Bosniaks of Croatia

Bosniaks of Croatia
Bošnjaci u Hrvatskoj
Bosniak National Minority Council in Dubrovnik
Total population
24,131 (2021)
Languages
Bosnian, Croatian
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs

Bosniaks of Croatia (Bosnian and Croatian: Bošnjaci u Hrvatskoj) are one of the ethnic minorities of the Republic of Croatia. According to the 2021 Croatian census, there were 24,131 Bosniaks, or 0.62% of the total population, making them the third largest ethnic group in the country after Croats and Serbs.[1]

Bosniaks are officially recognized as an autochthonous national minority, and as such, they elect a special representative to the Croatian Parliament, shared with members of four other national minorities.[2] Most Bosniaks live in the capital Zagreb (8,119), Istria County (6,146) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (4,877).[3] There is a Bosniak community in Maljevac, hence the mosque in the village.

Religion

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Bosniaks of Croatia are predominantly Muslims, with 21,119 (87.52) subscribing to this confession according to the 2021 Croatian census. They're followed by 1,113 (4.61%) Bosniaks who declared as atheists or non-religious and 367 (1.52%) declared as agnostics. There were 981 (4.07%) Bosniaks of undisclosed or unknown confession, while the rest belonged to various Christian denominations or other religions.[1]

Politics

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Bosniaks are officially recognised as an autochthonous national minority, and as such, they have elected, together with Albanians, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Slovenes, one representative to the Croatian Parliament since 2003.

Election Representative Party Nationality Term
2003 Šemso Tanković SDAH Bosniak 2003–2011
2007
2011 Nedžad Hodžić BDSH Bosniak 2011–2015
2015 Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj Independent Albanian 2015–present
2016
2020

References

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  1. ^ a b "Population by Ethnicity/Citizenship/Mother tongue/Religion" (xlsx). Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Pravo pripadnika nacionalnih manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj na zastupljenost u Hrvatskom saboru". Zakon o izborima zastupnika u Hrvatski sabor (in Croatian). Croatian Parliament. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  3. ^ "Population by Ethnicity, by Towns/Municipalities, 2011 Census". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.