- Croats of Serbia
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Croats of Serbia Total population 70,602 Regions with significant populations 
Vojvodina56,546 Languages Religion Related ethnic groups Part of a series of articles on Croats 
RecognizedCroatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbia (Vojvodina)
Kosovo
Austria
Italy
Montenegro
Romania
Slovakia
HungarySubgroupsCroats of Serbia or Serbian Croats (Croatian: Hrvati u Srbiji) are the recognized Croatian national minority in Serbia. They were recognized as national minority only in 2005. Due to various reasons only a fraction of Serbian Croats actually still live in their native homeland of Serbia. According to the 2002 census, there were 70,602 Croats in Serbia or 0.94% of the population. 56,546 of them live in Vojvodina and 14,056 in Central Serbia (of which most in Belgrade).
Contents
Population
The number of Croats in Serbia was larger in the 1991 census, when they numbered 97,344 (around 1.24% of the total population of Serbia). However, the real number of Croats may have been smaller because the authorities counted those citizens who declared themselves Bunjevci or Šokci as "Croats". Today, most members of the Šokci community consider themselves Croats, while a smaller part of the Bunjevac population see themselves as members of the distinct Bunjevac nationality, while the majority sees themselves as Croats. Some individuals who had previously declared Croatian ethnicity declared themselves as Yugoslavs in the census; it is questionable whether they could be counted as Croats since Yugoslavs are recognized as a separate nationality.
The largest recorded number of Croats in a census was in 1961 when there were 196,409 Croats (including Bunjevci and Šokci) in the Socialist Republic of Serbia (around 2.57% of the total at the time).
Decrease in numbers
The decrease in the number of Croats in Serbia was caused by the Yugoslav wars, more specifically the 1991-1995 War in Croatia[1], when they were under pressure from the Serbian Radical Party[2][3] and Serb refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to move to Croatia. In that period, a transfer of population occurred between Croats from Serbia and Serbs from Croatia.[4][5] Based on an investigation by the Humanitarian Law Fund from Belgrade in the course of June, July, and August 1992, more than 10,000 Vojvodina Croats exchanged their property for the property of Serbs from Croatia, and that altogether about 20,000 of Croats left Vojvodina.[6] According to Petar Kuntić of Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina during the Yugoslav wars 50,000 Croats moved out from Serbia.[7][8] Another reason for the decrease of Croatian population are low birth rates among members of this ethnicity.[citation needed]
Census results
Number of Croats in Serbia according to various censuses:
- 1948: 169,864 (2.60%)
- 1953: 173,246 (2.48%)
- 1961: 196,409 (2.57%)
- 1971: 184,913 (2.19%)
- 1981: 149,368 (1.60%)
- 1991: 105,406 (1.08%) or (excluding the territory of Kosovo) 97,344 (1.24%)
- 2002: (excluding the territory of Kosovo) 70,602 (0.94%)
Note: In the 1991 and 2002 census, Bunjevci were listed as separate a ethnicity, while Šokci were listed in the category "Others". Before that, they have declared themselves Croats. The number of people in Serbia who had declared themselves as members of the Bunjevac nationality was 20,012 in the 2002 census, while the number of declared Šokci was not given separately, but it is estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 people. From 1948 to 1991, the census results are given for the entire territory of Serbia, while the 2002 census results are given for the territory of Serbia that exclude Kosovo.
See also
- Croats of Vojvodina
- Croats in Hungary
- Hungarians in Serbia
- Croats
- Demographic history of Serbia
- Expulsions in Hrtkovci
Notes
- ^ (Croatian) Pismo prognanih Hrvata Josipoviću
- ^ July 13, 1992 Vreme News Digest Agency No 42, Hrtkovci, The Moving Out Continues, by Jasmina Teodosijevic
- ^ Serbia Facing Chauvinism Again, Awakening of rats
- ^ (Croatian) Oko stotinu protjeranih Hrvata iz Vojvodine stiglo u Hrvatsku 10 August 1995
- ^ (Croatian) Dom i svijet - Broj 220, Kako su Hrvati protjerani iz Vojvodine bolji zivot pronasli u Hrvatskoj, Hrtkovci u Slavoniji
- ^ Croats in Serbia which is not in war with Croatia, With head stuck into sand
- ^ (Serbian) Sedamnaest godina od proterivanja Hrvata iz Hrtkovaca, Zoran Glavonjić
- ^ Anniversary of SRS rally in Vojvodina town
References
- [1] (PDF, English)
- Croats in Vojvodina
- (Croatian) Hrvati Bunjevci traže da se prekinu podjele hrvatske etničke zajednice
- (Croatian) Proslava 250. obljetnice doseljavanja veće skupine Bunjevaca (1686.-1936.)
- (Croatian) Tko su Šokci?
External links
- (Croatian) Hrvatska riječ weekley
- (Croatian) Zajednica protjeranih Hrvata iz Srijema Bačke i Banata
Croatian diaspora Europe Americas Oceania Ethnic groups in Serbia Central Serbia Serbs · Albanians · Bosniaks · Ethnic Muslims · Bulgarians · Croats · Macedonians · Montenegrins · Roma · Romanians (Vlachs) · YugoslavsVojvodina Banat Bulgarians · Bunjevci · Croats (Šokci) · Germans (Danube Swabians and Banat Swabians) · Hungarians (Szekelys) · Montenegrins · Macedonians · Pannonian Rusyns · Roma · Serbs · Slovaks · Yugoslavs · Romanians · Czechs · Slovenes · Gorani people · Ukrainians · Albanians · RussiansKosovo[a] ^a Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 85 UN member states.Categories:- Croatian diaspora
- Ethnic groups in Serbia
- Ethnic groups in Vojvodina
- Serbian people of Croatian descent
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