• The region of Baranja
• Western Slavonia
• Banija
• Kordun
• Eastern Lika
• The Knin Area
• Bukovica and Ravni Kotari

Eastern Lika

The two largest settlements with Croatian majorities in Eastern Lika are Lovinac and Sveti Rok, aside from four smaller villages: Ricice, Smokric, Licko Cerje and Vranik. According to the 1991 census, 1,703 people inhabited that area out of which 92.5 % were Croatian.

Lovinac, once a district centre, with the surrounding villages of Eastern Lika, was absolutely encircled by Serbian settlements. The encirclement consisted of Medak, Raduc, Gornja Ploca and other smaller villages settled by Serbs in south-eastern Licko polje, Stikad and Gracac in Gracacko polje, respectively.

The Lovinac region was thus blocked from two sides. The third side was blocked by the Lika highlands, and the fourth by Velebit Mountain.

The villages of Lovinac are administratively part of the Gracac district, which in 1990 was among the first to rise up against Croatian authorities. From then on, pressure on Croatians increased. The first shells landed in spring 1991, when genocidal intentions started with a number of Croats from Lovinac being kidnapped on their way to Gospic. On August 5, five of their bodies were found near the railway tracks.

Further pressure continued with daily mortar attacks. Supplying the Lovinac region and its defenders became more difficult. The small tenacious force withstood Serbian attacks for a long time, but lost towards the end of September 1991. The whole population, together with their defenders, fled to Velebit Mountain, abandoning their homes to the men of Milan Martic, the commander of the Knin Serbs.

The pursuit of the people from Lovinac, Sveti Rok and the surrounding villages took place on the 300th anniversary of their forefathers' arrival in the area. The Croatian population in the area were descendants of the Bunjevac Croatians, who after the withdrawal of the Turks from a large section of Lika in 1692, under the surveillance of the legendary priest Marko Mesic, moved from Northern Dalmatia and the Velebit foothills to the Lovinac region.

Besides these villages, there were two small enclaves in the Titova Korenica district with Croatian majorities. Due to their great distance from the main road, they were, in contrast to the Lovinac enclave, of marginal strategic importance. But they were a stumbling block to the realization of an ethnically pure "krajina". The three main villages are Podlapaca, Brestane and Jagodnja. According to the 1991 census, 94.6 % of the 297 people were Croatian. Located on the brim of Krbavsko Polje, the area's Croatians were forced to flee in November 1991.

The village of Canak (population 302, 97 % Croatian), located on the highlands north-west of the Korenica district, was attacked in mid-December. Several people were killed and the survivors fled their homes, which were systematically looted and later burned down.