft).[4][5][6][7]

Settlements

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Aside from the town of Kneževo, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Imamovići

Mušanovići

Demographics

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City assembly building

Population

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Population of settlements – Kneževo municipality
Settlement 1961. 1971. 1981. 1991. 2013.
Total 9,190 21,219 22,948 19,418 9,793
1 Bokani 466 310
2 Imljani 1,565 823
3 Javorani 1,289 759
4 Kneževo 992 1,688 2,910 3,759 3,958
5 Kostići 517 342
6 Rađići 1,405 864
7 Šolaji 586 435
8 Vlatkovići 730 302
9 Živinice 1,223 607

Ethnic composition

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Ethnic composition – Kneževo town
2013. 1991. 1981. 1971.
Total 3,958 (100,0%) 3,759 (100,0%) 2,910 (100,0%) 1,688 (100,0%)
Serbs 2,484 (66,08%) 1,491 (51,24%) 723 (42,83%)
Bosniaks 1,063 (28,28%) 1,118 (38,42%) 923 (54,68%)
Yugoslavs 111 (2,953%) 205 (7,045%) 5 (0,296%)
Others 59 (1,570%) 7 (0,241%) 4 (0,237%)
Croats 42 (1,117%) 45 (1,546%) 17 (1,007%)
Montenegrins 28 (0,962%) 10 (0,592%)
Albanians 14 (0,481%) 6 (0,355%)
Macedonians 1 (0,034%)
Hungarians 1 (0,034%)
Ethnic composition – Kneževo municipality
2013. 1991. 1981. 1971.
Total 9,793 (100,0%) 19,418 (100,0%) 22,948 (100,0%) 21,419 (100,0%)
Serbs 9,288 (94,84%) 13,263 (68,30%) 15,953 (69,52%) 15,926 (74,35%)
Bosniaks 429 (4,381%) 1,071 (5,516%) 1,141 (4,972%) 947 (4,421%)
Others 45 (0,460%) 145 (0,747%) 64 (0,279%) 78 (0,364%)
Croats 31 (0,317%) 4,770 (24,56%) 5,395 (23,51%) 4,431 (20,69%)
Yugoslavs 169 (0,870%) 322 (1,403%) 9 (0,042%)
Montenegrins 53 (0,231%) 21 (0,098%)
Albanians 15 (0,065%) 6 (0,028%)
Slovenes 2 (0,009%) 1 (0,005%)
Hungarians 2 (0,009%)
Macedonians 1 (0,004%)

After the war, the majority of the old Skender Vakuf municipality became part of the new Kneževo municipality of the Republika Srpska entity. Four Croatian pre-war settlements became part of the new Dobretići municipality of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity.

Culture

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Church in Živinice
Wooden church in Javorani

The municipality houses several cultural monuments, such as the Old Church of St. Nicholas from 1757, the 18th-century Church of Prophet Elijah.

In Imljani there is a monument dedicated to the 43 fallen soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska who fell on the Vlašić battlefield on 20 March 1995.[8]

Politics

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The mayor of Knezevo is Bore Škeljić, of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS).[9]

Notable people

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Annotations

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According to the 1991 census, the municipality consisted of: Bastaji, Bokani, Borak, Bregovi, Brnjići, Bunar, Čarići, Ćukovac, Davidovići, Dobratići, Donji Orašac, Golo Brdo, Gornji Orašac, Imljani, Javorani, Kobilja, Kostići, Kričići - Jejići, Melina, Mijatovići, Milaševci, Mokri Lug, Paunovići, Pavlovići, Prisika, Rađići, Skender Vakuf, Slipčevići, Šolaji, Vitovlje Malo, Vlatkovići, Vukovići, Zapeće, Zasavica, Zubovići and Živinice.

In 1995, the municipality included Bastaji, Bokani, Borak, Bregovi, Čarići, Ćukovac, Golo Brdo, Imljani, Javorani, Kobilja, Kostići, Malići, Mokri Lug, Paunovići, Rađići, Kneževo, Šolaji, Vlatkovići and Živinice; the southwestern settlements of Davidovići, Dobretići, Kričići and Melina became part of the municipality of Dobretići in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References

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  1. ^ Bieber, F. (2005-12-16). Post-War Bosnia: Ethnicity, Inequality and Public Sector Governance. ISBN 9780230501379.
  2. ^ "MASOVNA TUČA: Devetorica se potukla zbog bureka!".
  3. ^ Language Evolution in Bosnia Archived 2012-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Vojnogeografski institut (1955). Vlašić (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Vojnogeografski institut.
  5. ^ "Karta BiH - Karta Bosne i Hercegovine".
  6. ^ Spahić M. et al. (2000): Bosna i Hercegovina (1:250.000). Izdavačko preduzeće „Sejtarija“, Sarajevo.
  7. ^ Mučibabić B., ed. (1998). Geografski atlas Bosne i Hercegovine. Sarajevo: Geodetski zavod BiH. ISBN 9958-766-00-0.
  8. ^ "ПАРАСТОС У ИМЉАНИМА". RTRS. 2012-03-20.
  9. ^ "LOKALNI IZBORI 2012 - POTVRĐENI REZULTATI". Izbori.ba. 2012-11-06. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Predsednik NZS predstavitev".
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