Directions and tendencies of migration of the population into urban areas of the republic of Srpska

This paper covers internal migrations in the Republic of Srpska, in the period 2007-2015 and their impact to urban and peri-urban development of urban areas of the Republic. Migration directions show a continuity of permanent abandonment of rural areas and settlement of urban and peri-urban areas of the Republic, also including the migrations (immigration) from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The scope of migrations has the trend of decrease as result of decrease in the rural population of the Republic of Srpska and its aging. Urban centres of the northern part of the Republic of Srpska (Banja Luka, Doboj, Bijeljina, Prijedor and Gradiška) have the largest scope of immigration, due to a number of attractive factors. In the southern part of the Republic, in the sub-Mediterranean area, the City of Trebinje is the main immigration area for the population of eastern Herzegovina, but also, more and more, for the population of the rest of the Republic of Srpska, as well for the wider regional environment. Spatial scope of research consists of eight cities in the Republic of Srpska, which defined the status of the city in the period from 1995 to 2019. Those cities are: Banjaluka, Bijeljina, Prijedor, Gradiška, Doboj, Istočno Sarajevo, Zvornik and Trebinje. The specificities in the territorial organization of the Republic of Srpska are the result of complex socio-political processes and the formation of the entity line of demarcation in post-war period (1992-1995), between the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska. Given the physiognomy of space and developmental processes, the Republic of Srpska has complex settlement function. In four urban areas, Istočno Sarajevo, Doboj, Zvornik and Trebinje, the settlements are divided by the entity line, which caused the migrations. In 2014, population migration was also affected by administrative separation of the municipality of Stanari from the Doboj city area. Due to the above mentioned, compared to other cities of the Republic, Doboj has the highest negative values of the migration balance in the observed period (2007-2016). Statistical data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics of BiH and the Republic Institute of the Republic of Srpska were used in research related to migrations, as well as other relevant statistical material produced in the period from 1991 to 2016. The key demographic indicators, internal migrations, immigration and emigration and migration balance were taken into consideration. In order to compare the research areas, data were prepared on the basis of demographic indicators. Conclusions on spatial integration of migration, as well as its direction, have been drawn based on internal migration, spatial distribution of population and change in number of inhabitants in urban and suburban settlements.