Kneà ¾evo (), formerly Skender Vakuf (), is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 9,793 inhabitants.
Up until the 1992âÂÂ1995 Bosnian War, the town was known as Skender Vakuf. During the war, the town was renamed Kneà ¾evo by the Serb authorities as part of their ethnic cleansing policies. Accordingly, many media outlets in the region continue to refer to the area as Skender Vakuf-Kneà ¾evo.
A Roman basilica has been found in Imljani and Javorani, and the remains of the Roman road from Servitium (Banja Luka) to Levsaba (Travnik) were also found in the vicinity. Tombstones of the SteÃÂak type date back to the 14th and 15th centuries, when the area was part of the Kingdom of Bosnia. The town was founded during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. It was first mentioned in the records of a Muslim judge from Jajce in 1693, while there is no record of it in the census of the Bosnia Eyalet of 1604. Two generations of imams are mentioned in the records, which means it was most likely founded in the latter half of the 17th century. The architecture of the Old Mosque in Skender Vakuf also indicates it was built in the latter half of the 17th century. The charitable endowment (vakuf) that is reflected in the town's traditional name Skender Vakuf (after Ali-dedo Skender) contributed to its urbanization. The Old Mosque was significant and one of the first in the region. It was destroyed, along with the New Mosque, in 1992 during the Bosnian War. In the KoriÃÂani Cliffs massacre of 21 August 1992, some 200 Bosniak and Croat detainees were massacred in the municipality by the Bosnian Serb police and army forces from Prijedor. After the Bosnian War, a part of the municipality was split off to form the DobretiÃÂi municipality of the entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina .
Kneà ¾evo is located between the rivers Ugar, Vrbas and Vrbanja and surrounded by the mountain chains of ÃÂemernica and RanÃÂa to the west, Vlaà ¡iàto the south and Jeà ¾ica to the northeast. The municipality has an official altitude of , but in reality it ranges from . Kneà ¾evo is southeast of Banja Luka by the M56 motorway.
Neighbouring municipalities are ÃÂelinac (far north), Kotor Varoà ¡ (east), Travnik, DobretiÃÂi, Jajce (south), MrkonjiàGrad (west) and the city of Banja Luka (northwest). The southern border is defined by the border of the Republika Srpska with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's other entity. The mountainous region in the south is forested and inpenetrable; its limestone mountains reach a height of .
Aside from the town of Kneà ¾evo, the municipality includes the following settlements:
ImamoviÃÂi
Muà ¡anoviÃÂi
After the war, the majority of the old Skender Vakuf municipality became part of the new Kneà ¾evo municipality of the Republika Srpska entity. Four Croatian pre-war settlements became part of the new DobretiÃÂi municipality of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity.
The municipality houses several cultural monuments, such as the Old Church of St. Nicholas from 1757, the 18th-century Church of Prophet Elijah.
In Imljani there is a monument dedicated to the 43 fallen soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska who fell on the Vlaà ¡iàbattlefield on 20 March 1995.
The mayor of Knezevo is Bore à  keljiÃÂ, of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS).
According to the 1991 census, the municipality consisted of: Bastaji, Bokani, Borak, Bregovi, BrnjiÃÂi, Bunar, ÃÂariÃÂi, ÃÂukovac, DavidoviÃÂi, DobratiÃÂi, Donji Oraà ¡ac, Golo Brdo, Gornji Oraà ¡ac, Imljani, Javorani, Kobilja, KostiÃÂi, KriÃÂiÃÂi - JejiÃÂi, Melina, MijatoviÃÂi, Milaà ¡evci, Mokri Lug, PaunoviÃÂi, PavloviÃÂi, Prisika, RaÃÂiÃÂi, Skender Vakuf, SlipÃÂeviÃÂi, à  olaji, Vitovlje Malo, VlatkoviÃÂi, VukoviÃÂi, ZapeÃÂe, Zasavica, ZuboviÃÂi and à ½ivinice.
In 1995, the municipality included Bastaji, Bokani, Borak, Bregovi, ÃÂariÃÂi, ÃÂukovac, Golo Brdo, Imljani, Javorani, Kobilja, KostiÃÂi, MaliÃÂi, Mokri Lug, PaunoviÃÂi, RaÃÂiÃÂi, Kneà ¾evo, à  olaji, VlatkoviÃÂi and à ½ivinice; the southwestern settlements of DavidoviÃÂi, DobretiÃÂi, KriÃÂiÃÂi and Melina became part of the municipality of DobretiÃÂi in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.