Centar

Centar, Sarajevo

Centar (translated Center) is a municipality of central Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located between the older parts of the city under Stari Grad, and the newer more modern parts of the city under the municipalities Novi Grad and Novo Sarajevo.

Features

The Centar municipality, according to the government website, is the administrative, business, commercial, cultural, educational, and medical centre of Sarajevo. Although some of these may be disputed, Centar is certainly the most important part of Sarajevo, housing most major branches of the city and national governments.

The municipality of Centar occupies 3,313 hectrates of land, of which close to 17% is housing. The amount of private and state owned land is nearly equal, with 1600 and 1713 hectrates respectively. The municipality celebrates May 2nd as "Centar Municipality Day", in commemoration of the heroic defense by citizens of the aggressor's assault on the Presidency building of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Centar is also home to many Olympic complexes such as City Hall Skenderija and sports venues Kosevo Stadium and Olympic Hall Zetra.

History

The Siege of Sarajevo had a tremendous effect on Centar. Prior to the aggression, Centar municipality had 79,000 citizens, of which the majority were Bosniaks. 7,000 citizens of the municipality were killed by the aggressors during the war, as major battles took place on its grounds. There was also a heavy presence of land mines in the area, however in December 2003 the government succeeded in clearing all land mines from the area. Since the end of the war, the municipality has received 12 major awards, indicating its current well-being and prosperity.

Demographics

1971

126.598 total

Muslims - 74.354 (58,73%)
Serbs - 27.658 (21,84%)
Croats - 12.903 (10,19%)
Yugoslavs - 5.944 (4,69%)
Others - 5.739 (4,55%)

1991

79.286 total

Muslims - 39.761 (50,14%)
Serbs - 16.631 (20,97%)
Croats - 5.428 (6,84%)
Yugoslavs - 13.030 (16,43%)
Others - 4.436 (5,62%)

Sarajevo (part of settlement), 1991. census

total: 76,771

Muslims by nationality - 38,860 (50.61%)
Serbs - 15,192 (19.78%)
"Yugoslavs" - 12,958 (16.87%)
Croats - 5,415 (7.05%)
others and unknown - 4,346 (5.66%)

References

Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina population, by municipalities and settlements, 1991. census, Zavod za statistiku Bosne i Hercegovine - Bilten no.234, Sarajevo 1991.

2002

According to government statistics from 2002, today Centar municipality has some 80 000 citizens, of which 82% are Bosniaks, 12% are Serbs, 4% are Croats and 2% are others.