Gacko Гацко
Town and municipality
Gacko


Coordinates: 43°10′N 18°32′E / 43.167°N 18.533°E / 43.167; 18.533
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity	Republika Srpska
Geographical region	Herzegovina
Boroughs	71 (as of 2008)
Government
• Municipal mayor	Ognjen Milinković (SNSD)
• Municipality	735.88 km² (284.12 sq mi)
Population (2013 census)
• Town	5,784
• Municipality	8,990
• Municipality density	12/km² (32/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code	59

Gacko (Serbian Cyrillic: Гацко) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the region of East Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,784 inhabitants, while the municipality has 8,990 inhabitants.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 736 km² (284 sq mi), making it one of the larger municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The town is near the state border with Montenegro.

History

Middle Ages

In the 14th century the region was governed by the powerful Vojinović family.^[1]

In 1359, veliki čelnik Dimitrije held the region.^[2]

Ottoman period

The rebels were defeated at the field of Gacko. It ultimately failed due to lack of foreign support.^[3]

Modern history

Austro-Hungarian authorities took it over in 1878, a decision which was made at the Berlin Congress. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina sparking the Bosnian crisis which eventually led to World War I.

After that war, Gacko joined the State of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, going on to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the end of 1918. These were the first incarnations of Yugoslavia.

Croatian fascist Ustaše movement committed the Gacko massacre on 4 June 1941. In response, on 6 June 1941 the rebels from Gacko under command of Orthodox priest Radojica Perišić started the uprising against the genocidal Independent State of Croatia known as June 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina. The communist historiography intentionally ignored pre-22 June rebels in Eastern Herzegovina and Sanski Most because they occurred in the period of collaboration between communists and fascists, so it would contradict the communist narrative about rebels being led by communists.^[4] On the other hand, the first Partisan battalion established in Gacko at the end of 1941 was named "6th June" in honor of the first date of the uprising.^[5] In period after the Fall of the Berlin Wall Gacko municipality proclaimed 6 June as their holiday in honor of the beginning of the uprising and held public ceremonies on 6 June named as the Day of Gacko.^[6]

Settlements

Aside from the town of Gacko, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Demographics

Population

Population of settlements – Gacko municipality
	Settlement	1879.	1885.	1895.	1910.	1921.	1931.	1948.	1953.	1961.	1971.	1981.	1991.	2013.
	Total	9,295	10,582	12,675	15,107	13,667	15,235	14,424	14,628	13,296	12,033	10,279	10,788	8,990
1	Avtovac												594	261
2	Dobrelji												143	257
3	Gacko							1,527	5,911	1,368	1,604	2,602	4,584	5,784
4	Lipnik												253	214
5	Miholjače												334	604

Ethnic composition

Ethnic composition – Gacko town
	2013.	1991.	1981.	1971.
Total	5,784 (100,0%)	4,584 (100,0%)	2,602 (100,0%)	1,604 (100,0%)
Bosniaks		2,253 (49,15%)	1,235 (47,46%)	776 (48,38%)
Serbs		2,144 (46,77%)	1,100 (42,28%)	776 (48,38%)
Others		81 (1,767%)	10 (0,384%)	6 (0,374%)
Yugoslavs		78 (1,702%)	207 (7,955%)	15 (0,935%)
Croats		28 (0,611%)	17 (0,653%)	10 (0,623%)
Montenegrins			31 (1,191%)	20 (1,247%)
Macedonians			1 (0,038%)
Albanians			1 (0,038%)
Slovenes				1 (0,062%)

Ethnic composition – Gacko municipality
	2013.	1991.	1981.	1971.
Total	8,990 (100,0%)	10,788 (100,0%)	10,279 (100,0%)	12,033 (100,0%)
Serbs	8,556 (95,17%)	6,661 (61,74%)	6,215 (60,46%)	7,634 (63,44%)
Bosniaks	369 (4,105%)	3,858 (35,76%)	3,424 (33,31%)	4,184 (34,77%)
Others	50 (0,556%)	156 (1,446%)	22 (0,214%)	33 (0,274%)
Croats	15 (0,167%)	29 (0,269%)	21 (0,204%)	15 (0,125%)
Yugoslavs		84 (0,779%)	380 (3,697%)	20 (0,166%)
Montenegrins			215 (2,092%)	142 (1,180%)
Macedonians			1 (0,010%)	3 (0,025%)
Albanians			1 (0,010%)	1 (0,008%)
Slovenes				1 (0,008%)

Economy

The Gacko coal mine and thermoelectric powerplant is located the municipality, and is also the largest employer in the area.

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):^[7]

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	28
Mining and quarrying	682
Manufacturing	31
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	1,246
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	129
Construction	230
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	155
Transportation and storage	78
Accommodation and food services	75
Information and communication	16
Financial and insurance activities	21
Real estate activities	-
Professional, scientific and technical activities	15
Administrative and support service activities	2
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security	183
Education	185
Human health and social work activities	79
Arts, entertainment and recreation	39
Other service activities	36
Total	3,230

Sport

The local football club, FK Mladost Gacko, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.

Volleyball teams, men and women, are among the most successful in the BiH. With women's volleyball team being vice champion multiple times, also winning Cup of Republika Srpska once.