A Historical Overview of the Changes in the Ethnical Structure of Population in Boka Kotorska

Karlo Mak
Faculty of Philosophy
University of Zagreb
karlomak24@gmail.com
Original scientific paper
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3235288

FULL TEXT IN PDF

Abstract: The data on ethnic composition of the Boka Kotorska population is more reliable only since 1948 because previous censuses did not collect data on nationality, i.e. national affiliation. Everything that can be discerned for the earlier period is the share of individual religion in the total number of inhabitants or the composition of the population based on the language point of view. The correct assumption is that the indigenous Boka population, at least from the 15th century, was Catholic. Since the Ottoman conquests the Orthodoxy is prevalent, especially in the geographical hinterland of the bay. At the same time, three important relations regarding Catholicism and Orthodoxy can be detected: The Venetian (southeast) versus Ottoman (northwestern) territory, the area of coastal and hinterland and the relation between urban and rural. Continuous growth of the number of Orthodox population, mainly thanks to migrations, led very early to their absolute majority in the hinterland, and at the beginning of the 20th century and in the coastal cities of Boka. From 1948 to 1991, the majority of Boka Kotorska residents were Montenegrins. The number of Serbs is subject to the most fluctuations, the share of Croats continuously decreases, while the number of Yugoslavs directly reflected the Yugoslav everyday occasions. Due to the collapse of a common state, the Yugoslav nation lost the largest share of its national corps. At the same time, the Yugoslavs experienced identity violence such as no Montenegrin, Croat or Serb in Yugoslavia. Therefore, the number of nationally undisclosed population is increasing rapidly. In them we should look for the former Yugoslavs whose nation, after the establishment of the nationalist regime in the 1990s, seems to be losing the right to exist. Finally, the ethnic composition of Boka Kotorska was subject to great fluctuations due to changes in administrative power, migration, wars, and so on. Consequently, today the Gulf is an extremely ethnically heterogeneous area, and not just the bay, but also each of its municipalities individually.

Keywords: Boka kotorska, population, Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats, Yugoslavs

References:

Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova u Crnoj Gori 2011. godine: Podaci na nivou opština: Stanovništvo prema nacionalnoj odnosno etničkoj pripadnosti i vjeroispovjesti po opštinama, http://www.monstat.org (5.4.2018.).

P. Butorac, Boka kotorska, u: Crna Gora i Crnogorci u Novoj Evropi, ur. Branislav Kovačević i Marijan Miljić, Novinsko javno preduzeće „Pobjeda“, Podgorica 2005.

I. Crkvenčić, A. Schaller, Boka kotorska: društveno-političke promjene i razvoj etničkog sastava do 1918. godine, Hrvatski geografski glasnik 67/2 (2005), 107–122.

I. Crkvenčić, A. Schaller,Boka kotorska: Etnički sastav u razdoblju austrijske uprave (1814–1918. g.), Hrvatski geografski glasnik 68 (2006), 51–72.

I. Crkvenčić, A. Schaller, Promjena etničkog sastava Boke kotorske (1910–2003. g.) s posebnim osvrtom na veliko smanjenje broja Hrvata, Hrvatski geografski glasnik 69 (2007), 69–100.

L. Čoralić, L, Iz prošlosti Boke: odabrane teme, Meridijani, Samobor 2007.

Hrvati Boke Kotorske, ur. S. Obad, Sveučilište u Zadru, Zadar 2003.

T. Jakovina, Soll ich wirklich hier bleiben? Boka kotorska vor dem Krieg 1991: Erinnerungen eines kroatischen Marinesoldaten, u: Europa Neu Denken Band III: Die andere(n) Seite(n) des Meeres, Ilse Fischer, Johannes Hahn, Verlag Anton Pustet, Salzburg 2016, 117–127.

D. Jović,Rat i mit. Politika identiteta u suvremenoj Hrvatskoj, Fraktura, Zaprešić 2017.

D. Magaš, Geografija Hrvatske, Sveučilište u Zadru, Zadar 2013.

D. Markovina, Jugoslavenstvo poslije svega, MostArt, Zemun 2015.

Etnološke odlike Crne Gore: identitet Crnogoraca i drugih etničkih zajednica u Crnoj Gori, ur. P. Vlahović, Crnogorska akademija nauka i umjetnosti, Podgorica 2013.

M. Pasinović, Hrvati u Crnoj Gori s posebnim osvrtom na Boku kotorsku i drugu polovicu XX. stoljeća, Adamić/Hrvatsko građansko društvo Crne Gore, Rijeka/Kotor 2005.

P. Radusinović, Stanovništvo Crne Gore do 1945. godine: opšta istorijsko-geografska i demografska razmatranja, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, Beograd 1978.

Das Osmanische Reich und die Habsburgermonarchie, ur. M. Kurz, Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Wien 2004.