Bosnia and Herzegovina

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(Redirected from Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Bosna i Hercegovina
Босна и Херцеговина
Image:Bosnia flag large.png Image:Bosnia coa.PNG
(Flag) (Coat of Arms)
Motto: none
Anthem: Intermeco
Image:LocationBosniaAndHerzegovina.png
Capital Sarajevo
43°52′ N 18°25′ E
Largest city Sarajevo
Official languages Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Government Federal republic
Ivo Miro Jović1 (Croat)
Borislav Paravac (Serb)
Sulejman Tihić (Bosniak)
Adnan Terzić
Independence
 From Yugoslavia:
5 April 1992
Area
 • Total
 • Water (%) 		 
51,129 km² (124th)
Negligable
Population
 • July 2005 est.
 • 1991 census
 • Density 		 
4,025,476 (120th)
4,354,911
79/km² (90th)
GDP (PPP)
 • Total
 • Per capita 		2004 estimate
$26.21 billion (90th)
$6,500 (101st)
Currency Convertible Mark (BAM)
Time zone
 • Summer (DST) 		CET (UTC+1)
CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD .ba
Calling code +387
1Current chairman of three-member rotating presidency.
edit

Bosnia and Herzegovina (locally: Bosna i Hercegovina/Босна и Херцеговина, most commonly abbreviated to BiH) is a triangular mountainous country in the western Balkans with an estimated population of about 4,000,000 people. The country is the homeland of its three constitutional peoples; Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs, and is famous for its cultural and religious diversity. A citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is usually identified as a Bosnian.

The country borders with Croatia in the west and Serbia and Montenegro in the east. It is virtually landlocked save for a small strip of land on the Adriatic sea, centered around the city of Neum. The capital of the country is Sarajevo, which is also its largest city.

Bosnia was formerly one of the six federal units constituting Yugoslavia. The republic gained its independence in the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and, due to the Dayton Accords, is currently administered in a supervisory role by a High Representative selected by the UN Security Council. It is also decentralized and administratively divided into two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Contents

History

Main article: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Image:Rastbosne.png

The territories of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of Illyria and later part of the Roman Empire (provinces Dalmatia and Pannonia). After the fall of Rome, the area was contested by the Byzantine Empire and Rome's successors in the West. Slavs settled the region in the 7th century. The first mention of the term Bosnia is in De Administrando Imperio, a book by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Byzantine emperor and historian. The kingdoms of Serbia and Croatia split control of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 9th century. The 11th and 12th centuries saw the rule of the region by the kingdom of Hungary.

The medieval banate of Bosnia gained autonomy by the end of the 12th century, and grew into an independent kingdom in 1377 under king Tvrtko Kotromanić. Bosnia remained independent up until 1463, when Ottoman Turks conquered the region and established the Ottoman province of Bosnia. In these times there also lived a certain amount of adherents to the so-called Bosnian Church (variously referred to as krstjani, bogumili, etc) which belonged neither to the Western nor to the Eastern Christian churches.

During the four centuries of Ottoman rule, many Bosnians dropped their ties to Christianity in favor of Islam, including most of the faithful of the Bosnian Church. Bosnia was under Ottoman rule until 1878, when it became a colony under Austria-Hungary. While those living in Bosnia were from 1908 officially in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, South Slavs in Serbia and elsewhere were calling for a South Slav state; World War I began with the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a member of the "Mlada Bosna" organization. Following the war, Bosnia became part of the South Slav kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to kingdom of Yugoslavia).

When Yugoslavia was invaded in World War II, all of BH was ceded to Nazi-puppet Croatia. On 25. November 1943 the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia with Marshall Tito on its helm held a founding conference in Jajce where Bosnia and Herzegovina was reestablished as a republic within the Yugoslavian federation in its Ottoman borders. The conference's conclusions were later confirmed by the Yugoslavian constitution. Still today the 25. November is considered in Bosnia as a day of national statehood. The Cold War further saw the establishment of the Communist Yugoslavia under Tito.

The Bosnian-Herzegovinian declaration of sovereignty in October of 1991, was followed by a referendum for independence from Yugoslavia in February 1992 boycotted by the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Serbs. Serbia and Bosnian Serbs responded shortly thereafter with armed attacks on Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats and Bosniaks aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas. The UNPROFOR (UN Protection Force) was deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in mid-1992. 1992 and 1993 saw the greatest bloodshed in Europe after 1945. Following the peace agreement proposal by Lord Owen in 1993 which practically intended to divide the country into three ethnically pure parts an armed conflict sprung between Bosniak and Croat units in a virtual territorial grab. It was later established that Croat military actions were directly supported by the government of Croatia which made this also an international conflict [1]. At that time about 70% of the country was in Serb control, about 20% in Croat and 10% in Bosniak (which represented 44% of population before the war). In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each nation reported many casualties in the three sided conflict, in which the Bosniaks reported the highest number of deaths and casualties. However, the only case officially ruled by the U.N. Hague tribunal as genocide was the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. At the end of the war more than anywhere from 102,000 to 278,000 had been killed and more than 2 million people fled their homes (including over 1 million to neighboring nations and the west).

On November 21, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Alija Izetbegović), Croatia (Franjo Tuđman), and Serbia (Slobodan Milošević) signed a peace agreement that brought a halt to the three years of war in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995). The Dayton Agreement succeeded in ending the bloodshed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it institutionalized the division between the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Muslim and Croat entity - Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51% of the territory), and the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Serb entity - Republika Srpska (49%).

The enforcement of the implementation of the Dayton Agreement was through a UN mandate using various multinational forces: NATO-led IFOR (Implementation Force), which transitioned to the SFOR (Stabilisation Force) the next year, which in turn transitioned to the EU-led EUFOR at end of 2004. The civil administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina is headed by the High Representative of the international community.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates among three members (Bosniak, Serb, Croat), each elected as the Chair for a 8-month term within their 4-year term as a member. The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people (Federation votes for the Bosniak/Croat, Republika Srpska for the Serb). The Chair of the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the House of Representatives. He or she is then responsible for appointing a Foreign Minister, Minister of Foreign Trade, and others as appropriate.

The Parliamentary Assembly is the lawmaking body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of two houses: the House of Peoples and the House of Representatives. The House of Peoples includes 15 delegates, two-thirds of which come from the Federation (5 Croat and 5 Bosniaks) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs). The House of Representatives is composed of 42 Members, two-thirds elected from the Federation and one-third elected from the Republika Srpska.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of legal matters. It is composed of nine members: four members are selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation, two by the Assembly of the Republika Srpska, and three by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultation with the Presidency.

Political divisions

Main article: Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. The district of Brčko is part of both entities.

The Federation is further divided into ten cantons (each subdivided into municipalities):

The RS is divided into municipalities which are grouped into seven regions:

Geography

Image:Some red flower in Bosnia.JPG
Image:Mountins in Bosnia.JPG

Main article: Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and south-west, and Serbia and Montenegro to the east. The country is mostly mountainous, encompassing the central Dinaric Alps. The northeastern parts reach into the Pannonian basin, while in the south it almost borders the Adriatic. The country has only 23 Km of coastline, around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, although it's enclosed within Croatian territory and territorial waters.

The country's name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them. Bosnia occupies roughly the northern two thirds of the country, while the southern third is Herzegovina.

The major cities are the capital Sarajevo, Banja Luka in the northwest region known as Bosanska Krajina, Tuzla in the northeast and Mostar, the capital of Herzegovina.

See also: List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Economy

Main article: Economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina

For the most part, agriculture has been in private hands, but farms have been small and inefficient, and food has traditionally been a net import for the republic. The centrally planned economy has resulted in some legacies in the economy. Industry is greatly overstaffed, reflecting the rigidity of the planned economy. Under Josip Broz Tito, military industries were pushed in the republic; Bosnia hosted a large share of Yugoslavia's defense plants. Two major export companies in former Yugoslavia had theirs headquarters in the capital Sarajevo; UNIS holding and Energoinvest. During times of the former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina financed many large construction projects in former Yugoslavia and in other former Yugoslav republics. An example of this was the 'Bratstvo i jedinstvo' highway, which linked Ljubljana (Slovenia) - Zagreb (Croatia) - Belgrade (Serbia) - Skoplje (Macedonia). Even though Bosnia did not have anything to gain from this investment, as not even one single kilometer of that highway went through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Further projects, such as the construction of the so-called town of 'New Belgrade' (Serbia), Kosovo financing, and railway tracks near Belgrade - Bar in Serbia and Montenegro. This was due to the fact that the economy of the time was communist; with directives instead of a free economy like that in the West. In 1984, the capital, Sarajevo, was the host of the XIV Winter Olympic Games. A notable fact was that the games were the first 'profitable' games in terms of retrieving investment via profits.

Three years of war destroyed a large part of the economy and infrastructure in Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing unemployment to soar and production to fall. The war caused a death toll of approx. 102,000 people based on current information from researchers at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at the Hague, The Netherlands). Furthermore, it displaced half of the population. Other sources place the figure between 150,000 - 278,000. With an uneasy peace in place (under the Dayton Accord), the economy has started to slowly recover, but the GDP remains below the 1990 level. Today Bosnia and Herzegovina has one of the best banking sectors in former Yugoslavia. The currency (the Convertible Mark KM or Bosnian Mark BAM, BAM ratio to the Euro 1: 0,51), which is based on the fixed value of the deutschmark, is also very stable. Also yearly inflation is the lowest compared to other countries which were a part of former Yugoslavia. The inflation rate was 1.9% in 2004 (source: CIA WFB), and international debt was approx. $2 billion; making it the smallest amount of debt owed from the former Yugoslav countries (Serbia and Montenegro's international debt is $15.2 billion). Real GDP growth rate is 5.0% for 2004 according to the Bosnian Central Bank of BiH and Statistical Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2004 the top foreign investors in Bosnia and Herzegovina were:

Top Foreign company investors in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994-2004):

LNM Holding / KCIC Holland Antilles / Kuwait / Metal processing Hypo Alpe Adria Bank / Austria / Banking Unicredito / Transmadrid Italia / Spain / Banking Petrol / Slovenia / Trade Coca Cola Beverages Holdings / Holland / Food industry Deutsche Telekom / Germany / Telecommunication Heidelberger Zement / Germany / Construction materials Dubai I.B., A.I.B. and Islamic Development Bank / UAE and Saudi Arabia / Banking Alpha Baumanergement Gesellschaft / Austria / Tourism Bosmal / Malaysia-Bosnia and Herzegovina / Construction

Source: B&H Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (2005)

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Large population migrations durings the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s have caused a large demographic shift. No census was held since 1991 and is not planned for the near future due to political disagreements. Since censuses are the only statistical, inclusive, and objective way to analyze demographics, almost all of the post-war data is simply an estimate. Most sources, however, estimate the population at roughly 4 million (representing a decrease of 350,000 since 1991).

According to the 1991 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina had a population of 4,354,911. Ethnically, 43.7% were Muslims (now almost all them declare as Bosniaks), 31.3% Serbs, and 17.3% Croats, with 5.5% declaring themselves Yugoslavs.

There is a strong correlation between ethnic identity and religion: 88% of Croats are Roman Catholics, 90% of Bosniaks practice Islam, and 93% of Serbs are Orthodox Christians.

According to 2000 data from the CIA World Factbook, Bosnia and Herzegovina is ethnically 48% Bosniak, 37.1% Serb, 14.3% Croat, 0.6% other.

Education

Main article: Education of Bosnia and Herzegovina

As part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia enjoyed a highly-developed educational system. This system not only encouraged study and higher education, but also respected academic achievements. Two of Bosnia’s native sons were awarded Nobel Prizes from this era: Vladimir Prelog, for chemistry in 1975, and Ivo Andric, for literature in 1961. This concentration of talent is remarkable in a country whose total population was severely depleted due to the diaspora of individuals fleeing during the war years. Bosnian college students abroad are extremely good students; most of them attend universities in North America and other European countries.

This diaspora created a “brain drain” and resulted in many Bosnians working in high-tech, academic and professional occupations in North America, Europe and Australia. This limitation is viewed as an economic opportunity for building a vibrant economy in today’s Bosnia. Bosnia’s sons and daughters are returning. They are returning with experience, western education and exposure to modern business practices.

Bosnia’s current educational system—with seven universities, one in every major city, plus satellite campuses—continues to turn out highly-educated graduates in math, science and literature.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina

See also:

Related topics

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