Original scientific paper
The Emigration of Croats from the Roman Catholic Parish of Ulice in Bosnian Posavina
Marko Babić
; The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Ulice (population 1,259 in 1981) is located on the flatland part of Bosnian Posavina, not far from Brčko in northern Bosnia. It is the center of the Roman Catholic parish which includes also the following villages: Laništa Donja, Laništa Gornja, Marković Polje, Rogozan, Ulović, Vitanović, Vukšić Donji and Vukšić Gornji. The number of inhabitants of these nine villages was 5,611 in 1981, while the parish itself had 4,100 members in 1981, which means that more than 70% of the population of this area is Croatian. The territory of Ulice was populated already in prehistory, as well as in classical antiquity. With the coming of the Turks (1520), and during the Vienna War (1683–1699) large demographic and ethnic changes occurred in this area. Statistical data indicated the growth of the Catholic, i.e. Croatian population from 1743 to 1974. After the later date the number of Croats began to fall due to emigration. Research on and indicating the emigration of Croats from Bosnia and Hercegovina was until recently a tabu theme. One example would be the reaction in the (state) daily newspaper Oslobođenje (Sarajevo, 11. 10. 1986) to an article on this theme written by Tunjo Janjić (Glas koncila, Zagreb 5. 10. 1986). However, from 1950 to the beginning of 1988 1,335 families emigrated from the parish of Ulice, of which 1,059 (79,3%) went to Croatia, and 149 (11,1%) to the Croatian capital of Zagreb. Thus the number of parishers fell from 5,850 in 1974 to 4,100 in 1988. This number should be reduced further in view of the fact that at least 800 people from Ulice have for a long time been temporarily abroad in the countries of West Europe. The num¬ber of Croats in Bosnia and Hercegovina has been falling for decades, mainly due to excessive emigration. On the level of the micro-region this can be shown by statistical data from the parish of Ulice.
Keywords
emigration; Roman Catholic parish; Croats; Bosnian Posavina
Hrčak ID:
127449
URI
Publication date:
31.5.1991.
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