The Vrbas Banovina or Vrbas Banate (Vrbaska banovina), was a province (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. It was named after the Vrbas River and consisted mostly of territory in western Bosnia (part of historical and present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) with its capital at Banja Luka. Dvor district of present-day Croatia was also part of the Vrbas Banovina.

Borders

According to the 1931 Constitution of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia,

Population

The population of the Vrbas Banovina in 1931 was 1,037,382. Most numerous religious groups were Eastern Orthodox Christians with 600,529 (58%), then Muslims with 250,265 (24%), and finally Roman Catholics with 172,787 (17%).

History

In 1939, a small portion of the Vrbas Banovina with Croat majority (Derventa and Gradačac) in the northeast was detached and made a part of the newly formed Banovina of Croatia. In 1941, the World War II Axis Powers occupied Vrbas Banovina and the province was abolished and attached to the Independent State of Croatia. Following World War II, most of the region became part of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within a federal Socialist Yugoslavia. A Dvor district became part of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Since 1992, the area of the former province has been split between Republika Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina within independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bans of Vrbas Banovina

Cities and towns