Kotor Varoš


Kotor Varoš or Kotor-Varoš is a town and municipality located in north-western Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 19,710 inhabitants, while the town of Kotor Varoš has a population of 7,330 inhabitants.

History

An early Christian basilica was discovered along with other Roman findings in the Šiprage area at the Crkvenica-Vrbanja river mouth. 12th-century stećci testify medieval settlement. The original location of stećci was the Crkvenica-Vrbanja, from where they were removed and built into walls of the surrounding buildings. One of the best preserved stećak is submerged in Vrbanja.
It has been theorized that Kotor Varoš was mentioned in the De Administrando Imperio as "Katera", a part of the "land of Bosnia".
The town was part of the Donji Kraji province of the Banate of Bosnia in the 13th century. In the 14th century, the town was the property of the Hrvatinić noble family.
Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina began in 1878 and ended with the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, later renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The town was part of the Vrbas Banovina, while after World War II it became part of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a republic of Yugoslavia.
During the Bosnian War, some religious and cultural monuments and landmarks were destroyed by Serb paramilitary groups, such as a Catholic church in the centre of the town, as well as all of the mosques. In the southern Čaršija quarter of the town nearly all houses were destroyed. Bosnian Serb-dominated parts of the town were largely unaffected. Bosnian Serb police and military forces devastated surrounding villages too, especially those upstream along the Vrbanja to Kruševo Brdo, as well as all non-Serb villages downstream to Banja Luka. All settlements in the Vrbanja valley were sacked and much of the Bosniak and Croat population left the municipality.

Settlements

Aside from the town of Kotor Varoš, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Population

Ethnic composition

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered employed people per their core activity :
ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing300
Mining and quarrying2
Manufacturing2,998
Distribution of power, gas, steam and air-conditioning45
Distribution of water and water waste management43
Construction84
Wholesale and retail, repair342
Transportation and storage126
Hotels and restaurants112
Information and communication24
Finance and insurance25
Real estate activities5
Professional, scientific and technical activities27
Administrative and support services91
Public administration and defence193
Education316
Healthcare and social work115
Art, entertainment and recreation7
Other service activities55
Total4,910

Famous people

The city also features a large monument to the local partisans who died for Yugoslavia during the fighting with the German and Ustaša forces during WW2.

Sister cities