Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina are ethnic Croats living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are the third most populous ethnic group in the country, after Bosniaks and Serbs and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are also a native ethnic group of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as their presence there dates back to the 7th century. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made significant contributions to the culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their mother tongue is Croatian, and most identify as Roman Catholic, though there is small minority of atheist Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

From the 15th to the 19th century, many Croats in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were persecuted under the Ottoman Empire, causing many of them to flee the area. In the 20th century, political turmoil and poor economic conditions caused more to emigrate. There is no precise data regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's population since the Bosnian War. Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw the vast majority of its Croats move to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or to Croatia. It is estimated that there are approximately 571,317 Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, down from 835,170 before the war. According to 2000 data from the CIA World Factbook, the ethnic composition of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 14.3 percent Croat.