Islamic_Community_of_Croatia
Islam in Croatia
Overview of the role of Islam in Croatia
Croatia is a predominantly Christian country, with Islam being a minority faith. It is followed by 1.3% of the country's population according to the 2021 census.[2] Islam was first introduced to Croatia by the Ottoman Empire during the Croatian–Ottoman Wars that lasted from the 15th to 16th century. During this period some parts of the Croatian Kingdom were occupied which resulted in some Croats converting to Islam, some after being taken prisoners of war, some through the devşirme system. Nonetheless, Austria strongly fought against the Turks during these few centuries which resulted in the fact that the westernmost border of the Ottoman Empire in Europe became entrenched on the Croatian soil. In 1519, Croatia was called the Antemurale Christianitatis by Pope Leo X in one letter, as well as Poland, Armenia or Albanians.
| 90–100% | |
| 70–90% | |
| 50–70% | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 30–40% | North Macedonia |
| 10–20% | |
| 5–10% | |
| 4–5% | |
| 2–4% | |
| 1–2% | |
| < 1% |
The Islamic Community of Croatia (Mešihat Islamske Zajednice u Hrvatskoj) is the main organization of Muslims in Croatia that is officially recognized by the state.[3] The President of the Islamic Community is Aziz Effendi Hasanović.[4] As of 2011, 62,977 Muslims live in Croatia. Most of them declare themselves as Bosniaks (31,479) while others declare themselves as: Croats (9,647), Albanians (9,594), Roma (5,039), Turks (343), Macedonians (217), Montenegrins (159), Ahmadies (16) and other (2,420).[5]
The first modern mosque in Croatia was built in Gunja in 1969.[6] Today there are 4 mosques[7] and 2 Islamic centers in Croatia (in Zagreb[8] and Rijeka[9]). Historically, during the Ottoman rule, there was a significantly larger number of mosques in Croatia. At one point there were 250 of them, but as of 2014 only 3 structures remained standing.[10] The largest and most representative one of them, Ibrahim Pasha's Mosque, is located in eastern Croatian town of Đakovo but is today used as the Roman Catholic Church of All Saints.[10] Another mosque in eastern Croatia, which today does not exist, was located in Osijek.[10] It was the Kasım Pasha Mosque constructed after 1526 at the site of modern-day Church of Saint Michael.[10] Most of the Ottoman structures in the region were systematically destroyed after the Treaty of Karlowitz.[10]
Highest rate of Muslims live in Gunja municipality (34,7 % population), followed by Cetingrad (20,62 %), Raša (17,88 %), Vojnić (15,58 %), Vodnjan (14,02 %), Labin (10,68 %), Kršan (7,96 %), Sveta Nedelja (7,47 %), Drenovci (7,27 %) and Čavle (6,72 %). As of 2011, there are totally 56 municipalities in Croatia in which no Muslims live, biggest of them being Bednja with 3,992 inhabitants.[11]
