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Introduction | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Background: | Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991 was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro - 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, 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. On 21 November 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties initialed a peace agreement that brought to a halt three years of interethnic civil strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995). The Dayton Peace Accords retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government charged with conducting foreign, diplomatic, and fiscal policy. Also recognized was a second tier of government comprised of two entities roughly equal in size: the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska (RS). The Federation and RS governments were charged with overseeing most government functions. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was established to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. In 1995-96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia to implement and monitor the military aspects of the agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) whose mission was to deter renewed hostilities. European Union peacekeeping troops (EUFOR) replaced SFOR in December 2004; their mission is to maintain peace and stability throughout the country. EUFOR's mission changed from peacekeeping to civil policing in October 2007, with its presence reduced from nearly 7,000 to 2,500 troops.

Geography | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Location: | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia
Geographic coordinates: | 44 00 N, 18 00 E
Map references: | Europe
Area: | total: 51,129 sq km land: 51,129 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: | total: 1,459 km border countries: Croatia 932 km, Montenegro 225 km, Serbia 302 km
Coastline: | 20 km
Maritime claims: | no data available
Climate: | hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters; mild, rainy winters along coast
Terrain: | mountains and valleys
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Maglic 2,386 m
Natural resources: | coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, cobalt, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, forests, hydropower
Land use: | arable land: 19.61% permanent crops: 1.89% other: 78.5% (2005)
Irrigated land: | 30 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources: | 37.5 cu km (2003)
Natural hazards: | destructive earthquakes
Environment - current issues: | air pollution from metallurgical plants; sites for disposing of urban waste are limited; water shortages and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992-95 civil strife; deforestation
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: | within Bosnia and Herzegovina's recognized borders, the country is divided into a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation (about 51% of the territory) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska or RS (about 49% of the territory); the region called Herzegovina is contiguous to Croatia and Montenegro, and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority in the west and an ethnic Serb majority in the east

People | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Population: | 4,590,310 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 14.7% (male 347,679/female 326,091) 15-64 years: 70.6% (male 1,634,053/female 1,606,341) 65 years and over: 14.7% (male 277,504/female 398,642) (2008 est.)
Median age: | total: 39.4 years male: 38.2 years female: 40.5 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate: | 0.666% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: | 8.82 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: | 8.54 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: | 6.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 9.34 deaths/1,000 live births male: 10.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 78.33 years male: 74.74 years female: 82.19 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 1.24 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 900 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 100 (2001 est.)
Nationality: | noun: Bosnian(s), Herzegovinian(s) adjective: Bosnian, Herzegovinian
Ethnic groups: | Bosniak 48%, Serb 37.1%, Croat 14.3%, other 0.6% (2000) note: Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term Muslim - an adherent of Islam
Religions: | Muslim 40%, Orthodox 31%, Roman Catholic 15%, other 14%
Languages: | Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96.7% male: 99% female: 94.4% (2006 est.)

Government | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Bosnia and Herzegovina local long form: none local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina former: People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Government type: | emerging federal democratic republic
Capital: | name: Sarajevo geographic coordinates: 43 52 N, 18 25 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions: | 2 first-order administrative divisions and 1 internationally supervised district* - Brcko district (Brcko Distrikt)*, the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska; note - Brcko district is in northeastern Bosnia and is an administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the district remains under international supervision
Independence: | 1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence completed 1 March 1992; independence declared 3 March 1992)
National holiday: | National Day, 25 November (1943)
Constitution: | the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995 in Paris, included a new constitution now in force; note - each of the entities also has its own constitution
Legal system: | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: | 18 years of age, universal
Executive branch: | chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Haris SILAJDZIC (chairman since 6 March 2008; presidency member since 1 October 2006 - Bosniak); other members of the three-member presidency rotating (every eight months): Nebojsa RADMANOVIC (presidency member since 1 October 2006 - Serb); and Zeljko KOMSIC (presidency member since 1 October 2006 - Croat) head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikola SPIRIC (since 11 January 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved by the National House of Representatives elections: the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term, but then ineligible for four years); the chairmanship rotates every eight months and resumes where it left off following each national election; election last held 1 October 2006 (next to be held in 2010); the chairman of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the National House of Representatives election results: percent of vote - Nebojsa RADMANOVIC with 53.3% of the votes for the Serb seat; Zeljko KOMSIC received 39.6% of the votes for the Croat seat; Haris SILAJDZIC received 62.8% of the votes for the Bosniak seat note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Borjana KRISTO (since 21 February 2007); Vice Presidents Spomenka MICIC (since NA 2007) and Mirsad KEBO (since NA 2007); President of the Republika Srpska: Rajko KUSMANOVIC (since 28 December 2007)
Legislative branch: | bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the national House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats, 28 seats allocated for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats for the Republika Srpska; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation, to serve four-year terms); and the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats, 5 Bosniak, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures elections: national House of Representatives - elections last held 1 October 2006 (next to be held in 2010); House of Peoples - last constituted in January 2003 (next to be constituted in 2007) election results: national House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - SDA 9, SBH 8, SNSD 7, SDP 5, SDS 3, HDZ-BH 3, HDZ1990 2, other 5; House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - NA note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that consists of a House of Representatives (98 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 1 October 2006 (next to be held in October 2010); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/coalition - SDA 28, SBH 24, SDP 17, HDZ-BH 8, HDZ100 7, other 14; and a House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 17 Serb, 7 other); last constituted December 2002; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 1 October 2006 (next to be held in the fall of 2010); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/coalition - SNSD 41, SDS 17, PDP 8, DNS 4, SBH 4, SPRS 3, SDA 3, other 3; as a result of the 2002 constitutional reform process, a 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples (COP) was established in the Republika Srpska National Assembly including eight Croats, eight Bosniaks, eight Serbs, and four members of the smaller communities
Judicial branch: | BH Constitutional Court (consists of nine members: four members are selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of the European Court of Human Rights); BH State Court (consists of nine judges and three divisions - Administrative, Appellate and Criminal - having jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities); a War Crimes Chamber opened in March 2005 note: the entities each have a Supreme Court; each entity also has a number of lower courts; there are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has five municipal courts
Political parties and leaders: | Alliance of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad DODIK]; Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes AJANOVIC]; Civic Democratic Party or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC]; Croat Christian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HKDU [Marin TOPIC]; Croat Party of Rights or HSP [Zvonko JURISIC]; Croat Peasants Party or HSS [Marko TADIC]; Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ-BH [Dragan COVIC]; Croatian Democratic Union 1990 or HDZ1990 [Bozo LJUBIC]; Croatian Democratic Union 100 or HDZ100; Croatian Peoples Union [Milenko BRKIC]; Democratic National Union or DNZ [Rifet DOLIC]; Democratic Peoples Alliance or DNS [Marko PAVIC]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Rasim KADIC]; New Croat Initiative or NHI [Kresimir ZUBAK]; Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBH [Haris SILAJDZIC]; Party for Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC]; Party of Democratic Progress or PDP [Mladen IVANIC]; Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Mladen BOSIC]; Serb Radical Party of the Republika Srpska or SRS-RS [Milanko MIHAJLICA]; Serb Radical Party-Dr. Vojislav Seselj or SRS-VS [Radislav KANJERIC]; Social Democratic Party of BIH or SDP [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Social Democratic Union or SDU [Sejfudin TOKIC]; Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS [Petar DJOKIC]
Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA
International organization participation: | BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNWTO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Bisera TURKOVIC chancery: 2109 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 337-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 337-1502 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Charles L. ENGLISH embassy: Alipasina 43, 71000 Sarajevo mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [387] (33) 445-700 FAX: [387] (33) 659-722 branch office(s): Banja Luka, Mostar
Flag description: | a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow isosceles triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag; the remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle

Economy | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Economy - overview: | Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked next to Macedonia as the poorest republic in the old Yugoslav federation. Although agriculture is almost all in private hands, farms are small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally is a net importer of food. The private sector is growing and foreign investment is slowly increasing, but government spending, at nearly 40% of adjusted GDP, remains unreasonably high. The interethnic warfare in Bosnia caused production to plummet by 80% from 1992 to 1995 and unemployment to soar. With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in 1996-99 at high percentage rates from a low base; but output growth slowed in 2000-02. Part of the lag in output was made up in 2003-07 when GDP growth exceeded 5% per year. National-level statistics are limited and do not capture the large share of black market activity. The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM)- the national currency introduced in 1998 - is pegged to the euro, and confidence in the currency and the banking sector has increased. Implementing privatization, however, has been slow, particularly in the Federation, although more successful in the Republika Srpska. Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all the Communist-era payments bureaus were shut down; foreign banks, primarily from Western Europe, now control most of the banking sector. A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain the two most serious macroeconomic problems. On 1 January 2006 a new value-added tax (VAT) went into effect. The VAT has been successful in capturing much of the gray market economy and has developed into a significant and predictable source of revenues for all layers of government. Bosnia and Herzegovina became a full member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement in September 2007. The country receives substantial reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.
GDP (purchasing power parity): | $27.73 billion note: Bosnia has a large informal sector that could also be as much as 50% of official GDP (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $14.78 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 5.8% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $7,000 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 10.2% industry: 23.9% services: 66% (2006 est.)
Labor force: | 1.026 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%
Unemployment rate: | 45.5% official rate; grey economy may reduce actual unemployment to 25-30% (31 December 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 25% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.9% highest 10%: 21.4% (2001)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 26.2 (2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 1.3% (2007 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $7.166 billion expenditures: $7.094 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt: | 34% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products: | wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Industries: | steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining
Industrial production growth rate: | 6.7% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production: | 12.22 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 53.5% hydro: 46.5% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: | 8.574 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports: | 3.58 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports: | 2.174 billion kWh (2005)
Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - consumption: | 26,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports: | 0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: | 24,940 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves: | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 383.6 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 383.6 million cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 0 cu m (1 January 2006)
Current account balance: | -$1.92 billion (2007 est.)
Exports: | $4.243 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities: | metals, clothing, wood products
Exports - partners: | Croatia 19.6%, Slovenia 16.8%, Italy 15.3%, Germany 12.3%, Austria 8.7%, Hungary 5.3% (2006)
Imports: | $9.947 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs
Imports - partners: | Croatia 24%, Germany 14.5%, Slovenia 13.2%, Italy 10%, Austria 5.9%, Hungary 5.2% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient: | $546.1 million (2005 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $4.525 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external: | $6.7 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares: | $NA
Currency (code): | konvertibilna marka (convertible mark) (BAM)
Currency code: | BAM
Exchange rates: | konvertibilna maraka per US dollar - 1.4419 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5727 (2005), 1.5752 (2004), 1.7329 (2003) note: the convertible mark is pegged to the euro
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Telephones - main lines in use: | 989,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 1.888 million (2006)
Telephone system: | general assessment: telephone and telegraph network needs modernization and expansion; many urban areas are below average as contrasted with services in other former Yugoslav republics domestic: fixed-line teledensity is roughly 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density is about 22 per 100 persons international: country code - 387; no satellite earth stations (2006)
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 8, FM 16, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: | 940,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 33 (plus 277 repeaters) (September 1995)
Televisions: | NA
Internet country code: | .ba
Internet hosts: | 39,627 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 3 (2000)
Internet users: | 950,000 (2006)

Transportation | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Airports: | 28 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 20 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 12 (2007)
Heliports: | 5 (2007)
Railways: | total: 608 km standard gauge: 608 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)
Roadways: | total: 21,846 km paved: 11,425 km (4,714 km of interurban roads) unpaved: 10,421 km (2006)
Waterways: | Sava River (northern border) open to shipping but use limited (2006)
Ports and terminals: | Bosanska Gradiska, Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac, and Brcko (all inland waterway ports on the Sava), Orasje

Military | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Military branches: | Bosnia and Herzegovina Armed Forces (OSBiH): Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Air and Air Defense Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Zrakoplovstvo i Protuzracna Obrana, ZPO) (2007)
Military service age and obligation: | 17 years of age for voluntary military service in the Federation and in the Republika Srpska; conscription abolished January 2006; 4-month service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 1,212,007 females age 16-49: 1,170,645 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 996,225 females age 16-49: 962,927 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | males age 16-49: 30,246 females age 16-49: 28,189 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4.5% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Disputes - international: | Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia have delimited most of their boundary, but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute; discussions continue with Croatia on several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinder final ratification of the 1999 border agreement
Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 7,269 (Croatia) IDPs: 131,600 (Bosnian Croats, Serbs, and Muslims displaced in 1992-95 war) (2007)
Illicit drugs: | increasingly a transit point for heroin being trafficked to Western Europe; minor transit point for marijuana; remains highly vulnerable to money-laundering activity given a primarily cash-based and unregulated economy, weak law enforcement, and instances of corruption

This page was last updated on 19 June, 2008