Република Српска Republika Srpska
Flag Emblem of Republika Srpska Emblem
Anthem: Moja Republika (English: "My Republic")
Location of Republika Srpska (red) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.1
Location Republika Srpska (red) inside of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the European continent.
Capital	Sarajevo (official)[1], Banja Luka (de facto)
Official languages	Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian2
Ethnic groups (2006 est)	Serbs: 88% Bosniaks: 8% Croats: 4%
Government	Parliamentary system
• President	Rajko Kuzmanović (SNSD)
• Prime Minister	Milorad Dodik (SNSD)
Entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Proclaimed	28 February 1992
• Recognized in Bosnia and Herzegovina constitution	14 December 1995
Area
• Total	24,526 km2 (9,470 sq mi)
• Water (%)	N/A
Population
• 2007 estimate	1,439,673 3
• 1996 census	1,475,288 4
• Density	60/km2 (155.4/sq mi)
Currency	Convertible Mark (BAM)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Although the Brčko District is formally held in condominium by both entities simultaneously (the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), it is a de facto third entity, as it has all the same powers as the other two entities and is under the direct sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2] [3] The Constitution of Republika Srpska avoids naming the languages, and lists the "languages of Serbs, Bosniaks, and Croats. excluding RS's 48% of the Brčko District including refugees abroad
Even though the Constitutional Court has ruled against and even in favor of individual national symbols on entity flags/coats of arms/anthem (RS and FBiH), the Constitutional Court has, in a spontaneous decision, decided that national symbols are to be banned from entity flags, coats of arms, and anthem (anthem applies to RS only, since FBiH does not have one) The decision was passed on January 29, 2007.[4] This decision entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31 2007.[5] Following the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, National Assembly of Republika Srpska accepted new coat of arms for the entity in July 2008. Bosniak and Croat members of the National Assembly have issued an official objection on the accepted coat of arms claiming that it still violates the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH and that the accepted coat of arms still discriminates against non-Serbs in Republika Srpska. The case will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska in the near future [6]

Republika Srpska listen^ⓘ (Serbian Latin, Bosnian, and Croatian:Republika Srpska, Serbian Cyrilic:Република Српска) is one of the two political entities which represent a lower level of governance in the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the other entity is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The de facto capital of Republika Srpska is Banja Luka, which is also the second largest city in the country; according to Article 9 of its constitution, however, the official capital is Sarajevo.^[1]

During the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, Pale was known as the de facto capital of the Republika Srpska, which was then called the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a self-proclaimed state within the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina led by former president Radovan Karadžić.

Republika Srpska is home to three ethnic "constituent peoples": Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats. On January 9th Republika Srpska celebrates its patron saint St. Stefan.

Name

Although Republika Srpska is often translated as 'Serb Republic'^[7] or 'Bosnian Serb Republic',^[8] the government of Republika Srpska uses the term 'Republic of Srpska' in English translations of official documents.

History

In response to the secession of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Yugoslavia, the Serb members of the Bosnian and Herzegovinan parliament, consisting mainly of the Serb Democratic Party members, but also including some other party representatives (which would form the "Independent Members of Parliament Caucus"), protested and abandoned the central parliament in Sarajevo, and formed the Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 24, 1991, which marked the end of the tri-ethnic coalition that governed after the elections in 1990. This Assembly established the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 9, 1992, which became Republika Srpska in August 1992. The official aim of this act, stated in the original text of the Constitution of Republika Srpska, later amended, was to preserve the Yugoslav federation.

It is important to note that although Republika Srpska is a quite young entity, its history, and the history of Bosnia in general, has begun centuries ago and the geographic region on which it currently resides has been deeply affected by numerous wars from medieval ages, Ottoman Empire occupation to WW1, WW2, and finally the Bosnian war.

Impact of War

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in major changes in the country. In the Federation entity, 50% of the houses were damaged and 6% destroyed. In Republika Srpska the number was lower, at 25% damaged and 5% destroyed. About half the country's population, of 4 million, was displaced. In 1996 right after the war there were some 435,346 Serbian refugees from the Federation in Republika Srpska, and another 197,925 had gone to Serbia. In 1991, 27% of the non-agricultural labor force was unemployed in Bosnia, and this had drastically increased due to war. ^[9] Noways in Bosnia and Herzegovina the unemployment is about 40%, according to the CIA world factbook. In 1996 unemployment in Republika Srpska was at 90%.

The demographics of Republika Srpska changed a lot during the war. Prior to the war Serbs were a majority in this region, but the war resulted in a drastic increase in their numbers, by 547,741 individuals. There was also a drastic decrease in the numbers of other groups, due to ethnic cleansing, most of which took place in 1992. The number of Croats decreased 135,386 individuals, and the biggest decrease was of the Muslims/Bosniaks, some 434,144 people. There were also people who were in 1991 listed as Yugoslavs, but most of those were Serbs. Since the war this classification was no longer relevant.

Geography

Boundary

The Inter-Entity Boundary Line (IEBL) that distinguishes Bosnia and Herzegovina's two entities essentially runs along the military front lines as they existed at the end of the Bosnian War, with adjustments (most importantly in the western part of the country and around Sarajevo), as defined by the Dayton Agreement. The total length of the IEBL is approximately 1,080 km. The IEBL is an administrative demarcation and not controlled by the military or police and there is free movement across it.

Municipalities

Under the Law on Territorial Organization and Local Self-Government adopted in 1994, Republika Srpska was divided into 80 municipalities. After the conclusion of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the law was amended in 1996 to reflect the changes to the entity borders and now provides for the division of Republika Srpska into 63 municipalities.

Cities

The largest towns in Republika Srpska are ^{[note 1][note 2]}:

• Banja Luka - 250,000
• Bijeljina - 150,000
• Prijedor - 112,000^{[citation needed]}
• Doboj - 102,000
• Zvornik - 81,000
• Istočno Sarajevo - 71,000^{[citation needed]}
• Gradiška - 62,000
• Derventa - 57,000
• Teslić - 55,000
• Prnjavor - 52,000
• Trebinje - 43,000
• Kotor Varos - 36,000
• Bosanski Brod - 34,000
• Dubica - 31,000
• Bosanski Novi/Novi Grad - 30,000
• Mrkonjic Grad - 27,000
• Foča - 24,000
• Višegrad - 20,000
• Čelinac - 18,000
• Modriča - 15,000
• Bileća - 12,000

Population Geography

Population geography is the study of the ways in which spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to the nature of places.

Unfortunately there has been no census since the war, so hence there is no official data. The next census is expected to be in 2011, but it's not certain yet. There are however population estimates.

• 1998: 1,428,798
• 1999: 1,448,579
• 2000: 1,469,182
• 2001: 1,490,993

In late 2001 48% of the Brčko District belonging to RS became a de facto separate entity.

• 2002: 1,455,446
• 2003: 1,463,465
• 2004: 1,471,529
• 2005: 1,479,634
• 2006: 1,487,785

Economy

Republika Srpska uses the convertible mark currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since a so-called "regulatory guillotine" it takes a few days to register a business in RS, in contrast to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it takes several months.^[10]

Foreign investment

An agreement on strategic partnership was concluded between the Iron Ore Mine Ljubija Prijedor and the British company LNM, a leading world steel producer. The Russian company Yuzhuralzoloto also signed a strategic partnership with the Lead and Zinc Mine Sase Srebrenica. Recent foreign investments include privatisation of Telekom Srpske, sold to the Serbian Telekom Srbija for (€646mln, and the sale of the petroleum and oil industry, based in Bosanski Brod, Modriča and Banja Luka, to Zarubezhneft of Russia, whose investment is expected to total US$970mln in the coming years.^[11] On May 16 2007 the Czech power utility ČEZ signed a €1.4 bln contract with the Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske, to renovate the Gacko I power plant and build a second, Gacko II.^[12]

External trade

In recent years exports (not including trade with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) have grown significantly, and the level of import coverage has improved - from 1,130,518mln KM (€565mln) and 38.3% in 2005, to 1,539,229mln KM (€770mln) and 55.8% in 2006. In the first two months of 2007 exports grew 19% year on year, and imports by 39%.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Taxation

Since 2001, Republika Srpska initiated significant reforms in the sector of the tax system, which lowered the tax burden to 28.6%, one of the lowest in the region. The 10% rate of capital gains tax and income tax are the lowest in Europe and highly stimulating for foreign investment, and there are no limits on the amount of earnings. Increasing the number of taxpayers and budgeted incomes, and creating a stable fiscal system, were necessary for further reforms in the fields of taxation and duties; this area is a priority goal of the RS authorities. VAT has been introduced in 2006. Income tax is 46% in the RS, compared to nearly 70% in the Federation, and the corporate tax rate is 10%, compared to 30% in the Federation. These tax advantages have led to some companies moving their business to RS from the other entity.^[10]

Salaries

The average gross salary in August 2004 was 660KM (around 340 EUR). From 1998–2003, the average monthly salary in Republika Srpska increased from 280 to 660KM, according to the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Hercegovina.^{[vague][citation needed]} In January 2007, the average wage was 804KM (€400; gross) or 531KM (€265; .net).^[17] In September 2008, the average wage was 1175KM (€600; gross) or 783KM (€400; net)

Government and politics

Under its constitution, Republika Srpska has a president, parliament (the 83-member National Assembly of Republika Srpska), executive (with a prime minister and several ministries), supreme court and lower courts, customs service (under the state-level customs service), and postal service. It also has its own coat of arms, flag (the Slavic tricolor), and national anthem. The Constitutional Law on Coat of Arms and Anthem of the Republika Srpska was ruled not in conformance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as it states that those symbols "represent statehood of the Republika Srpska" and are used "in accordance with moral norms of Serb people". According to the Constitutional Court's decision, the Law was to be corrected by September 2006. The national assembly of Republika Srpska formed a board which is going to make a proposal for the anthem and coat of arms of Republika Srpska. Its flagship airline, Air Srpska, ceased operations in 2003.

Although the constitution names Sarajevo as the capital of Republika Srpska, the northwestern city of Banja Luka is the headquarters of most of the institutions of government — including the parliament — and is therefore the de facto capital.

After the war, Republika Srpska retained its army, but in August 2005, the parliament consented to transfer control of Army of Republika Srpska to a state-level ministry and abolish the Republic's defense ministry and army by January 1, 2006. These reforms were required by NATO as a precondition of Bosnia and Herzegovina's admission to the Partnership for Peace. As of December 14 2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of the Partnership for Peace-project.

Republika Srpska had its own police force, but in October 2005, the parliament consented to the creation over a five-year period of a single integrated police service at the state level, with local police areas that may cross the Inter-Entity Boundary Line if required based on technical considerations. These reforms were insisted upon by the European Union as a precondition for the negotiation of a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The leading Bosnian Serb party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), called on other political parties in Republika Srpska to organize a referendum on police reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The SNSD said the referendum should give a clear picture on whether the Bosnian Serb police should be dismissed or not in the process reforms under which a single police force is to be created on the state level. "I do expect that the answer of most of citizens of Republika Srpska would be no," Rajko Vasić, member of the SNSD leadership said. He also said the party, which won exactly half the seats in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska on October 1 2006, would suggest the referendum on police reform as an issue to be discussed at the first next session of the entity's parliament. Earlier this year the leader of the SNSD and the current RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said he would be ready to sacrifice negotiations with the European Union on the eventual integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Union, if the RS police is to be abolished as part of the police reform on Bosnia's state-level.

As the response to the latest initiatives from Banja Luka, the Chairman of Bosnia's central government, the Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzić, blamed the international community and its passive stand towards the RS stance on police reform.

"Considering the reactions of the international community's officials to the obstructions from the Republika Srpska, they (Bosnian Serbs) can do whatever they want," Terzić told Sarajevo daily Dnevni avaz.

The police reform was aimed at joining police troops of the two ethnic entities into a single state-level police. The police reform fulfills three EU requests - establishment of a statewide police service, elimination of political interference and creation of patrol regions based on professional criteria.

"We do not want suspension of the talks on Stabilization and Association Agreement. However, we won't make concession on what we consider as a minimum requirement, that is retaining of the Republika Srpska Police as an organizational unit with clear competencies and jurisdiction within the reconstructed Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina", Dodik said.

He announced that the RS side will step out of the police reforms process, if their wishes are not respected.

On the November 14 2006, Uroš Pena, the RS chief of police, was quoted as saying that the agreement was being broken by the international community, not RS. In the agreement, it is written that the "Directorate for Police Reform shall be made up of professionals and experts from all levels of government (Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities, cantons)...", which was ignored when a EU Police Mission representative was included.^[18]

External relations

On September 26 2006 Republika Srpska officials signed a 'special ties agreement' with Serbia aimed at promoting economic and institutional cooperation between Serbia and the Republika Srpska (RS). The accord was signed by Serbia's President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, former RS President Dragan Čavić, and Prime Minister Milorad Dodik.

Tadić and Koštunica, accompanied by several ministers and some 300 businessmen, arrived in Banja Luka, the de facto capital of the Republika Srpska, on two special planes from Belgrade, in what was seen as the biggest-ever boost to strengthening ties in all spheres of life between the Republika Srpska and Serbia. The Serbian bank, the Komercijalna banka, and the "Dunav osiguranje" insurance company opened branches in Banja Luka and the Serbian news agency Tanjug also inaugurated its international press center in Banja Luka, in a day packed with business engagements.

The document sets out steps taken by Serbia and Republika Srpska officials to increase economic and political ties. It is similar to a previous one signed in 2001 between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republika Srpska, which had envisaged close cooperation in economy, defense, education and dual citizenship for the residents, said a Serbian government statement. The agreement gives Republika Srpska, the same status with Serbia as the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a whole.

"This agreement will stabilize the relations between countries in the region and it will promote economic, political and cultural relations between Serbia and Republika Srpska," Čavić told reporters after the signing ceremony. Koštunica added "We have long waited for this day," and insisting that the agreement would not be "a dead letter on paper," but would "live and be useful to the citizens of Serbia and Republika Srpska." Under the Dayton peace accord, which ended the Bosnian war in 1995, the country was divided into two entities - Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republika Srpska. Each entity was accorded most of the powers of a state and the accord left room for special ties between the RS and Serbia, as well as between Croatia and the Bosnian Croats.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

See also

• Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Law enforcement in Republika Srpska
• Army of Republika Srpska
• Brčko District
• Republika Srpska dinar
• History of Republika Srpska
• History of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Air Srpska
• Republic of Serbian Krajina

Notes

References

External links

• Republic of Srpska
• Government
• President
• National Assembly
• Radio Television of Republic of Srpska RTRS (TV)
• Voice of Srpska (Newspaper)
• Republic of Srpska Institute of Statistics
• Republic of Srpska Internet Portal
• Bosnia and Herzegovina online