Unique Master Citizen Number
Encyclopedia
Unique Master Citizen Number was a unique identification number that was assigned to every citizen of former Yugoslav republics of the SFR Yugoslavia. Today it continues to be used in all of the countries that were created after the dissolution of Yugoslavia – Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Croatia
, Macedonia
, Montenegro
, Serbia
and Slovenia
. Only Croatia has since started switching to a different scheme, but most of its citizens still have and use this number.
Although the Republic of Croatia continued to use the JMBG after the independence in 2002 the official name of the number there was changed to Matični broj građana (Master Citizen Number), acronym MBG Advocates of the right to privacy argued that JMBG was a piece of personally identifiable information
that needed to be protected by information privacy law, mostly because it was unique and it included the person's date of birth. When the law to that effect was passed in 2003 it was no longer possible to use JMBG on identity cards, driver's license
s and similar documents. Even though law hid MBG from personal documents, various institutions (e.g. banks, schools, insurance companies ...) continued to demand citizens to give their MBG while signing various contracts, since MBG was natural unique identifier of each citizen. Seeing flaw of hiding MBG, on January 1, 2009 Croatia passed a new law that introduced a different unique identifier called the Personal Identification Number
(Croatian: Osobni identifikacijski broj, acronym OIB). The OIB consists of 11 randomly chosen digits and has been assigned to all Croatian citizens, companies registered in Croatia and foreign nationals residing in Croatia.
Note: there has been a small number of JMBGs that were assigned by valid authorities but which had an invalid checksum. Also, there are a few duplicate JMBGs in existence. The common anecdotal explanation for these is simple operator error. Reportedly these mistakes happened more often in the early 1990s. The chances of running into exceptions are reportedly low, and whether such exceptions justify questioning the use of JMBG as a unique identifier has not been scientifically analyzed.
B1 =11-(MOD(((7*(MID(A1,1,1)+MID(A1,7, 1)))
+(6*(MID(A1,2,1)+MID(A1,8, 1)))
+(5*(MID(A1,3,1)+MID(A1,9, 1)))
+(4*(MID(A1,4,1)+MID(A1,10,1)))
+(3*(MID(A1,5,1)+MID(A1,11,1)))
+(2*(MID(A1,6,1)+MID(A1,12,1)))),11))
C1 =CONCATENATE(A1,IF(B1<10,B1,0))
on July 17, 2017 (if the system would be still in use).
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, 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 ...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Only Croatia has since started switching to a different scheme, but most of its citizens still have and use this number.
History
The JMBG was introduced on January 8, 1977 and applied to all citizens born before then and alive at the time. Each of the eight federal units of SFRY passed a law on the Unique Master Citizen Number.Although the Republic of Croatia continued to use the JMBG after the independence in 2002 the official name of the number there was changed to Matični broj građana (Master Citizen Number), acronym MBG Advocates of the right to privacy argued that JMBG was a piece of personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information
Personally Identifiable Information , as used in information security, is information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify a single individual...
that needed to be protected by information privacy law, mostly because it was unique and it included the person's date of birth. When the law to that effect was passed in 2003 it was no longer possible to use JMBG on identity cards, driver's license
Driver's license
A driver's license/licence , or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck or a bus, on a public roadway. Most U.S...
s and similar documents. Even though law hid MBG from personal documents, various institutions (e.g. banks, schools, insurance companies ...) continued to demand citizens to give their MBG while signing various contracts, since MBG was natural unique identifier of each citizen. Seeing flaw of hiding MBG, on January 1, 2009 Croatia passed a new law that introduced a different unique identifier called the Personal Identification Number
Personal identification number (Croatia)
The Personal identification number is a permanent national identification number of every Croatian citizen and legal persons domiciled in the Republic of Croatia. OIB is determined and assigned by the Tax Administration of the Croatian Ministry of Finance...
(Croatian: Osobni identifikacijski broj, acronym OIB). The OIB consists of 11 randomly chosen digits and has been assigned to all Croatian citizens, companies registered in Croatia and foreign nationals residing in Croatia.
Composition
The number is made up of 13 digits in a form "DD MM YYY RR BBB K" (whitespaces are for convenience; digits are written without separation) where:Checksum calculation
The checksum is calculated from the mapping DDMMYYYRRBBBK = abcdefghijklm, using the formula:- m = 11 − (( 7*(a+g) + 6*(b+h) + 5*(c+i) + 4*(d+j) + 3*(e+k) + 2*(f+l) ) modModulo operationIn computing, the modulo operation finds the remainder of division of one number by another.Given two positive numbers, and , a modulo n can be thought of as the remainder, on division of a by n...
11)
- If m is between 1 and 9, the number K is the same as the number m
- If m is 10, K can not be calculated (e.g. some of first 12 characters are not correct)
- If m is 11, K becomes 0 (zero)
Note: there has been a small number of JMBGs that were assigned by valid authorities but which had an invalid checksum. Also, there are a few duplicate JMBGs in existence. The common anecdotal explanation for these is simple operator error. Reportedly these mistakes happened more often in the early 1990s. The chances of running into exceptions are reportedly low, and whether such exceptions justify questioning the use of JMBG as a unique identifier has not been scientifically analyzed.
Microsoft Excel formula
- A1 - data (first 12 digits stored as text)
- B1 - checksum calculation
- C1 - full number with checksum
B1 =11-(MOD(((7*(MID(A1,1,1)+MID(A1,7, 1)))
+(6*(MID(A1,2,1)+MID(A1,8, 1)))
+(5*(MID(A1,3,1)+MID(A1,9, 1)))
+(4*(MID(A1,4,1)+MID(A1,10,1)))
+(3*(MID(A1,5,1)+MID(A1,11,1)))
+(2*(MID(A1,6,1)+MID(A1,12,1)))),11))
C1 =CONCATENATE(A1,IF(B1<10,B1,0))
Example
As an example, a valid identification number is 1707017170007; it will be the number of the first male baby registered in SarajevoSarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
on July 17, 2017 (if the system would be still in use).