Pakrac

Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina.
Name
In Croatian the town is known as Pakrac, in German as Pakratz, in Hungarian as Pakrác.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1237. It was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1543. It was initially a kaza centre in the Sanjak of Pojega between 1543 and 1552, then in the Sanjak of Pakrac in the Rumelia Eyalet between 1552 and 1559. Later it was the centre of the Sanjak of Pakrac between 1559 and 1601, when the sanjak seat was moved to Cernik. The Ottoman rule in Pakrac lasted until the Austrians captured it in 1691. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pakrac was part of the Požega County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.
Hostilities during the Yugoslav wars in Pakrac began on August 18, 1991, when Serb troops shelled the town from positions in the nearby hills. The Croats in Pakrac quickly organized in self-defense units. In a ceasefire signed in January 1992, the town was divided into Croatian and Serbian sectors. UNPROFOR was stationed at the demarcation line. In the Serbian part of Pakrac, Krajina Serb military leadership operated the Bučje concentration camp (18 km outside Pakrac), where Croat civilians and Serbs who opposed the Krajina government were imprisoned and killed. In early May 1995, east Pakrac was retaken by Croats in Operation Flash in the last phase of the Croatian War of Independence. Serbs who were living in east Pakrac soon left the area in large numbers.
Demographics
In the census of 1991, the municipality of Pakrac (today cities Pakrac and Lipik) encompassed a different, larger area and its population was as follows:
In the census of 2011, the municipality of Pakrac comprised:
Settlements
The municipality consists of 42 settlements:
Badljevina, population 733
Batinjani, population 38
Bjelajci, population 0
Branešci, population 48
Brusnik, population 19
Bučje, population 17
Cicvare, population 0
Cikote, population 7
Dereza, population 13
Donja Obrijež, population 235
Donja Šumetlica, population 6
Donji Grahovljani, population 33
Dragović, population 64
Glavica, population 12
Gornja Obrijež, population 81
Gornja Šumetlica, population 65
Gornji Grahovljani, population 8
Jakovci, population 0
Kapetanovo Polje, population 35
Koturić, population 11
Kraguj, population 77
Kričke, population 19
Kusonje, population 308
Lipovac, population 0
Mali Banovac, population 13
Mali Budići, population 2
Novi Majur, population 104
Omanovac, population 147
Ožegovci, population 34
Pakrac, population 4,842
Ploštine, population 108
Popovci, population 10
Prekopakra, population 1,066
Prgomelje, population 1
Rogulje, population 3
Srednji Grahovljani, population 0
Stari Majur, population 24
Španovica, population 23
Tisovac, population 4
Toranj, population 75
Veliki Banovac, population 171
Veliki Budići, population 4
Politics
Minority councils
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs. At the 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections Czechs (elected 13 members), Serbs and Italians of Croatia each fulfilled legal requirements to elect 15 members minority councils of the Town of Pakrac.
Notable people from Pakrac
Ivan Šreter, Croatian physician who was persecuted by Yugoslav authorities for using the Croatian language.He was killed in 1991 by Serbs in the Croatian War of Independence.
Zlatko Aleksovski, Bosnian-Croat prison commander and convicted war criminal
Smilja Avramov, Serbian international law expert
Zoran Erceg, Serbian basketball player
Jadranka Kosor, former Prime Minister of Croatia
Žarko Potočnjak, Croatian theatre, television and film actor.
Sven Lasta, Croatian television and film actor.
Slobodan Selenić, Serbian writer.
Đorđe Bogić, Serbian Orthodox priest
Saša Krajnović, Serbian footballer
References
Sources
External links
Slavonia
Cities and towns in Croatia
Populated places in Požega-Slavonia County
Požega County
13th-century establishments in Croatia
1237 establishments in Europe