Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Country statistics

area:	51,129sq km (19,745 sq mi) 3,835,777
capital (population):	Sarajevo (434,000)
government:	Transitional
ethnic groups:	Bosniac 46%, Serb 31%, Croat 14%
languages:	Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian
religions:	Sunni Muslim 43%, Serbian Orthodox 30%, Roman Catholic 18%
currency:	Marka

Balkan republic in se Europe. Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the five republics that emerged from the break-up of the former Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (see Serbia and Montenegro). It consists of two main regions – Bosnia in the n, with Sarajevo as the capital; and Herzegovina in the s, with Mostar the main city. The e half of the nation is dominated by the Dinaric Alps, which slope down gradually to the w. The River Sava, a tributary of the Danube, forms most of its n border with Croatia. Bosnia-Herzegovina has a narrow, 20km (13mi), outlet to the Adriatic Sea at Neum.

Climate and Vegetation

Coastal areas experience dry, sunny summers and mild, moist winters. Inland, the climate is more extreme, with hot, dry summers and bitterly cold winters. Forests of beech, oak, and pine grow in the n. The sw is an arid limestone plateau, interspersed with farmland.

History and Politics

Slavs settled in the region c.1400 years ago. Bosnia was settled by Serbs in the 7th century and conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1463. The persistence of serfdom led to a peasant revolt (1875). The Congress of Berlin (1878) handed Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which annexed it in 1908. Serbian nationalism intensified. The assassination (1914) of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo precipitated World War 1.

In 1918 Serbia annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina and incorporated it into Yugoslavia in 1929. In World War 2 the region formed part of the German puppet state of Croatia. In 1946 Bosnia-Herzegovina became a constituent republic of Tito's socialist federal republic. In 1991 the republic disintegrated with the secession of Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia. Fearing the creation of a Greater Serbia, Croats and Muslims pushed for independence.

In March 1992 a referendum, boycotted by Serbian parties, voted for independence. Alija Izetbegović became president of the new nation. War broke out between Bosnian government forces and the Serb-dominated Federal Yugoslav Army (JNA). The JNA overran the republic and besieged the government in Sarajevo. International pressure forced the JNA to withdraw. The JNA supplied weapons to Bosnian Serbs, who established a separate Serb republic led by Radovan Karadžić (August 1992). Serbs forced Muslims from their villages in a deliberate act of ‘ethnic cleansing’. In 1992 the UN deployed peacekeeping forces to distribute humanitarian aid to Sarajevo. In 1993 the UN declared a number of ‘safe havens’ – government-held enclaves to protect Muslims. In 1994, Bosnian Serbs attacked the enclaves of Sarajevo and Gorazde, prompting UN air-strikes. In 1995 Bosnian Serb forces, led by Ratko Mladić, attacked the safe haven of Srebrenica, massacring 8000 Muslims. The governments of Bosnia and Bosnian Croats called a cease-fire and the formation of a Muslim-Croat Federation. The federation launched a major offensive, forcing Bosnian Serbs to negotiate.

The Dayton Peace Accord (December 1995) preserved Bosnia-Herzegovina as a single state, but partitioned it between the Muslim-Croat Federation (51%) and Bosnian Serbs (Republika Srpska, 49%). The three-year conflict claimed more than 200,000 lives. NATO deployed 60,000 troops as part of a Peace Implementation Force (IFOR). Karadžić and Mladić were indicted for war crimes and c.21,000 NATO troops remained as a ‘stabilization’ force (SFOR). The republic has a tripartite presidency (Bosnian Muslim, Serb, and Croat). In 2000, Izetbegović resigned from the presidency. An international tribunal in The Hague tried those suspected of war crimes.

Economy

The war shattered the relatively undeveloped economy (2000 GDP per capita, US$1700), and the country largely depends on international aid.

Political map

Physical map

Websites

http://www.bhtourism.ba; http://www.bhtourism.ba