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Romani people in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ethnic group

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Demographics

The exact number of Roma persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina is uncertain. Due to the social stigma associated with the label, many community members refuse to self-identify as such in official surveys and censuses. Their number is thus consistently underestimated.

  • The 2013 census recorded 12,583 Bosnian-Herzegovinian residents of self-declared Romani ethnicity (this data is deemed as grossly under-representing the Roma community in Bosnia and Herzegovina).
  • The July 2012 estimates of the Council of Europe counted a minimum of 40,000 and a maximum of 76,000 Roma in BiH, with an average of 58,000, i.e. the 1.54% of the total population. This would still make Bosnia and Herzegovina the country in the Western Balkans with the lowest percentage of Roma population.
  • A partial survey by the BiH Ombudsman through Roma associations recorded around 50,000 Roma living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, of which 35,000 in the Federation BiH, 3,000 in Republika Srpska, and 2,000–2,500 in the Brčko District — without counting the Roma population in the Sarajevo Canton.
  • The Needs Assessment process conducted in 2010 by the state-level BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) directly identified 16,771 Roma persons in BiH. The MHRR estimates that there are at least 25,000 to 30,000 Roma residents in BiH, although they acknowledge that up to 39 percent of Roma did not participate in the registration in some districts. According to the Ministry, around 42 percent of the Romani population in BiH is below 19 years old. 0.44%
  • According to the 1991 census, there were 8,864 Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina or 0.2 percent of the population. Yet, the number was probably much higher, as 10,422 Bosnians stated that Romani was their native language.
  • Kali Sara and other local Roma NGOs put the number of Roma in BiH at between 80,000 and 100,000.

Geographical distribution

Important Roma communities in BiH are living in Brčko, Bijeljina, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, Tuzla, Kakanj, Prijedor, Zenica and Teslić.

The largest number of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina live in the Tuzla Canton (15,000–17,000), of which a sizeable proportion in the municipality of Tuzla (6,000–6,500), as well as in Živinice (3,500), Lukavac (2,540). The Sarajevo Canton hosts around 7,000 Roma families, mostly in the municipality of Novi Grad, Sarajevo (1,200–1,500 families). The Zenica-Doboj Canton hosts between 7,700 and 8,200 Roma, of which 2,000–2,500 in the Zenica Municipality, 2,160 in Kakanj, 2,800 in Visoko. 2,000–2,500 Roma live in the Central Bosnia Canton, mostly in Donji Vakuf (500–550), Vitez (550) and Travnik (450). In the Una-Sana Canton there are between 2,000–2,200 Roma, of which 700 in the Bihać Municipality. In the territory of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton there are between 2,200–2,700 Roma, of which 450 in Konjic and 250 in Mostar. 2,000–2,500 Roma live in the Brčko District. In Republika Srpska live around 3,000–11,000 Roma, most of which in Gradiška (1,000), Bijeljina (541), Banja Luka (300), Prnjavor (200), Derventa (120).

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