The Republika Srpska is officially part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Public education arose in 1995 under the Dayton Agreement. The capital is Banja Luka.
The two states should not be confused, since Serbia and the Serbian Republic are not the same. Although all these lands at one time were part of a unified Yugoslavia.
Story
The state was founded in 1992 on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The disconnection movement began after Bosnia and Herzegovina announced its withdrawal from Yugoslavia. Most Bosnians are Muslims, and Serbs are mostly Orthodox Christians.
Against the backdrop of all the events, the Bosnian war began, the Serbian Republic proclaimed itself an independent state. Recognition was received three years later under pressure from NATO and the UN. An officially self-proclaimed country is part of a federal state.
All these events were also related to the conflict in Kosovo. This territory, inhabited by Muslims, belongs to Serbia. Today, Kosovo is recognized as an independent republic by a majority vote of the UN member countries. This was sought, except for Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, by resolution, should now provide the Bosnian Serbs with the opportunity to secede from their state.
Location
The Serbian Republic is located in the center of the Balkan Peninsula. Its area is 24 thousand 641 square kilometers. It is landlocked. The international community recognizes the border of the state, it passes with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro. The drawn border takes into account only the military-political situation, not taking into account ethnic, historical, natural factors. The location of the country is difficult to describe, since its territory consists of two parts on both sides of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The map will help you better understand the situation.
The Serbian Republic consists of six regions:
- Eater
- Bath Luka;
- Good;
- Bielina;
- East Sarajevo;
- Trebinje.
Population
About 1.4 million people live in the republic. These are mainly Bosnian Serbs (83%), who are Christians of the Eastern faith. Croats and Bosnians are also considered constitutional peoples. Jews, Ukrainians, Czechs, Slovaks also live. In recent years, the population has been declining due to the excess of mortality over fertility.
Republika Srpska policy
According to the form of government, it is a parliamentary republic, headed by the president. He also proposes to the parliament the candidacy of the Prime Minister for approval. The president has the right to engage in foreign policy and solve defense issues.
The main executive body is the parliament. There is a law according to which among the ministers there should be eight Serbs, five Bosniaks, three Croats. The parliament consists of 83 deputies and is called the People's Assembly. This is the highest constitutional and legislative body.
The existence of Serbian Krajina
A similar situation in 1991-1995 existed in Croatia. Republika Srpska Krajina was formed by ethnic Serbs. However, after all wars and political agreements, the formed state ceased to exist. His government has been in exile since 2005.
The Republika Srpska Krajina had its territory, population, government, state symbols. But it only lasted five years. The Croatian government has three seats for Serbs. In addition, there are legal parties to the Croatian Serbs, namely the SDSS, the SNA and others. With their help, Croatian Serbs can participate in the life of the country.
State Symbols of the Republika Srpska
Since the republic is officially still part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its state symbols are not recognized as constitutional. However, there is a flag of the Republika Srpska. It consists of three horizontal, equal-sized stripes on the cloth, the sides of which have a ratio of one to two.
Flag colors from top to bottom:
The order of these colors is the reverse of the order of the stripes of the flag of the Russian Federation. It was approved in 1992.
The coat of arms was adopted only in 2008. It is placed on a round shield. In the center is the flag of the republic, bordered by oak leaves with acorns. Below they are intertwined with a ribbon with the colors of the flag. “RS” is written on the flag in gold letters, and “Republika Srpska” is written around the whole image in Serbian and English. Monarchist crowns are placed below and above. The lower one belongs to the Kotromanic dynasty, which ruled in Bosnia in the Middle Ages.
The coat of arms uses four colors:
Bosnia and Herzegovina recognized this emblem as the emblem of the Republika Srpska.
The anthem entitled "My Republic" was adopted in 2008. The author of the words is Mladen Matovich. Prior to this, there was an attempt to approve the anthem “God the Truth”, but it was declared unconstitutional by Bosnia and Herzegovina.