Situated in the northern and eastern regions of the country, it recorded a population of 1,, in the census. Its largest city and administrative hub is Banja Luka , located on the banks of the Vrbas River. Republika Srpska was established in at the onset of the Bosnian War with the stated purpose of safeguarding the interests of the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the conflict, the expulsion of the majority of Croats and Bosniaks from territories controlled by Republika Srpska occurred, while numerous Serbs were displaced from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Republika Srpska. Today, it is predominantly inhabited by the Serb population of the country. The entity operates under a parliamentary system, with legislative power vested in the National Assembly , which comprises 83 seats. In Serbian , many names of countries are formed with the -sk- suffix e.
An analogous English formation would be Serbland which has been used sporadically. Archaeological evidence in Republika Srpska, as well as bordering areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, attest to pronounced human activity in the Paleolithic. Specifically, in , near the modern-day town of Stolac in the then relatively hospitable Neretva basin , archaeological artifacts in the form of cave engravings in Badanj and deer bones in the area were discovered to show hunter-gatherer activity from as far back as 14,β10, BC.
With the Neolithic, however, came more permanent settlement. Naturally, this occurred along the rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina as farming spread from the southeast; most notably, the Butmir culture developed near today's East Sarajevo on the river Bosna.
A variety of idols, mostly of female character, were found in the Butmir site, along with dugouts. With the Indo-European migrations of the Bronze Age came the first use of metal tools in the region. Along with this came the construction of burial moundsβ tumuli , or kurgans. Remains of these mounds can be found in northwestern Bosnia near Prijedor , testament to not only denser settlement in the northern core of today's Republika Srpska but also Bronze Age relics.
