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

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA CAPITAL CITY

Sarajevo is the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA CURRENCY

Convertible mark is the official currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA ETYMOLOGY

The first known mention of the name "Bosnia" is in the De Administrando Imperio, written by Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in 958.
It is assumed that by that time Bosnia had undergone a religious change from manichaistic religion to Bogomilism.
The precise origin and meaning of the term “Bosnia” is not fully understood.
It is believed to have originated from the river “Bosna” around which the civilization was based.
During the Roman rule, the region was referred to as Bossina.
The river’s name may have an Indo-European connection in “bos” or “bogh” which translates to "running water".
“Bathinus flumen” in Roman and “Bosona” in Illyrian also mean “running water”.
The region now called Herzegovina was known as “Hum or Zahumlje”.
It was named after the Zachlumoi tribe of Serbs which inhabited it.
A nobleman called Stefan Vukčić Kosača referred to himself as “Herzog of Saint Sava, lord of Hum and Primorje, great duke of the Bosnian kingdom”.
“Herzog” translates to “duke” in German.
The region he ruled came to be called “Herzog’s lands or Herzegovina.”
The name Herzegovina was accepted officially for the Ottoman province in the mid-nineteenth century.
After independence, the country was officially named “Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina”
After the 1995 Dayton Agreement, the constitution changed the name to “Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

HISTORY OF BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

The region was known as “Illyricum” in the past.
It was part of the Roman province of Dalmatia in 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.
After the decline of the Roman Empire, the Goths invaded the region.
It was taken over by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century.
During the 7th century, the area began to be inhabited by the Slavs.
Around 1200, Bosnia won independence from Hungary and endured as an independent Christian state for some 260 years.
The Turks defeated took over Bosnia in 1463.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Ottoman Empire for about 450 years.
Majority of the Christians had converted to Islam.
The country began to be ruled by the Islamic nobility of Bosnia.
Jews also migrated in large numbers from Spain and settled in the region.
The country thus acquired a secular and mixed society.
Austria-Hungary was given a mandate to occupy and govern Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Russo-Turkish War.
The provinces were annexed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire on Oct. 7, 1908.
The assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist triggered the World War I.
Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed to Serbia on Oct. 26, 1918.
The region was then named collectively as Yugoslavia in 1929.
Bosnia and Herzegovina were made part of Nazi-controlled Croatia after a German invasion in 1941.
At the end of World War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina were reunited into a single state as one of the republics of communist Yugoslavia.
In Dec. 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia and asked for recognition by the European Union (EU).
The nation was declared independent in March 1992.
Bosnia was an ethnic blend of Muslims, Serbs, and Croats.
The nation underwent a great divide and ethnic groups began forming their own communities.
The ethnic conflicts eventually led to riots and a war broke out in 1992 in which thousands were killed.
NATO intervened in 1995 to re-establish peace and harmony in the region.
Peace talks in 1995, led to an agreement that called for a Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb entity within the larger federation of Bosnia.
In Dec. 2004, the European Union officially took over NATO's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA DEMOGRAPHICS

The three main ethnic groups in Bosnia are :

Bosniaks : Muslims (48%)
Serbs: Orthodox Christians (37.1%)
Croats: Roman Catholics (14.3%)
The three groups are believed to have originated from a common gene pool.
Religion and ethnicity are strongly associated among the people.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS AT BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Bosnia and Herzegovina are ruled by an emerging federal democratic republic government.
Administrative divisions consist of 2 first-order administrative divisions and 1 internationally supervised district.
Brcko district is an administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina that remains under international supervision.
National Day (25 November 1943) is observed as a national holiday.
The legal system is based on civil law system.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
The Chairman of the Presidency is the chief of state.
The Chairman of the Council of Ministers is the head of government.
The cabinet consists of a Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman and approved by the National House of Representatives.
The three members of the presidency represent each of the three ethnic majorities and are elected by popular vote for a four-year term.
The chairman of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the National House of Representatives.
The legislative branch is represented by a bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consisting of the national House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom and the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda.
Members of the National House of Representatives are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation, to serve four-year terms.
members of the House of Peoples are elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve four-year terms.
The judicial branch is represented by the BH Constitutional Court, BH State Court and a War Crimes Chamber.

CULTURE OF BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Bosnia has a rich history in literature and theatrical arts.
The National Theater was founded 1919 and hosts ballets, orchestras and operas.
MESS is International theater festival founded during the war in 1992.
Sarajevo also has an academy of performing arts.
Bosnia has also produced many talented artists and painters.
Music forms an important part of Bosnian culture.
Traditional songs are ganga, rera and sevdalinka.
Pop and Rock music are also popular.
Sarajevo Film Festival, founded in 1994, is one of the biggest in southeast Europe.
Bosnian cuisine is a blend of Turkish, Greek, and other Mediterranean cuisines.
The food is mostly natural with a mild spicy flavor.
Some local dishes are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilaf, goulash, ajvar and Eastern sweets.
Herzegovina is also one of the import wine producers of the world.
Plum or apple rakia is produced in Bosnia.

ECONOMY OF BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the poorest republics in the old Yugoslav federation.
Farms are privately held and most of the food is imported.
The private and foreign investment sectors have seen some growth in the recent past.
A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain serious macroeconomic problems.
Bosnia and Herzegovina became a full member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement in September 2007.
Value added tax (VAT) was imposed in January 2006.
GDP (purchasing power parity) as calculated in 2007 was $27.73 billion.
45.5% of the population is officially unemployed.
25% of the population is below poverty line.
Agricultural produce includes wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables and livestock.
The main industries are steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances and oil refining.
Export commodities include metals, clothing and wood products.
Import commodities include machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels and foodstuffs.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA INFRASTRUCTURE

Telecommunication system is in developmental stage and limited to urban areas.
There are 25 radio broadcast stations and 33 television broadcast stations.
Internet facilities are average.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has 28 airports of which 8 have paved runways.
The country has 5 heliports.
Railways spread over a distance of 608 km.
Roadways span a distance of 21,846 km.
Waterways are based on Sava River and are open to shipping.
Main ports and terminals are located in Bosanska Gradiska, Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac, Brcko and Orasje.

EDUCATION IN BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Primary education lasts for nine years.
Secondary education last for four years.
Secondary education has a compulsory element of vocational training.
A Matura is awarded on completion of general secondary education.
A Matura enables a student to enroll in a institution for higher education.
Students graduating from technical secondary schools are awarded a diploma.
Students may need to pass a qualifying examination for admission into certain institutions.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA NEIGHBOUR COUNTRIES

Bosnia and Herzegovina is surrounded by:

Croatia (north, west and south)
Serbia (east)
Montenegro (south)

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA GEOGRAPHICAL SETTINGS

Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in Southeastern Europe.
Its geographic coordinates are 44 00 N, 18 00 E.
The country covers a total area of 51,209.2 sq km.
The coastline is 20 km long along the Adriatic Sea.
The region generally experiences hot summers and cold winters.
High altitude areas have short, cool summers and long, severe winters.
The winters along the coast are mild and rainy.
The terrain mostly constitutes of mountains and valleys.
Natural resources include coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, chromites, cobalt, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, forests and hydropower.
19.61% of the land is arable.
Bosnia and Herzegovina are situated on an earthquake- prone belt.
Air pollution from metal industries and urban waste disposal are the main environmental concerns.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA FREEDOM

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992.

NOTABLE PEOPLE FROM THE BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Poets:

Antun Branko Šimić
Aleksa Šantić
Jovan Dučić
Mak Dizdar

Writers:

Ivo Andrić (won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961)
Meša Selimović
Branko Ćopić
Miljenko Jergović
Petar Kočić
Nedžad Ibrišimović.

Musicians:

Goran Bregović
Davorin Popović
Kemal Monteno
Zdravko Čolić
Johnny Štulić
Edo Maajka
Dino Merlin
Tomo Miličević.

Composers:

Đorđe Novković
Esad Arnautalić
Kornelije Kovač
Dušan Šestić
Marija Šestić
Sasha Toperich

Film-makers:

Mirza Idrizović
Aleksandar Jevđević
Ivica Matić
Danis Tanović (Oscar winner for “No Man's Land”)
Ademir Kenoviċ
Benjamin Filipoviċ
Jasmin Dizdar
Pjer Žalica
Jasmila Žbaniċ
Dino Mustafić
Srđan Vuletić
Emir Kusturica.

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA COUNTRY FAMOUS FOR

Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most popular tourist destinations of the world.
The country has a rich variety of historical, religious and cultural sites.
Bosnia has also become an increasingly popular for skiing and Ecotourism.
The recently discovered Bosnian pyramids also attract thousands of visitors.

TOTAL POPULATION OF BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

According to a 2008 census, the total population was estimated to be 4,590,310.
The annual population growth rate is 0.666% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: 8.82 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: 8.54 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)