Bosniaks of Croatia explained

See also: Muslims (ethnic group) and Croat Muslims.

Group:Bosniaks of Croatia
Native Name:Bošnjaci u Hrvatskoj
Population:24,131 (2021)
Languages:Bosnian, Croatian
Religions:Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related: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.

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.[1] Most Bosniaks live in the capital Zagreb (8,119), Istria County (6,146) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (4,877). There is a Bosniak community in Maljevac, hence the mosque in the village.

Religion

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.

Politics

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.

ElectionRepresentativePartyNationalityTerm
2003Šemso TankovićSDAHBosniak2003–2011
2007
2011Nedžad HodžićBDSHBosniak2011–2015
2015Ermina Lekaj PrljaskajIndependentAlbanian2015–present
2016
2020

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pravo pripadnika nacionalnih manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj na zastupljenost u Hrvatskom saboru . Croatian . Croatian Parliament . Zakon o izborima zastupnika u Hrvatski sabor . 2011-12-29.