# Han Pijesak

Han Pijesak (Serbian Cyrillic: Хан Пијесак) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 3,530 inhabitants, while the town of Han Pijesak has a population of 1,820 inhabitants.

## Geography

Han Pijesak is located about 70km northeast from Sarajevo, on the slopes of mountain Romanija, at an altitude of 1,100m.

## History

Medieval stećak monuments on the sites of Pokojnica (Mramorje) and Podgroblje (Luka) are located near the village of Nevačka in Han Pijesak municipality.
In his writings from 1664, 17th-century Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi mentioned Han Pijesak as one of the biggest and most important rest stops (hans) on the caravan road from Sarajevo to Zvornik.
During the Habsburg era, Han Pijesak began to serve as an administrative center for the region. A settlement of wood-logging workers around the area of the former han was first mentioned in 1895.
After the Battle of Cer victory in World War I, the Serbian Army led by Miloš Božanović advanced to Han Pijesak area. They fought with the Austrian Army in Eastern Bosnia between August and October 1914, eventually withdrawing to the other side of the Drina.
The summer residence of King Aleksandar I Karadjordjević was built in Han Pijesak in 1922. It was in possession of the royal family until the Second World War, when it began to serve as a military bunker. The renovation of the villa started in 2023.

## Settlements

The town of Han Pijesak is home to roughly half the population of the municipality. The municipality also consists of the following settlements:
* Babine Gornje
* Berkovina
* Brložnik
* Džimrije
* Gođenje
* Japaga
* Jelovci
* Kraljevo Polje
* Kram
* Krivače
* Kusače
* Malo Polje
* Mrkalji
* Nerići
* Nevačka
* Pjenovac
* Plane
* Podžeplje
* Potkozlovača
* Ravanjsko
* Rečica
* Rijeke
* Rubinići
* Stoborani
* Žeravice

## Demographics
### Population

Population of settlements – Han Pijesak municipality :
| | Settlement | 1971. | 1981. | 1991. | 2013. |
| | Total | 7,804 | 6,879 | 6,348 | 3,530 |
| 1 | Han Pijesak | 1,487 | 1,695 | 2,117 | 1,820 |
| 2 | Japaga | | | 152 | 210 |
| 3 | Kraljevo Polje | | | 349 | 402 |
| 4 | Džimrije | | | 207 | 134 |
| 5 | Mrkalji | | | 141 | 109 |
| 6 | Nevačka | | | 334 | 109 |
| 7 | Kusače | | | 135 | 88 |
| 8 | Podžeplje | | | 319 | 89 |
| 9 | Gođenje | | | 580 | 78 |
| 10 | Kram | | | 102 | 62 |
| 11 | Malo Polje | | | 121 | 60 |
| 12 | Pjenovac | | | 128 | 54 |
| 13 | Stoborani | | | 247 | 47 |
| 14 | Rijeke | | | 130 | 37 |
| 15 | Jelovci | | | 76 | 32 |
| 16 | Ravanjsko | | | 57 | 33 |

### Ethnic composition

Ethnic composition – Han Pijesak town :
| | 2013. | 1991. | 1981. | 1971. |
| Total | 1,820 (100,0%) | 2,117 (100,0%) | 1,695 (100,0%) | 1,487 (100,0%) |
| Serbs | 1808 (99.3%) | 1,873 (88,47%) | 1,413 (83,36%) | 1,326 (89,17%) |
| Bosniaks | 0 (0%) | 148 (6,991%) | 82 (4,838%) | 108 (7,263%) |
| Yugoslavs | 0 (0%) | 55 (2,598%) | 160 (9,440%) | 3 (0,202%) |
| Others | 8 (0.4%) | 38 (1,795%) | 9 (0,531%) | 6 (0,403%) |
| Croats | 4 (0.2%) | 3 (0,142%) | 3 (0,177%) | 4 (0,269%) |
| Montenegrins | | | 17 (1,003%) | 19 (1,278%) |
| Albanians | | | 9 (0,531%) | 11 (0,740%) |
| Macedonians | | | 2 (0,118%) | 6 (0,403%) |
| Slovenes | | | | 4 (0,269%) |
Ethnic composition – Han Pijesak municipality :
| | 2013. | 1991. | 1981. | 1971. |
| Total | 3,530 (100,0%) | 6,348 (100,0%) | 6,879 (100,0%) | 7,804 (100,0%) |
| Serbs | 3,068 (86,91%) | 3,674 (57,88%) | 3,927 (57,09%) | 4,790 (61,38%) |
| Bosniaks | 431 (12,21%) | 2,543 (40,06%) | 2,666 (38,76%) | 2,921 (37,43%) |
| Others | 24 (0,680%) | 56 (0,882%) | 18 (0,262%) | 11 (0,141%) |
| Croats | 7 (0,198%) | 7 (0,110%) | 9 (0,131%) | 16 (0,205%) |
| Yugoslavs | | 68 (1,071%) | 222 (3,227%) | 7 (0,090%) |
| Montenegrins | | | 24 (0,349%) | 28 (0,359%) |
| Albanians | | | 9 (0,131%) | 19 (0,243%) |
| Macedonians | | | 3 (0,044%) | 8 (0,103%) |
| Slovenes | | | 1 (0,015%) | 4 (0,051%) |

## Economy

The following table gives a preview of the total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):
| Activity | Total |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 437 |
| Mining and quarrying | 1 |
| Manufacturing | 100 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 15 |
| Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 25 |
| Construction | 16 |
| Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 40 |
| Transportation and storage | 32 |
| Accommodation and food services | 21 |
| Information and communication | 2 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 6 |
| Real estate activities | - |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 3 |
| Administrative and support service activities | 1 |
| Public administration and defense; compulsory social security | 105 |
| Education | 37 |
| Human health and social work activities | 28 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 14 |
| Other service activities | 2 |
| Total | 884 |