Bosnia and Herzegovina — map and facts

About Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country of approximately 3.5 million people in the western Balkans, bordered by Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, with a narrow outlet to the Adriatic Sea. Its capital is Sarajevo, a city renowned for its multicultural heritage and as the site where the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 triggered the First World War. The country has a complex federal structure established by the Dayton Agreement of 1995, dividing it into two entities — the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska — plus the Br?ko District. Three main ethnic groups — Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats — each have constitutional status and share rotating presidency. Bosnia is an EU candidate and NATO's Partnership for Peace member. The official languages are Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian — mutually intelligible South Slavic languages. The economy relies on manufacturing, services, and remittances from a large diaspora.

Geography and Landscape

Bosnia and Herzegovina is predominantly mountainous and forested, with the Dinaric Alps running northwest to southeast across the country. Peaks exceed 2,000 metres in the Bjelašnica and Prenj ranges. Major rivers include the Sava (forming the northern border with Croatia), the Bosna, the Neretva, and the Drina. The Neretva cuts a spectacular gorge through the south before reaching the Adriatic near Plo?e. Herzegovina, the southern and western region, has a Mediterranean climate with rocky karst terrain, vineyards, and the city of Mostar, famous for its reconstructed sixteenth-century Ottoman bridge. The interior has a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. The country is heavily forested — around 50 per cent tree-covered — and has significant hydropower potential. Bosnia's narrow strip of coastline at Neum is its only sea access.

History

The region was settled by Slavic tribes in the seventh century and later became a medieval Bosnian kingdom under Ban Kulin in the twelfth century. Bosnia fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1463 and remained under Ottoman rule for over four centuries, during which many inhabitants converted to Islam. Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, triggering the diplomatic crisis that preceded the First World War. After 1918 it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later Yugoslavia. During the Second World War, Bosnia was occupied by Nazi Germany's puppet state and experienced devastating inter-ethnic violence. Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. The Bosnian War (1992–1995) killed approximately 100,000 people and displaced over two million in Europe's worst conflict since the Second World War. The Dayton Agreement ended the war and established the current constitutional framework.