 Definition  Field Listing  Rank
Order
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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
Agreement retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries
and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government. This
national government was 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 is to deter renewed
hostilities. SFOR remains in place although troop levels are being
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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, Serbia and Montenegro 527 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: 13.6%
permanent crops: 2.96%
other:
83.44% (2001) |
|
Irrigated land: |
20 sq km
(1998 est.) |
|
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, 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 Serbia and Montenegro (Montenegro), and traditionally has been
settled by an ethnic Croat majority in the west and an ethnic Serb
majority in the east Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
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Population: |
4,007,608
(July 2004 est.) |
|
Age structure: |
0-14
years: 18.9% (male 389,062; female 368,721)
15-64
years: 70.6% (male 1,447,725; female 1,379,729)
65 years
and over: 10.5% (male 180,801; female 241,570) (2004 est.)
|
|
Median age: |
total: 35.9 years
male: 35.5 years
female: 36.2 years (2004 est.) |
|
Population growth rate: |
0.45% (2004
est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
12.56
births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
8.33
deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
0.31
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at
birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06
male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65
years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total:
21.88 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.5 deaths/1,000
live births
female: 19.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2004
est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 72.57 years
male: 69.82 years
female: 75.51 years (2004 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
1.71 children
born/woman (2004 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
less than
0.1% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
NA |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
100 (2001
est.) |
|
Nationality: |
noun:
Bosnian(s), Herzegovinian(s)
adjective: Bosnian,
Herzegovinian |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Serb 37.1%,
Bosniak 48%, 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: NA
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short
form: Bosnia and Herzegovina
local long form: none
local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina |
|
Government type: |
emerging
federal democratic republic |
|
Capital: |
Sarajevo
|
|
Administrative divisions: |
there are
two first-order administrative divisions and one 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 was completed 1 March
1992; independence was declared 3 March 1992) |
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National holiday: |
National
Day, 25 November (1943) |
|
Constitution: |
the Dayton
Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new constitution now
in force; note - each of the entities also has its own constitution
|
|
Legal system: |
based on
civil law system |
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Suffrage: |
16 years of
age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal |
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Executive branch: |
chief of
state: Chairman of the Presidency Sulejman TIHIC (chairman since
28 February 2004; presidency member since 5 October 2002 - Bosniak)
other members of the three-member rotating (every eight months)
presidency: Dragan COVIC (since 5 October 2002 - Croat) and Borislav
PARAVAC (since 10 April 2003 - Serb); note - Mirko SAROVIC resigned
2 April 2003
head of government: Chairman of the Council
of Ministers Adnan TERZIC (since 20 December 2002),
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; the member with the most votes becomes the chairman
unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the
election, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months; election
last held 5 October 2002 (next to be held NA 2006); 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 - Mirko SAROVIC with 35.5% of the Serb
vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first
eight months; Dragan COVIC received 61.5% of the Croat vote;
Sulejman TIHIC received 37% of the Bosniak vote
note:
President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Niko LOZANCIC
(since 27 January 2003); Vice Presidents Sahbaz DZIHANOVIC (since NA
2003) and Desnica RADIVOJEVIC (since NA 2003); President of the
Republika Srpska: Dragan CAVIC (since 28 November 2002) |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral
Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the National House
of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats - elected by
proportional representation, 28 seats allocated from the Federation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats from the Republika Srpska;
members elected by popular vote 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 5 October 2002 (next to be
held in NA 2006); House of Peoples - last constituted NA January
2003 (next to be constituted in 2007)
election results:
National House of Representatives - percent of vote by
party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP 10.4%, SNSD
9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%; seats by party/coalition -
SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP 2, others 7; 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 5 October 2002 (next to be
held NA October 2006); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party/coalition - SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15, SBiH 15, other 20; and
a House of Peoples (60 seats - 30 Bosniak, 30 Croat); 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 5 October 2002 (next to be
held in the fall of 2006); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party/coalition - SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3, DNZ
3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6; 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;
each constituent nation and "others" will have eight delegates
|
|
Judicial branch: |
BiH
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); BiH 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; note - a War
Crimes Chamber may be added at a future date)
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 [Ilija
SIMIC]; Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ
[Barisa COLAK]; Croat Christian Democratic Union of Bosnia and
Herzegovina or HKDU [Mijo IVANIC-LONIC]; Croat Party of Rights or
HSP [Zdravko HRISTIC]; Croat Peasants Party or HSS [Ilija SIMIC];
Democratic National Union or DNZ [Fikret ABDIC]; Liberal Democratic
Party or LDS [Rasim KADIC]; New Croat Initiative or NHI [Kresimir
ZUBAK]; Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBiH [Safet HALILOVIC];
Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC]; Party of
Democratic Progress or PDP [Mladen IVANIC]; Pro-European People's
Party or PROENS [Jadranko PRLIC]; Serb Democratic Party or SDS
[Dragan KALINIC]; Serb Radical Party of the Republika Srpska or
SRS-RS [Radislav KANJERIC]; Social Democratic Party of BIH or SDP
[Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS
[Petar DJOKIC] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
|
International organization participation: |
BIS, CE,
CEI, EBRD, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM
(guest), OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
|
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Igor DAVIDOVIC
chancery: 2109 E
Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202)
337-1500
FAX: [1] (202) 337-1502
consulate(s)
general: New York |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Clifford G. BOND
embassy:
Alipasina 43, 71000 Sarajevo
mailing address: use street
address
telephone: [387] (33) 445-700
FAX:
[387] (33) 659-722
branch office(s): Banja Luka, Mostar
|
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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
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Economy - overview: |
Bosnia and
Herzegovina ranked next to The Former Yugoslav Republic of 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. Industry has been greatly overstaffed, one reflection of the
socialist economic structure of Yugoslavia. TITO had pushed the
development of military industries in the republic with the result
that Bosnia hosted a number of Yugoslavia's defense plants. 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. GDP remains far below
the 1990 level. Economic data are of limited use because, although
both entities issue figures, national-level statistics are limited.
Moreover, official data do not capture the large share of black
market activity. The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM)-
the national currency introduced in 1998 - is now pegged to the
euro, and the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina has
dramatically increased its reserve holdings. Implementation of
privatization, however, has been slow, and local entities only
reluctantly support national-level institutions. Banking reform
accelerated in 2001 as all the Communist-era payments bureaus were
shut down. The country receives substantial amounts of
reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the
international community but will have to prepare for an era of
declining assistance. |
|
GDP: |
purchasing
power parity - $24.31 billion (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
3.5% (2003
est.) |
|
GDP - per capita: |
purchasing
power parity - $6,100 (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 13%
industry: 40.9%
services: 46.1% (2001 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
NA |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest
10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
0.9% (2003
est.) |
|
Labor force: |
1.026 million
(2001) |
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture
NA, industry NA, services NA |
|
Unemployment rate: |
40% (2002
est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $3.271 billion
expenditures: $3.242
billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 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 (2001) |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
5.5% (2003
est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
9.979 billion
kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
8.116 billion
kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
2.569
billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
1.405
billion kWh (2001) |
|
Oil - production: |
0 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption: |
20,000
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports: |
NA (2001)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
NA (2001)
|
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Natural gas - production: |
0 cu m (2001
est.) |
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
300 million
cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - exports: |
0 cu m (2001
est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports: |
300 million
cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
$-2.195
billion (2003) |
|
Exports: |
$1.28 billion
f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
metals,
clothing, wood products |
|
Exports - partners: |
Italy 29%,
Croatia 18.5%, Germany 17.3%, Austria 9.3%, Slovenia 6.7% (2003
est.) |
|
Imports: |
$4.7 billion
f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery
and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs |
|
Imports - partners: |
Croatia
24.3%, Slovenia 15.5%, Germany 13.6%, Italy 12%, Hungary 7.6%,
Austria 6.6% (2003 est.) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: |
$1.796
billion (2003) |
|
Debt - external: |
$3.5 billion
(2003) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$650 million
(2001 est.) |
|
Currency: |
marka (BAM)
|
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Currency code: |
BAM |
|
Exchange rates: |
marka per US
dollar - 1.7329 (2003), 1.7329 (2002), 2.1857 (2001), 2.1244 (2000),
1.8371 (1999) |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar
year Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
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Railways: |
total:
1,021 km (795 km electrified)
standard gauge: 1,021 km
1.435-m gauge (2003) |
|
Highways: |
total:
21,846 km
paved: 11,424 km
unpaved: 10,422 km
(1999 est.) |
|
Waterways: |
Sava River
(northern border) is open to shipping but its use is limited because
of the lack of an agreement with neighboring countries (2004) |
|
Pipelines: |
gas 170 km;
oil 9 km (2003) |
|
Ports and harbors: |
Bosanska
Gradiska, Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac, and Brcko (all inland
waterway ports on the Sava), Orasje |
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Merchant marine: |
none |
|
Airports: |
27 (2003
est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to
2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 3 (2003 est.) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 19
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to
1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 11 (2003 est.) |
|
Heliports: |
5 (2003
est.) Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
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