Republika Srpska  listen (help·info) (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: Republika Srpska, Cyrillic script: Република Српскa, [rɛpǔblika sr̩̂pskaː]) is one of the two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Constitution of Republika Srpska defines it as a territorially unified, indivisible and inalienable constitutional and legal entity that independently performs its constitutional, legislative, executive and judicial functions. The National Assembly and the Government of Republika Srpska are based in Banja Luka, although Sarajevo remains the official capital.

In the name Republika Srpska, the first word means republic. The second word is a nominalized adjective derived by adding the suffix -ska to srb-, the root of the noun Srbin, meaning Serb. The -ps- sequence rather than -bs- is a result of voicing assimilation. Adjectives derived in this way from ethnonyms are often used in Serbian as names of countries: e.g., Škot – Škotska (Scot – Scotland), Hrvat – Hrvatska (Croat – Croatia).

Baja Mali Knindža (Serbian Cyrillic: Баја Мали Книнџа; born October 13, 1966 in Livno ), whose real name is Mirko Pajčin (Мирко Пајчин), is a Serbian folk singer and songwriter. He is often described as part of the turbo folk scene, and known for his ultra-nationalist lyrics. He is a cousin of singer Ksenija Pajčin.

Baja was born on 13 October 1966 in the village of Gubin, near Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, then Yugoslavia. He wrote his first song while staying at the house of Momčilo Đujić at Krčič. The song is well known. It is called "Nema Raja, bez rodnoga kraja" (There is no paradise without the place you were born).

Baja Mali Knindža is not to be mistaken with Nedeljko Bajić Baja, who is a well known turbo folk singer. Baja Mali Knindža performs chetnik songs and odes to alcohol, such as "Duni, vjetre, malo preko jetre" (Blow, wind, through the liver). Baja is well known for his nationalist songs supporting the Serbs during the Yugoslav wars. He gained the sympathy of the Serbian people. His first hit was Bpaти се Војводо/Duke come back. In this song he appealed to Serbian hero and chetnik commander Fr. Momčilo Đujić, to came back to the areas of Krajina and help create Greater Serbia. He said that he would never consider going to Croatia because of the Ustashe burning down his house and desecrating his predecessors graves. Baja's performances in Zmijanje near Banja Luka, in the middle of August every year, attract tens of thousands of people. Since the fall of Krajina, Baja Mali Knindža has written many songs about his dream of the Serbian people returning to live in the territories re-controlled by Croats during the Serb exodus from Croatia. His songs also express his sorrow of living without his land. Many of the songs became instant hits, such as "Ne rodila ni njivo ni šljivo". Here is a sample of the lyrics from the song:

Milorad Dodik (Serbian: Милорад Додик) (born March 12, 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician. He is the President of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) political party.

From 1986 through 1990 he was the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Municipal Assembly of Laktaši. In 1990, in the first multi-party elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina he was elected to the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a candidate of the Union of Reform Forces. During the Bosnian War, he served as a representative in the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska. During that time, he formed the Independent Members of Parliament Caucus (Клуб независних посланика у Народној Скупштини Републике Српске, Klub nezavisnih poslanika u Narodnoj Skupštini Republike Srpske), which was the only political opposition the Serb Democratic Party (Српска демократска странка, Srpska demokratska stranka), which held the absolute majority in the war-time parliament of the Republika Srpska.