| Gračac | |
| Official Name: | Municipality of Gračac Općina Gračac Општина Грачац |
| Native Name: | [1] |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Croatia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Coordinates: | 44.299°N 15.847°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Croatia |
| Subdivision Type1: | County |
| Subdivision Name1: | Zadar County |
| Leader Title: | Municipal mayor |
| Leader Name: | Nataša Turbić (HDZ) |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 958.3 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 69.9 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 3136 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Urban: | 2060 |
| Population Density Urban Km2: | auto |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 23 440 |
| Area Code: | +385(0)23 |
| Registration Plate: | ZD |
Gračac (pronounced as /grǎtʃats/;) is a municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. The municipality is administratively part of Zadar County.
Gračac is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić.
The total municipality population is 4,690 (census 2011), in the following settlements:
Gračac was ruled by Ottoman Empire between 1527 and 1687 (nominally to 1699) as part of the Sanjak of Lika in the Bosnia Eyalet before Austrian conquest. The 1712–14 census of Lika and Krbava registered 1,711 inhabitants, out of whom 1,655 were Vlachs, 53 were Catholic Bunjevci and 3 were Catholic Croats. The term "Vlach" was used at the time to describe a population of Eastern Orthodox religion and rarely as an ethnic group. Those families that moved to Gračac came from area south east of Belgrade.[3] [4] In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Gračac was part of the Lika-Krbava County of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
From 1992 to 1992, Gračac was part of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. In 1995, the town was taken over by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. At least 14 Serb civilians were killed by the Croatian Army in the nearby Kijani village during and in the aftermath of Operation Storm in August 1995.[5] [6]
The area of Gračac was not part of the Austro-Hungarian crown land of Dalmatia, but it is often perceived as part of Dalmatia in the modern sense because of its inclusion in Zadar County.
| Population by ethnicity | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of census | total | Serbs | Others | |||
| align=center | 1961 | 17,586 | 3,736 (21.24%) | 13,670 (77.73%) | 180 (1.02%) | |
| align=center | 1971 | 14,819 | 3,107 (20.97%) | 11,318 (76.37%) | 394 (2.66%) | |
| align=center | 1981 | 11,863 | 2,150 (18.12%) | 8,578 (72.31%) | 1,135 (9.57%) | |
| align=center | 1991 | 10,434 | 1,697 (16.26%) | 8,371 (80.22%) | 366 (3.51%) | |
| align=center | 2001 | 3,923 | 2,260 (57.61%) | 1,523 (38.82%) | 140 (3.57%) | |
| align=center | 2011 | 4,690 | 2,528 (53.90%) | 2,118 (45.16%) | 44 (0.94%) | |
Note: in some censa, such as in 1981, parts of the population listed themselves as Yugoslavs instead of Croat or Serb.
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs.[7] At the 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections Serbs of Croatia fulfilled legal requirements to elect 10 members minority councils of the Municipality of Gračac.[8]
The name Gračac is derived from "gradina" which means an old abandoned castle. Near the town there are Lake Štikada and the karst field of Gračac. The Cerovac caves nearby are open for tourists. The town is on the way into the Lika region of Zadar county, and the surroundings offer good hunting game.