Minefields in Croatia

Minefields in Croatia cover 480.77 square kilometres (185.63 square miles) of territory. The minefields (usually known as "mine suspected areas") are located in 69cities and municipalities within 9counties. These areas are thought to contain approximately 46,317 land mines, in addition to unexploded ordnance left over from the Croatian War of Independence. Land mines were used extensively during the war by all sides in the conflict; about 1.5 million were deployed. They were intended to strengthen defensive positions lacking sufficient weapons or manpower, but played a limited role in the fighting.

After the war 13,000 square kilometres (5,000 square miles) of territory was initially suspected to contain mines, but this estimate was later reduced to 1,174 square kilometres (453 square miles) after physical inspection. As of 2013^[update]demining programmes were coordinated through governmental bodies such as the Croatian Mine Action Centre, which was hiring private demining companies employing 632 deminers. As of 2015^[update], Croatia plans to clear all suspected minefields by 2019. The areas are marked with 13,274 warning signs.

As of 4 April 2013^[update], 509 people had been killed and 1,466 injured by land mines in Croatia since the war; with these figures including 60 deminers and seven Croatian Army engineers killed during demining operations. In the immediate aftermath of the war there were about 100 civilian mine casualties per year, but this gradually decreased to below ten per year through demining, mine-awareness and education programmes. Croatia has spent approximately €450 million on demining since 1998, when the process was taken over by private contractors coordinated by the Croatian Mine Action Centre. The cost to complete the demining is estimated at €500 million or more. Economic loss to Croatia (due to loss of land use within suspected minefields) is estimated at €47.3 million per year.

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