Vlasenica

Vlasenica (Serbian Cyrillic: Власеница) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 11,467 inhabitants, while the town of Vlasenica has a population of 7,228 inhabitants.

Vlasenica Власеница
Town and municipality
Vlasenica
Coat of arms
Location of Vlasenica within Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates: 44°11′N 18°56′E
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity	Republika Srpska
Government
• Municipal mayor	Miroslav Kraljević (SNSD)
Area
• Total	448.14 km2 (173.03 sq mi)
Population  (2013 census)
• Total	11,467
• Density	26/km2 (66/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code	56
Website	www.opstina-vlasenica.org

Vlasenica church

Etymology

The origin is not clear, but due to the name it may be named after the Vlachs who inhibited the region historically. ^[1]

History

Some 70-200 Serbs were brutally massacred by Ustaše forces in Vlasenica's Rašića Gaj municipality between 22 June and 20 July 1941, after raping women and girls.^[2] At the end of July and beginning of August 1941 another group of 50 Serbs from Vlasenica District (mostly from Milići) were imprisoned and murdered.^[3] Between 2,000 and 3,000 Muslims were massacred by Serb Chetniks in Vlasenica, from December 1941 until February 1942.^[4] The Susica detention camp was established near Vlasenica in 1992. In its one year of existence, over 1,000 Bosniaks were reported to be killed in the brutal prison camp. During the course of the Yugoslav wars, 2.500 Bosniaks were killed in Vlasenica and the surrounding area.

Demographics

Vlasenica during the Bosnian War:

It was said that Vlasenica was the headquarters of the Greek Volunteer Guard before they took part in the siege of Srebrenica and the Siege of Žepa. <Greek Volunteer Guard Wikipedia>

Population

Population of settlements – Vlasenica municipality
	Settlement	1879.	1885.	1895	1910.	1921.	1931.	1948.	1953.	1961.	1971.	1981.	1991.	2013.
	Total	19,420	23,085	24,927	30,928	28,865	37,532				26,623	30,498	33,817	11,467
1	Cerska												1,409	689
2	Grabovica												537	342
3	Gradina												755	395
4	Neđeljišta												738	354
5	Pustoše												552	208
6	Vlasenica							4,121	7,283	3,047	3,976	6,000	7,909	7,228

Ethnic composition

Ethnic composition – Vlasenica town
	2013.	1991.	1981.	1971.
Total	7,228 (100,0%)	7,909 (100,0%)	6,000 (100,0%)	3,976 (100,0%)
Bosniaks		4,800 (60,69%)	3,435 (57,25%)	2,774 (69,77%)
Serbs		2,743 (34,68%)	1,793 (29,88%)	1,124 (28,27%)
Yugoslavs		242 (3,060%)	578 (9,633%)	5 (0,126%)
Others		98 (1,239%)	22 (0,367%)	25 (0,629%)
Croats		26 (0,329%)	18 (0,300%)	12 (0,302%)
Roma			98 (1,633%)	25 (0,629%)
Montenegrins			28 (0,467%)	7 (0,176%)
Albanians			22 (0,367%)	3 (0,075%)
Hungarians			3 (0,050%)
Slovenes			2 (0,033%)
Macedonians			1 (0,017%)	1 (0,025%)

Ethnic composition – Vlasenica municipality
	2013.	1991.	1981.	1971.
Total	11,467 (100,0%)	17,761 (100,0%)	30,498 (100,0%)	26,623 (100,0%)
Serbs	7,589 (66,18%)	6,311 (35,53%)	13,531 (44,37%)	13,431 (50,45%)
Bosniaks	3,763 (32,82%)	10,897 (61,35%)	15,337 (50,29%)	12,881 (48,38%)
Others	84 (0,733%)	249 (1,402%)	131 (0,430%)	151 (0,567%)
Croats	31 (0,270%)	32 (0,180%)	44 (0,144%)	42 (0,158%)
Yugoslavs		272 (1,531%)	978 (3,207%)	17 (0,064%)
Roma			352 (1,154%)	53 (0,199%)
Montenegrins			81 (0,266%)	28 (0,105%)
Albanians			33 (0,108%)	14 (0,053%)
Hungarians			5 (0,016%)	1 (0,004%)
Slovenes			4 (0,013%)	3 (0,011%)
Macedonians			2 (0,007%)	2 (0,008%)

Economy

Skiing in Vlasenica

Javor cave

Monument in Vlasenica in the honour of the victory of the Serbian army against Austro-Hungarian invaders and Yugoslav Partisans who destroyed the Croatian Ustaše in a battle which took place in modern-day Vlasenica

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):^[5]

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	108
Mining and quarrying	-
Manufacturing	257
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	86
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	56
Construction	28
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	217
Transportation and storage	31
Accommodation and food services	55
Information and communication	9
Financial and insurance activities	17
Real estate activities	-
Professional, scientific and technical activities	20
Administrative and support service activities	4
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security	170
Education	133
Human health and social work activities	107
Arts, entertainment and recreation	10
Other service activities	32
Total	1,340

Notable people

• Lazar Jovanović, 19th-century manuscript writer
• Derviš Sušić, writer
• Flory Jagoda, musician
• Vedad Ibišević, footballer
• Fahrudin Kuduzović, footballer

See also

• Municipalities of Republika Srpska
• Massacres of Serbs in Rašića Gaj