Republika Srpska

The Republika Srpska (????????? ??????, RS) is one of the two political entities that compose the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the other entity is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Republic of Srpska comprises 49% of the land area of Bosnia, but only about 40% of the population. All data dealing with population, including ethnic distributions, are subject to considerable error because of the dislocations caused by military action and population transfers. UNHCR population census conducted throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina in the spring of 1996 (shortly after the end of the war) indicated that the Serbs were 96.8% of the overall population of the entity at that point in time.

Name

Republika Srpska can be translated into English as Serb Republic or Republic of Srpska. The word "srpska" can be interpreted as an adjective ("Serbian"), and, bearing in mind language rules for the creation of names of countries in the Serbian, also as a proper noun (as in the case of the analogous name "Republika Hrvatska", which is almost always translated as "Republic of Croatia.")

Related Topics:
Adjective - Serbian - Noun

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Because of the potential for confusion between the "Serb Republic"/"Republic of Srpska" (Republika Srpska) and the "Republic of Serbia" (Republika Srbija), the name "Republika Srpska" is often used in its untranslated form in non-Slavic countries. This article follows that convention. (The government of Republika Srpska uses the term "Republic of Srpska" in the English translation of the Constitution and other documents.)

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