Croats of Serbia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Croats of Serbia
Total population

70,602
Regions with significant populations
mostly Vojvodina
Languages
Croatian, Serbian
Religions
Roman Catholicism, atheism
Related ethnic groups
Serbs, Slovenes, Bosniaks
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Croats

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Origins of the Croats
v • d • e

Croats are one of ethnic groups in Serbia. Due to various reasons only a fraction of Serbian Croats actually still live in their native homeland of Serbia. According to the 2002 census, there were 70,602 Croats in Serbia or 0.94% of population. Of this number, 56,546 Croats live in Vojvodina and 14,056 in Central Serbia.

Contents

[edit] Population

The number of Croats in Serbia was larger in the 1991 census, when they numbered 97,344 or around 1.24% of the total population of Serbia. However, this real number of Croats may have been smaller because the authorities counted those citizens who declared themselves Bunjevci or Šokci as "Croats". Today, most members of the Šokci community consider themselves Croats, while a smaller part of the Bunjevac population see themselves as members of distinct Bunjevac nationality, while the majority see themselves as Croats. Some individuals who had previously declared Croatian ethnicity declared themselves as Yugoslavs in the census; it is questionable whether they could be counted as Croats since Yugoslavs are recognized as separate nationality.

The largest recorded number of Croats in a census was in 1961 when there were 196,409 Croats (including Bunjevci and Šokci) in Socialist Republic of Serbia (around 2.57% of the total at the time).

The decrease in the number of Croats in Serbia was caused by the Yugoslav wars, more specifically the 1991-1995 War in Croatia, when they were under pressure from the Serbian Radical Party[citation needed] and Serb refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo to move to Croatia. In that period, a transfer of population occurred between Croats from Serbia and Serbs from Croatia. [1] Another reason for decrease of Croatian population are low birth rates among members of this ethnicity.[citation needed]

[edit] Census results

Number of Croats in Serbia according to various censuses:

  • 1948: 169,864 (2.60%)
  • 1953: 173,246 (2.48%)
  • 1961: 196,409 (2.57%)
  • 1971: 184,913 (2.19%)
  • 1981: 149,368 (1.60%)
  • 1991: 105,406 (1.08%) or (excluding territory of Kosovo) 97,344 (1.24%)
  • 2002: (excluding territory of Kosovo) 70,602 (0.94%)

Note: In 1991 and 2002 census, Bunjevci were listed as separate ethnicity, while Šokci were listed in category "Others". Before that censuses they have declared themself Croats. Number of people in Serbia which has declared themselves as members of Bunjevac nationality was 20,012 in 2002 census, while number of declared Šokci was not given separatelly, but it is estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 people. From 1948 to 1991, census results are given for entire territory of Serbia, while 2002 census results are given for territory of Serbia that exclude Kosovo.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (Croatian) Oko stotinu protjeranih Hrvata iz Vojvodine stiglo u Hrvatsku, 10 August 1995

[edit] References

v • d • e
Ethnic groups of Serbia
General
Vojvodina
Kosovo