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 plans to phase out its mission beginning in 2007.
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
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, 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
Population
4,552,198 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
15% (male 353,163/female 331,133)
15-64 years
70.4% (male 1,615,011/female 1,587,956)
65 years and over
14.6% (male 273,240/female 391,695) (2007 est.)
Median age
total
38.9 years
male
37.7 years
female
40.1 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate
1.003% (2007 est.)
Birth rate
8.8 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate
8.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate
9.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years
1.067 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.017 male(s)/female
65 years and over
0.698 male(s)/female
total population
0.97 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total
9.58 deaths/1,000 live births
male
10.98 deaths/1,000 live births
female
8.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population
78.17 years
male
74.57 years
female
82.03 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.23 children born/woman (2007 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% (2000 est.)
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 Zeljko KOMSIC (chairman since 6 July 2007; and presidency member since 1 October 2006 - Croat); other members of the three-member presidency rotating (every eight months): Nebojsa RADMANOVIC (presidency member since 1 October 2006 - Serb); and Haris SILAJDZIC (presidency member since 1 October 2006 - Bosniak)
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: Milan JELIC (since 9 November 2006)
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, SBiH 8, SNSD 7, SDP 5, SDS 3, HDZ-BH 3, HDZ 1990 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, SBiH 24, SDP 17, HDZ-BH 8, HDZ100 7, other 14; and a House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 1i7 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, SBiH 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 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 SBiH [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]
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 - overview
GDP (purchasing power parity)
$25.28 billion
note: Bosnia has a large informal sector that could also be as much as 50% of official GDP (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)
$9.217 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)
$5,600 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture
14.2%
industry
30.8%
services
55% (2002)
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%
NA%
highest 10%
NA%
Distribution of family income - Gini index
26.2 (2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
8.2% (2006 est.)
Budget
revenues
$5.643 billion
expenditures
$5.677 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt
24.5% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products
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
5.5% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production
12.98 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel
53.5%
hydro
46.5%
nuclear
0%
other
0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption
11.03 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports
3.05 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports
2 billion kWh (2004)
Oil - production
0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - consumption
23,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports
NA bbl/day
Natural gas - production
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
300 million cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports
300 million cu m (2004 est.)
Current account balance
-$1.73 billion (2006 est.)
Exports
$3.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities
metals, clothing, wood products
Exports - partners
Croatia 19.1%, Slovenia 17%, Italy 15.6%, Germany 12.5%, Austria 8.8%, Hungary 5.3%, China 4% (2006)
Imports
$8.25 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities
machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs
konvertibilna maraka per US dollar - 1.5576 (2006), 1.5727 (2005), 1.5752 (2004), 1.7329 (2003), 2.0782 (2002)
note: the convertible mark is pegged to the euro
Fiscal year
calendar year
Telephones - main lines in use
968,900 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular
1.594 million (2005)
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
NA
international
country code - 387; no satellite earth stations
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
31,490 (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
3 (2000)
Internet users
806,400 (2005)
Airports
28 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways
total
8
2,438 to 3,047 m
4
1,524 to 2,437 m
1
under 914 m
3 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways
total
20
1,524 to 2,437 m
1
914 to 1,523 m
7
under 914 m
12 (2006)
Heliports
5 (2006)
Railways
total
608 km
standard gauge
608 km 1.435-m gauge (2005)
Roadways
total
21,846 km
paved
11,425 km (4,686 km of interurban roads)
unpaved
10,421 km (2005)
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 branches
VF Army (the air and air defense forces are subordinate commands within the Army), VRS Army (the air and air defense forces are subordinate commands within the Army)
Military service age and obligation
18 years of age for compulsory military service in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; 16 years of age in times of war; 18 years of age for Republika Srpska; 17 years of age for voluntary military service in the Federation and in the Republika Srpska; by law, military obligations cover all healthy men between the ages of 18 and 60, and all women between the ages of 18 and 55; service obligation is 4 months (July 2004)
Manpower available for military service
males age 18-49
1,119,508
females age 18-49
1,079,435 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service
males age 18-49
910,539
females age 18-49
881,446 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually
males age 18-49
32,942
females age 18-49
31,466 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
4.5% (2005 est.)
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)
7,458 (Croatia)
IDPs
180,251 (Bosnian Croats, Serbs, and Muslims displaced in 1992-95 war) (2006)
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
