Czechs of Croatia

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Czechs of Croatia
Česi u Hrvatskoj
Češi v Chorvatsku
Coat of arms of the Czechs in Croatia
Total population
9,641 (2011)[1]
Languages
Croatian, Czech
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Slovaks

Czechs are one of the recognised minorities of Croatia. According to the census of 2011 there were 9,641 Czechs in Croatia, comprising 0.22% of total population.[1]

Geographic representation

Most Croatian Czechs live in Western Slavonia especially around the cities of Daruvar and Grubišno Polje. They comprise 5.25% of population of Bjelovar-Bilogora County and 0.83% of Požega-Slavonia County.[1] They comprise a relative majority in Končanica municipality and in villages like Veliki Zdenci, Mali Zdenci, Golubinjak etc. They can be also found in almost all major towns in Croatia.

Croatian regions where czech minority make up majority of population represented in yellow
Municipality Percentage
Končanica 46.67%
Dežanovac 23.48%
Daruvar 18.90%
Grubišno Polje 18.02%
Sirač 10.21%
Hercegovac 9.60%
Veliki Grđevac 4.76%
Lipik 3.52%
Pakrac 3.03%
Kaptol 2.49%
Lipovljani 2.43%
Kutina 1.53%
Garešnica 1.34%
Dubrava 1.13%
Kutjevo 1.12%
Đulovac 1.05%

As of 2009, Czech is officially used in one municipality and five other settlements in Croatia, according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.[2]

History

After the

Czech Sokol movement
. In 1911 the first Czech newspaper started printing in Zagreb.

The

Slavic roots. The first Czech school was open in 1922 in Daruvar, and first kindergarten in 1926 also in Daruvar. Czechs organized themselves politically and formed a Czech party which was active only in the first years of Kingdom. From 1922 the newspaper Jugoslávští Čechoslováci (Yugoslav Czechoslovaks) was printed in Duruvar. Czechs, just like Slovaks generally did not collaborate with the occupying powers during the World War II. Some of them left to Czechoslovakia after the war, but a number of them subsequently returned, as the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia.[3]

In Socialist, post World War II Yugoslavia Czechs enjoyed even greater rights, and more schools were opened. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, Czech areas were found near war operations and many Czechs participated in Croatian army[citation needed].

Czechs are officially recognized as an autochthonous national minority, and as such, they, together with the Slovaks of Croatia, elect a special representative to the Croatian Parliament.[4]

In the elections of

2007, the Czech and Slovak representative was Zdenka Čunhil from the Croatian Peasant Party
.

Culture

The Czechs are organised in 24 Česka Beseda's all across Croatia that form the Czech Union of Croatia, an organization that promotes Czech language and culture in Croatia.

High School
in Daruvar has one Czech department.

There are also two industrial brands associated with Croatian Czechs; Zdenka cheese, produced in a factory in Veliki Zdenci dominantly Czech village and Staročeško (Old-Czech) beer produced by a brewery in Daruvar.

They are also referred to by their non-Czech neighbours as Pemci.[5]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c "Population by Ethnicity, by Towns/Municipalities, 2011 Census". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  2. Ministry of Justice (Croatia). 2011-04-12. Archived from the original
    on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  3. ^ Yugoslavia's National Minorities under Communism by Paul Shoup In: Slavic Review, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Mar., 1963), pp. 64-81
  4. ^ "Pravo pripadnika nacionalnih manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj na zastupljenost u Hrvatskom saboru". Zakon o izborima zastupnika u Hrvatski sabor (in Croatian). Croatian Parliament. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  5. ^ "Savez Čeha". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2009.