Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country in the Balkan peninsula, formerly part
of Yugoslavia.

                                    Official languages Bosnian, Serbian,
                                                       Croatian
                                    Capital            Sarajevo
                                    President          Dragan ?ovi?
                                    Area               Ranked 124th
                                    Ê- Total           51,129 km2
History                             Ê- % water         Negligible
                                    Population         Ranked 119th
                                    Ê- Total (2002)    3,922,205
                                    Ê- Density         78/km²
For the first centuries of the      Independence       April 5, 1992
Christian era, Bosnia was part of   Currency           Convertible Mark
the Roman Empire. After the fall
of Rome, Bosnia was contested by    Time zone          UTC +1
Byzantium and Rome's successors in  National anthem    Intermeco
the West. Slavs settled the region  Internet TLD       .BA
in the 7th century, and the
kingdoms of Serbia and Croatia      Calling Code       387
split control of Bosnia in the 9th
century. The 11th and 12th centuries saw the rule of the region by the
kingdom of Hungary. The medieval kingdom of Bosnia gained its independence
around 1200 A.D. Bosnia remained independent up until 1463, when Ottoman
Turks conquered the region.

During Ottoman rule, many Bosnians dropped their ties to Christianity in
favor of Islam. Bosnia was under Ottoman rule until 1878, when it was given
to Austria-Hungary as a colony. While those living in Bosnia enjoyed the
benefits of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, South Slavs in Serbia and elsewhere
were calling for a South Slav state; World War I began when Serb nationalist
Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Following
the Great War, Bosnia became part of the South Slav state of Yugoslavia,
only to be given to Nazi-puppet Croatia in World War II. The Cold War saw
the establishment of the Communist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under
Tito, and the reestablishment of Bosnia as a republic within its medieval
borders.

The Bosnian declaration of sovereignty in October of 1991, was followed by a
referendum for independence from Yugoslavia in February of 1992. The Bosnian
Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia - responded with armed resistance
aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held
areas to form a "greater Serbia." In March 1994, Bosnia's Muslims and Croats
reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an
agreement creating a joint Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. On November 21, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties
signed a peace agreement that brought to a halt the three years of
interethnic civil strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on
December 14, 1995). The Dayton Agreement divides Bosnia and Herzegovina
roughly equally between the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska.

Politics

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates among three members
(Bosniak, Serb, Croat), each elected for a 4-year term. 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 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 comprised 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

Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into the Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. The district of Br?ko is not part of
either entity. The Federation is further divided into 10 cantons:

   * Una-Sana
   * Posavina
   * Tuzla
   * Zenica-Doboj
   * Bosnian Podrinje
   * Central Bosnia
   * Herzegovina-Neretva
   * West Herzegovina
   * Sarajevo
   * West Bosnia

Geography

Bosnia is located in the Western Balkans, bordering Serbia and Montenegro to
the east and Croatia to the north and south-west. The port city of Neum in
Herzegovina-Neretva Canton is the only link to the sea.

Economy

Next to Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina was the poorest
republic in the old Yugoslav Federation. 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. Three years of interethnic
strife destroyed the economy and infrastructure in Bosnia, causing
unemployment to soar and production to plummet by 80%, as well as causing
the death of anywhere between 60 and 200 thousand people and displacing half
of the population. With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in
1996-98 at high percentage rates on a low base; but output growth slowed
appreciably in 1999, and GDP remains far below the 1990 level.

Demographics

According to the 1991 census, Bosnia is 44% ethnically Muslim, 31% Serb, and
17% Croat, with 6% people declaring themselves Yugoslav, comprising people
from mixed marriages as well as hardcore Yugoslav patriots. There is a
strong co-relation between ethnic identity and religion; 88% of Croats are
Roman Catholics, 90% of ethnic Muslims practice Islam, and 99% of Serbs are
Orthodox Christians.

According to a 1996 census done by the international community, Bosnia is
ethnically 46% Bosniak, 38% Serb and 15% Croat.

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