Bosniaks facts for kids

The Bosniaks (Bošnjaci/Бошњаци, feminine: Bošnjakinja/Бошњакиња) are South Slavic nation and ethnic group. They come from Old Bosnia, which is today Bosnia and Herzegovina, though many of them are from the other Balkan populations, especially Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. They come from medieval Bosnians or Bošnjani, Slavic that lived in what was then Bosnia. Medieval Bosniaks or Bosnians (called Dobri bošnjani = Good Bosnians) practiced different religions but they all spoke the Bosnian language. Today, Bosniaks are mostly Bosnian-speaking, and write in the Latin alphabet or Cyrillic alphabet. Most modern Bosniaks are Muslims, and some are agnostic and atheists. They have both European and Islamic heritage. Both within the Balkans region and throughout the world, Bosniaks are often noted for their unique culture, which has been influenced by both eastern and western civilizations and schools of thought over the course of their history.

The Oxford English Dictionary says the ethnonym Bosniak was first used in English by the British diplomat and historian Paul Rycaut in 1680. He spelled it Bosnack to sound like the post-classical Latin Bosniacus (possibly earlier than 1682), the French word Bosniaque (1695 or earlier) or the German word Bosniak (1737 or earlier). An ethnonym is a name of a group of people. The 1836 version of Penny Cyclopaedia V. 231/1 uses the modern spelling:

"The inhabitants of Bosnia are composed of Bosniaks, a race of Sclavonian origin".

All Slavic languages use the suffix -ak for masculine nouns. For example, people from the ethnic group in Poland can be called Polak and people from Slovakia Slovaks (Slovák). Consequently, "Bosniak" is logic equivalent to its non-ethnic counterpart "Bosnian," which came to English from Middle French as Bosnien): a native of Bosnia.

English-speakers usually say Bosnian Muslims when they mean Bosniaks, but this is not completely correct because not all Bosniaks are Muslims. Partly because of this, ever since the country Yugoslavia broke up, people have started to say Bosniak instead of Muslim as an official way to talk about this group of people ethnic term to avoid confusion. They also say Bosnians, but this word can mean anyone from Bosnia or Herzegovina, not just members of the Bosniak ethnic group.

A few million Bosniaks live in the Balkans, and about one million other Bosniaks live in other parts of the world. Ethnic cleansing and genocide during World War II (1939-1945) and the Bosnian War (1993–95) killed many Bosniaks and drove others to move away from where they had been living. Partially because of this this, there has been a Bosniak diaspora in a number of countries, including Bosnian Austrians, Germany, Bosnian Australians, Sweden, Turkey, Canada, and the United States.

Images for kids

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  Genetic structure of Bosnians within European context according to three genetic systems: Autosomal DNA (A), Y-DNA (B) and mtDNA (C) per Kushniarevich et al. (2015)

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  The Bosniak Institute located in the city of Sarajevo.

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  Medieval monumental tombstones (Stećci) that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina are historically associated with the Bosnian Church movement

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  Although a Catholic, Fra Ivan Franjo Jukić considered himself Bosniak and advocated the preservation of a unified Bosniak nation across all three denominations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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  Illustration of resistance during the siege of Sarajevo in 1878 against the Austro-Hungarian troops.

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  The loss of almost all Ottoman territories during the late 19th and early 20th century, especially after the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkan Wars, resulted in a large number of Muslim emigrants to Turkey, known as "Muhacirs".

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  Bosniaks formed 31%-50% of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry of the Austro-Hungarian Army. BHI was commended for their bravery in service of the Austrian emperor in WWI, winning more medals than any other unit.

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  Mehmed Spaho was one of the most important members of the Bosnian Muslim community during the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia).

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  Bosnian Muslim soldiers of the SS "Handschar" reading a Nazi propaganda book, Islam und Judentum, in Nazi-occupied Southern France (Bundesarchiv, 21 June 1943)

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  Gazi Husrev-begova medresa or Kuršumli medresa, madrasa founded in 1537 in honor to Gazi Husrev Bey's mother Seldžuklija, in the old part of Sarajevo.

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  Bosniak girls dancing a traditional kolo dance

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  Gazi Husrev-beg mosque constructed in 1532 by the sanjak-bey of Bosnia Gazi Husrev-beg, located in Sarajevo.

See also

In Spanish: Bosníacos para niños