Šamac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Šamac
Шамац
Bosanski Šamac

Location of Šamac within Republika Srpska
Coordinates: 45°04′N 18°28′E / 45.067°N 18.467°E / 45.067; 18.467Coordinates: 45°04′N 18°28′E / 45.067°N 18.467°E / 45.067; 18.467
Country  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity Republika Srpska
Government
 • Mayor Savo Minić (SNSD) [1]
Area
 • Total 177,54 km2 (6,855 sq mi)
Population (2013 census)
 • Total 19,041
 • Density 107,25/km2 (27,780/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Area code(s) 54
Website

Šamac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шамац, pronounced [ʃâmat͡s])[2] is a town and municipality in the northeastern part of the Republika Srpska entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the right bank of the Sava river. Across the river is Slavonski Šamac in Croatia.

History

The city was founded by Bosnian settlers from Ottoman province of Smederevo in 1862. It was part of the Ottoman province of Bosnia by the time it was annexed by Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1887. After World War I, the city became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. From 1929 to 1939, it was part of Drina Banovina; and from 1939 until 1941 it was part of the Banovina of Croatia. During World War II, Šamac, as all the rest of Bosnia-Herzegovina, was included into Nazi-controlled Independent State of Croatia. After 1945, the city was reintegrated within the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tito's Yugoslavia.

In the early stages of the Bosnian war the town was occupied by Bosnian Serbs who established the provisional municipal government. Most Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were ethnically cleansed.[3][4] During the war, a semi-permanent front line was established against Croatian and Bosniak forces towards the neighboring Orašje. In 2003, three Bosnian Serb town leaders at the time of the Yugoslav Wars were sentenced in ICTY for crimes against humanity.[5]

A monument in Šamac for the Serbs who fought and died during war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has the Serbian eagle in the center, the years which war occurred (1992–1995) and the Serbian slogan: "Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava" on the left and right sides.[6]

The town lies on an important strategic position in Republika Srpska, near Brčko. As with most other places under Serbian control, Srpska authorities removed the "Bosnian" adjective from the town's official name and changed it to "Šamac". Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats continued to refer to it by its historical name of "Bosanski Šamac" (pronounced [bǒsanskiː ʃâmat͡s])[2] causing tension among the inhabitants. A court order had the official name changed to simply Šamac removing any ethnic divisions in its previous names.

Settlements

Demographics

1887

Total: 17,686

1971

31,374 total

1991

Municipality

Total: 32,960

Town

Total: 6,239

Sport

The local football club, FK Borac Šamac, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ From Centralna izborna komisija Bosne i Hercegovine — in Serbo-Croatian
  2. 1 2 Mangold (2005:212)
  3. ↑ War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina: Bosanski Samac — Six War Criminals Named by Victims of “Ethnic Cleansing”, Human Rights Watch, April 1994
  4. ↑ FACE TO FACE WITH EVIL, Time magazine, May 13, 1996
  5. ↑ International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (Trial Chamber II): Prosecutor v. Blagoje Simic, Mirolsav Tadic and Simo Zadic (October 17, 2003)
  6. ↑ Jean-Arnault Derens, EU plans trade routes across the continent

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Šamac.
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