"text":"<p>After four centuries of Ottoman rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary took control in 1878 and held the region until 1918, when it was incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. After World War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).<br><br>Bosnia and Herzegovina declared sovereignty in October 1991 and independence from the SFRY on 3 March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. Bosnian Serb militias, with the support of Serbia and Croatia, then tried to take control of territories they claimed as their own. From 1992 to 1995, ethnic cleansing campaigns killed thousands and displaced more than two million people. On 21 November 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties initialed a peace agreement, and the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995.</p> <p>The Dayton Accords retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a multiethnic and democratic government composed of two entities roughly equal in size: the predominantly Bosniak-Bosnian Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the predominantly Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska (RS). The Dayton Accords also established the Office of the High Representative to oversee the agreement's implementation. In 1996, the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) took over responsibility for enforcing the peace. In 2004, European Union peacekeeping troops (EUFOR) replaced SFOR. As of 2022, EUFOR deploys around 1,600 troops in Bosnia in a peacekeeping capacity. Bosnia and Herzegovina became an official candidate for EU membership in 2022.</p>"
"text":"the northern and central areas of the country are the most densely populated"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"destructive earthquakes"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Republika Srpska authorities dispute the methodology and refuse to recognize the results; Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term Muslim - an adherent of Islam"
"text":"<br>Knjiga svjetskih činjenica, neophodan izvor osnovnih informacija. (Bosnian)<br><br>Knjiga svetskih činjenica, neophodan izvor osnovnih informacija. (Serbian)<br><br>Knjiga svjetskih činjenica, nužan izvor osnovnih informacija. (Croatian)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"air pollution; deforestation and illegal logging; inadequate wastewater treatment and flood management facilities; sites for disposing of urban waste are limited; land mines left over from the 1992-95 civil strife are a hazard in some areas"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters; mild, rainy winters along coast"
"text":"People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina"
},
"abbreviation":{
"text":"BiH"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"the larger northern territory is named for the Bosna River; the smaller southern section takes its name from the German word \"herzog,\" meaning \"duke,\" and the ending \"-ovina,\" meaning \"land,\" forming the combination denoting \"dukedom\""
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Sarajevo"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"43 52 N, 18 25 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"3 first-order administrative divisions - Brcko District (Brcko Distrikt) (ethnically mixed), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine) (predominantly Bosniak-Croat), Republika Srpska (predominantly Serb)"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia); note - referendum for independence completed on 1 March 1992; independence declared on 3 March 1992"
"text":"Independence Day, 1 March (1992) and Statehood Day, 25 November (1943) - both observed in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity; Victory Day, 9 May (1945) and Dayton Agreement Day, 21 November (1995) - both observed in the Republika Srpska entity",
"text":"decided by the Parliamentary Assembly, including a two-thirds majority vote of members present in the House of Representatives; the constitutional article on human rights and fundamental freedoms cannot be amended; amended several times, last in 2009"
"text":"Chairperson of the Presidency Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (chairperson since 16 November 2024; presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Serb seat); Denis BECIROVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Bosniak seat); Zeljko KOMSIC (presidency member since 20 November 2018 - Croat seat)"
"text":"3-member presidency (1 Bosniak and 1 Croat elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 Serb elected from the Republika Srpska) directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term but then ineligible for 4 years); the presidency chairpersonship rotates every 8 months with the new member of the presidency elected with the highest number of votes starting the new mandate as chair; election last held on 2 October 2022 (next to be held in October 2026); the chairperson of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Lidiia BRADARA (since 28 February 2023); Vice Presidents Refik LENDO (since 28 February 2023) and Igor STOJANOVIC (since 28 February 2023); President of the Republika Srpska Milorad DODIK (since 15 November 2022); Vice Presidents Camil DURAKOVIC (since 15 November 2022) and Davor PRANJIC (since 15 November 2022)"
"text":"Party of Democratic Action (SDA) (9); Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) (6); Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP) (5); HDZ BiH, HSS, HSP BiH, HKDU, HSPAS, HDU, HSPHB, HRAST (4); Democratic Front (DF) - Civic Alliance (GS) (3); People and Justice (NAROD I PRAVDA) (3); Other (12)"
"text":"Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); Court of BiH (consists of 44 national judges and 7 international judges organized into 3 divisions - Administrative, Appellate, and Criminal, which includes a War Crimes Chamber)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"BiH Constitutional Court judges - 4 selected by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina House of Representatives, 2 selected by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and 3 non-Bosnian judges selected by the president of the European Court of Human Rights; Court of BiH president and national judges appointed by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council; Court of BiH president appointed for renewable 6-year term; other national judges appointed to serve until age 70; international judges recommended by the president of the Court of BiH and appointed by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina; international judges appointed to serve until age 70"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"the Federation has 10 cantonal courts plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has a supreme court, 5 district courts, and a number of municipal courts"
"text":"Alliance of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD<br>Bosnian-Herzegovinian Initiative or BHI KF<br>Civic Alliance or GS<br>Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ-BiH<br>Democratic Front or DF<br>Democratic Union or DEMOS<br>For Justice and Order<br>Our Party or NS/HC<br>Party for Democratic Action or SDA<br>Party of Democratic Progress or PDP<br>People and Justice Party or NiP <br>People's European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or NES<br>Serb Democratic Party or SDS<br>Social Democratic Party or SDP<br>United Srpska or US"
"note":"<strong>note</strong>: Bosnia-Herzegovina is an EU candidate country whose satisfactory completion of accession criteria is required before being granted full EU membership"
"text":"a wide 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 blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle; the triangle approximates the shape of the country and its three points stand for the constituent peoples - Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs; the stars represent Europe and are meant to be continuous (thus the half stars at top and bottom); the colors (white, blue, and yellow) are often associated with neutrality and peace, and traditionally are linked with Bosnia",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> one of several flags where a prominent component of the design reflects the shape of the country; other such flags are those of Brazil, Eritrea, and Vanuatu"
"text":"Old Bridge Area of Mostar (c); Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad (c); Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards (c);Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe- Janj Forest (n); Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno (n)"
"text":"import-dominated economy; remains consumption-heavy; lack of private sector investments and diversification; jointly addressing structural economic challenges; Chinese energy infrastructure investments; high unemployment; tourism industry impacted by COVID-19"
"note":"<b>note:</b> central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated"
"text":"the telecom market has been liberalized and a regulatory framework created based on the EU’s regulatory framework for communications; although Bosnia-Herzegovina remains an EU candidate country, in July 2017 it applied amended mobile roaming charges to fit in with changes introduced across the Union; further roaming agreements were made in 2019 with other western Balkan countries; the fixed-line broadband network is comparatively underdeveloped, with the result that investments made in mobile upgrades to facilitate broadband connectivity in the country to a greater extent than is common elsewhere in Europe; internet services are available; DSL and cable are the main platforms for fixed-line connectivity, while fiber broadband as yet has only a small market presence; the three MNOs, each affiliated with one of the incumbent fixed-line operators, provide national coverage with 3G, though LTE coverage is only about 89%; their upgraded networks are helping to support broadband in rural areas where fixed-line infrastructure is insufficient; mobile data and mobile broadband offers will provide future revenue growth given the limited potential of mobile voice services; the MNOs tested LTE services under trial licenses from 2013, commercial launches were delayed until the award of spectrum in early 2019; the regulator stipulated that licenses must provide national coverage within five years; trials of 5G technology have been undertaken, though there are no plans to launch services commercially in the short term, given that the MNOs can continue to exploit the capacity of their existing LTE networks (2021)"
"text":"3 public TV broadcasters: Radio and TV of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation TV (operating 2 networks), and Republika Srpska Radio-TV; a local commercial network of 5 TV stations; 3 private, near-national TV stations and dozens of small independent TV broadcasting stations; 3 large public radio broadcasters and many private radio stations (2019)"
"text":"Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH or Oruzanih Snaga Bosne i Hercegovine, OSBiH): Army, Air, Air Defense forces organized into an Operations Command and a Support Command<br><br>Ministry of Security: Border Police (2024)"
"text":"the military's inventory of weapons and equipment is a combination of material originating from the former Soviet Union/former Yugoslavia and secondhand deliveries from Western suppliers such as the UK and especially the US (2024)"
"text":"the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) are comprised of the former Bosnian-Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Vojska Federacije Bosne i Hercegovin, VF) and the Bosnian-Serb Republic of Serbia Army (Vojska Republike Srpske, VRS); the two forces were unified under the 2006 Law on Defense, and the combined force includes each ethnic group; the 2006 law also established the country’s Ministry of Defense<br><br>the AFBiH is responsible for territorial defense, providing assistance to civil authorities during disasters or other emergencies, and participating in collective security and peace support operations; each of the AFBiH's three combat brigades are headquartered inside of their respective ethnicity territory, while its main headquarters is in Sarajevo; Bosnia and Herzegovina aspires to join NATO; it joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 2007 and was invited to join NATO’s Membership Action Plan in 2010; the AFBiH is undergoing a 10-year (2017-2027) defense modernization and reform program for preparing to join and integrate with NATO; it has contributed small numbers of troops to EU, NATO, and UN missions<br><br>NATO maintains a military headquarters in Sarajevo with the mission of assisting Bosnia and Herzegovina with the PfP program and promoting closer integration with NATO, as well as providing logistics and other support to the EU Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), which has operated in the country to oversee implementation of the Dayton/Paris Agreement since taking over from NATO's Stabilization Force (SFOR) in 2004; EUFOR has about 1,100 troops from 22 countries (2024)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide"
"text":"91,000 (Bosnian Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks displaced by inter-ethnic violence, human rights violations, and armed conflict during the 1992-95 war) (2022)"
"text":"<p>drug trafficking groups are major players in the procurement and transportation of large quantities of cocaine destined for European markets</p>"
