Jajce
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| Jajce Јајcе |
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| Country |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Government | |
| - Municipality president | Nisvet Hrnjić (SDA) |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 329 km2 (127 sq mi) |
| Population (2007 est.)[2] | |
| - Total | 24,455 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Area code(s) | +387 30 |
| Website | http://www.opcina-jajce.ba |
Jajce is a city and municipality located in the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity. It is on the crossroads between Banja Luka, Mrkonjić Grad and Donji Vakuf, on the confluence of the rivers Pliva and Vrbas.
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[edit] History
Jajce is a town that was first built in the 14th century and which served as the capital of the independent Bosnian kingdom during its time. The town has gates as fortifications, as well as a castle which has walls which lead to the various gates around the town, to protect the castle. When the Bosnian kingdom fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1463, Jajce was taken by the Ottomans but was retaken next year by Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus. About 10–20 kilometres from the Jajce lies the Komotin castle and town area which is older but smaller than Jajce, it is believed the town of Jajce was previously Komotin but was moved after the black death.
During this period, the last Bosnian queen Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić restored the Church of Saint Luke in Jajce, today the oldest church in town. Eventually, in 1527, Jajce became the last Bosnian town to fall to Ottoman rule. There are several churches and mosques built in different times during different rules, making Jajce a rather diverse town in this aspect.
Jajce gained prominence during the Second World War because it hosted the second convention of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia on November 29, 1943, a meeting that set the foundation for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after WWII.
At the beginning of the Bosnian war, Jajce was inhabited by people from all ethnic groups, and was situated at a junction between areas of Serb majority to the north, Bosnian Muslim majority areas to the south-east and Croatian majority areas to the south-west.
At the end of April and the beginning of May 1992, almost all Serbs left the city and fled to territory under the Republika Srpska control. The Serbian Orthodox Church (Crkva Uspenja Presvete Bogorodice) was blown up in the night between 10th and 11th of October 1992 [2]. In the summer of 1992, the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) started heavy bombardment of the city. Serb forces entered Jajce in October 1992, apparently due to lack of cooperation between Bosnian government and Croat forces. The Bosniak and Croat population escaped through Divičani into Travnik. In the Croat counteroffensives of August-September 1995 the town was taken by Croatian forces with most of the Serb population fleeing. Jajce became part of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the Dayton Agreement.
[edit] Demographics
In 1931 today's municipality of Jajce was part of the much bigger Jajce county (together with today's municipalities of Jezero, Dobretići and Šipovo.
| Ethnic Composition | |||||||||||||
| Year | Serb | % | Muslims | % | Croats | % | Yugoslavs | % | Others | % | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 24,176 | 49.84% | 14,205 | 29.28% | 10,080 | 20.78% | - | - | - | - | 48,510 | ||
| 1961 | 8,670 | 25.14% | 7,545 | 21.88% | 13,733 | 39.82% | 4,342 | 12.59% | 198 | 0.57 | 34,488 | ||
| 1971 | 8,132 | 23.23% | 14,001 | 40.00% | 12,376 | 35.35% | 208 | 0.59% | 285 | 0.83% | 35.002 | ||
| 1981 | 7,954 | 19.31% | 15,145 | 36.76% | 14,418 | 35.00% | 3,177 | 7.71% | 503 | 1.22% | 41,197 | ||
| 1991 | 8,663 | 19.24% | 17,380 | 38.61% | 15,811 | 35.13% | 2,496 | 5.54% | 657 | 1.48% | 45,007 [3] | ||
365 Serbs and Muslims from Jajce are, documented to be killed in Jasenovac concentration camp.[4]
[edit] 1991
In the town itself, there was 13,579 people, with distribution by ethnic groups:
- Bosniaks - 5,277 (38.86%)
- Bosnian Serbs - 3,797 (27.96%)
- Yugoslavs - 2,217 (16.32%)
- Bosnian Croats - 1,899 (13.98%)
- others and unknown - 389 (2.88%)
[edit] 1995
According to the Dayton agreement, municipality borders were changed, and included some villages with the Bosnian Croat majority before the war (Mrkonjić Grad and Skender Vakuf municipalities) and excluded some villages with the Bosnian Serb or Bosniak majority before the war.
[edit] Jajce Today
The economy of the Jajce municipality is nowadays weak. UNESCO has started to renovate the historical parts of the city together with a Swedish organisation named Kulturarv utan gränser (Cultural Heritage without Borders). The main project of the Swedish company was to renovate the old traditional houses which symbolised the panoramic view of the city and the waterfall. As of 2006, most of the houses were rebuilt but works are ongoing for the fortress.
In elections of 2007 Bosniak parties won majority in Jajce municipality. [5]
[edit] Surroundings
The town is also famous for its beautiful waterfall where the Pliva River meets the river Vrbas. It was 30 meters high, but during the Bosnian war, the area was flooded and the waterfall is now 20 meters high. The flooding may have been due to an earthquake and/or attacks on the hydroelectric power plant further up the river.
The roads and other infrastructure that connect Jajce to the villages surrounding it (part of the Jajce municipality) are in bad shape due to the wartime devastation.
Jajce also lies near Pliva lake and the rivers Pliva and Vrbas flow through the city. Jajce has a rich history and many remains of old times like the St Luke church and the fortress. Jajce was always known for its rich history but it was in the year 2006 that the city was first nominated to be listed as a UNESCO heritage site.
Jajce is situated in the mountains, there is a beautiful countryside near the city, rivers such as the Vrbas and Pliva, lakes like Pliva lake, which is also a popular destination for the local people and some tourists. This lake is called Brana in the local parlance. Not far from Jajce there are mountains that are over 2000 meters high like Vlasic near the city of Travnik. Travelling through the mountain roads to the city may not sit well with some visitors, because the roads are in poor condition, but the scenery is picturesque.
[edit] References
- ^ "Osnovne informacije o kantonu". Služba za statistiku za područje Srednjobosanskog kantona u Travniku. http://www.fzs.ba/kk6.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
- ^ Estimation of the population of the Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina, june 30, 2007, Federalni zavod za statistiku, 2007-06-30, http://www.fzs.ba/Dem/ProcPrist/stalno.pdf, retrieved on 2007-10-11
- ^ "Stanovništvo prema općinama po mjesnim zajednicama po nacionalnoj pripadnosti". Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina:Federal Bureau of statistics. 2006-03-17. http://www.fzs.ba/Dem/Popis/nacion%20po%20mjesnim.zip. Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
- ^ https://cp13.heritagewebdesign.com/~lituchy/victim_search.php?field=origin&searchtype=contains&data=Jajce&submit=Go
- ^ Izbori.ba - Results [1]
[edit] External links
- Everything about Jajce(Bosnian)(Croatian)
- Image of Town and Waterfall
- Official Website(Bosnian)(Croatian)
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