World Bulletin / News Desk

Unofficial results from last month's census in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been announced by a Bosnian source. The census, which was the country's first census in its 22 years, has revealed that most of its residents are indeed ethnic Bosniaks.

The source stated that 54% of the 3,7 to 3,8 million people who live in Bosnia-Herzegovina are Bosniaks. 32.5% declared themselves as Serbs, while 11.5% said they were Croats. These unofficial results were announced by a number of nonprofit organizations that monitored the work of enumerators during the census.

The last census in 1991 found that out of 4.4 million people who lived in Bosnia, 43% identified themselves as Muslims, 31% as Serbs, 17% as Croats and 5% as Yugoslavs.

The census has been a very sensitive issue, as the official results will have an impact on the general image and ethnic, religious and cultural identity of the country. Already some ethnic Serb census takers have been caught attempting to forge census forms.

After Yugoslavia dissolved as a state, Muslims in Bosnia formed a new religious-ethnic identity for themselves known as Bosniaks, while the solely religious identity of Muslim was replaced.