Donji Lapac
Encyclopedia
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. The majority of the population are Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
.
Geography
Donji Lapac is located a region of eastern Lika called Ličko Pounje, by the river Una that flows near the town in the valley between mountain PlješevicaPlješevica
Plješivica or Plješevica is a mountain in Croatia and on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of the Dinaric Alps. It stretches in the direction north–south, and it extends from the mountain pass that separates it from Mala Kapela, along the Krbava field to the west and the Una River...
and Una on the altitude of 582m. It is connected with the road that connects Bihać
Bihac
Bihać is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:...
with Gračac
Gracac
Gračac is a village and a municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. It is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić...
.
Demographics
According to the 2001 census, the town has population of 812 and a municipality of 1,880 people. Before the war the area was almost entirely Serb populated with only 0.5% Croats (according to the 1991 census). After the war the area of Donji Lapac municipality grew smaller because villages of Donji Srb and Gornji SrbSrb
Srb is a village located in the southeastern part of Lika, in Croatia, administratively divided into Donji Srb and Gornji Srb . Srb lies in the Una River valley, on the road from Donji Lapac to Knin, and is east of Gračac. It is currently part of the Gračac municipality.In the census of 1991, when...
were given to Municipality of Gračac
Gracac
Gračac is a village and a municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. It is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić...
in Zadar county
Zadar County
Zadar County is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its center is the city of Zadar.- Population :According to the 2001 census, Zadar County has population of 162,045...
. However according to the 2001 census Serbs continue to constitute a majority of 73.6% and Croats 25.1%.
| Year of census | total | Serbs Serbs The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in... | Croats Croats Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | 17,433 | 15,995 (91.75%) | 1,435 (8.23%) |
| 1961 | 6,456 | 6,148 (95.23%) | 202 (3.13%) |
| 1971 | 9,609 | 9,337 (97.17%) | 94 (0.97%) |
| 1981 | 8,337 | 7,691 (91.05%) | 47 (0.56%) |
| 1991 | 8,054 | 7,854 (97.51%) | 44 (0.54%) |
| 2001 | 1,880 | 1,383 (73.56%) | 471 (25.05%) |
| 2011 | 2,200 |
Some Croats or Serbs declared their ethnicity as Yugoslav
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
.
History
The area of Donji Lapac has been inhabited since the Iron ageIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, which many material remains prove. During medieval times the area of Lapac was part of old-slavic Lapac župa
Župa
A Župa is a Slavic term, used historically among the Southern and Western branches of the Slavs, originally denoting various territorial and other sub-units, usually a small administrative division, especially a gathering of several villages...
and in 1449 it became possession of Frankopans. Old city Lapac was located on a nearby Obljaj hill (666m) south from Donji Lapac. When in 1528 Ottomans conquered Lika, Lapac was absorbed.
Donji Lapac was founded in 1791, in the year the Austro-Ottoman war ended and Eastern Lika
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
was annexed by Habsburg empire as a frontier post. In 1941 Yugoslav partisans liberated the district center.
During the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, Donji Lapac was incorporated along with other towns into the unrecognized breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
. In August 1995, it was returned to Croatian control following victories by the Croatian army. According to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
, the Croatian conquest of the municipality was accompanied by widespread looting and ethnic cleansing by the Croatian forces, including the murder of four elderly civilians in the municipality of Donji Lapac, crimes which formed part of the indictment and conviction of the Croatian general Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina is a former Senior Corporal of the French Foreign Legion and former Lieutenant General of the Croatian Army who served in the Croatian War for Independence...
and Mladen Markač
Mladen Markac
Mladen Markač , is a former Croatian military officer. He was a Commander of Croatian Special Police during Operation Storm during the Croatian War of Independence , and afterwords held the rank of Colonel General...
.
Economy
Today Donji Lapac is one of the poorest municipalities in Croatia and is included in area of special state care. Before the war, Donji Lapac had a developed wood and textile industry. Many people worked in the transportation company Likatrans which employed more than 200 people. Today most of the inhabitants are unemployed and jobs are mostly restricted to public services or the renewed wood industry. Additionally many people work in basic agriculture, growing mostly potatoes and plums from which they make the alcohol SlivovitzSlivovitz
Slivovitz or Slivovitsais a distilled beverage made from Damson plums. It is frequently called plum brandy, and in the Balkans is part of the category of drinks called rakia...
.
Towns and Villages in Municipality
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