Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

(bŏz'nēə, hĕrtsəgōvē'nə) , Serbo-Croatian Bosna i Hercegovina, country (2005 est. pop. 4,025,000), 19,741 sq mi (51,129 sq km), on the Balkan peninsula, S Europe. It is bounded by Croatia on the west and north, Serbia on the northeast, and Montenegro on the southeast. A narrow, undeveloped outlet to the Adriatic along the Neretva River in the southwest is its only direct outlet to the sea. The country is commonly referred to as Bosnia. Sarajevo is its capital.

Land and People

The Yugoslav republic that became the present country was formed from two historical regions—Bosnia in the north, with Sarajevo as its chief city; and Herzegovina in the south, with Mostar as its chief city. Other important cities are Banja Luka, Tuzla, and Zenica. Lying mostly in the Dinaric Alps, the nation has no coastal ports. The Sava (and its tributaries) and the Neretva are the chief rivers; there are river ports on the Sava. Much of the area is forested, and timber is an important product of Bosnia. Much of Herzegovina's terrain is denuded.

The ethnically diverse population speaks Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian (all dialects of Serbo-Croatian). The country's Bosniaks (about 48%, mainly Muslim), Serbs (about 37% of the population, largely Eastern Orthodox), and Croats (about 14%, mostly Roman Catholics) formerly formed a complex patchwork, but civil war and the flight of refugees forcibly segregated much of the population. Some inhabitants have gradually returned to their pre-conflict places of residence since the fighting's end.

Economy

Never particularly robust, Bosnia and Herzegovina's economy was shattered by the civil war that broke out after independence. Historically, the economy has depended on agriculture, although it now provides less than half of the country's food needs. Wheat, corn, oats, and barley are the principal products of Bosnia and tobacco, cotton, fruits, and grapes of Herzegovina. Livestock is also raised. Mining is important, and there are significant deposits of lignite, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, and other minerals. Vehicle and aircraft assembly, oil refining, and the manufacture of steel, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, and domestic appliances are important. There has been some development of the country's hydroelectric resources. Metals, clothing, and wood products are exported, and machinery, chemicals, fuels, and foodstuffs are imported. The main trading partners are Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, and Germany.

Government

Bosnia is governed under constitution included in the Dayton Agreement, signed 1995; a high representative of the Peace Implementation Council (the nations overseeing the peace process) is the final authority on the civilian aspects of the settlement, and has the power to dismiss elected Bosnian officials. There is a three-member presidency, made up of one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb, whose chairman (rotated every eight months) is head of state. The head of government is the chairman of the Council of Ministers. The bicameral Parliamentary Assembly consists of the 42-seat, popularly elected House of Representatives and the 15-seat, indirectly elected House of Peoples. Adminstratively, the country is divided into the Bosniak and Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb-led Serb Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina; additionally, the Brčko district is an internationally supervised district.

History

Early History

The area was part of the Roman province of Illyricum. Bosnia was settled by Serbs in the 7th cent.; it appeared as an independent country by the 12th cent. but later at times acknowledged the kings of Hungary as suzerains. Medieval Bosnia reached the height of its power in the second half of the 14th cent., when it controlled many surrounding territories. Bosnia also annexed the duchy of Hum, which, however, regained autonomy in 1448 and became known as Herzegovina. During this period the region was weakened by religious strife among Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Bogomils. Thus disunited, Bosnia fell to the Turks in 1463. Herzegovina held out until 1482, when it too was occupied and joined administratively to Bosnia. The nobility and a large part of the peasantry accepted Islam.

Foreign Domination

Under Turkish rule, Bosnia and Herzegovina's economy declined. Physical remoteness facilitated the retention of medieval social structure, including serfdom (remnants of which lasted until the 20th cent.). Refusal by the Turkish to institute reforms led to a peasant uprising (1875) that soon came to involve outside powers and led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. After the war, the Congress of Berlin (1878) placed Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian administration and occupation, while recognizing the sovereignty of the Turkish sultan. Austria-Hungary improved economic conditions in the area but sought unsuccessfully to combat rising Serb nationalism, which mounted further when Bosnia and Herzegovina were completely annexed in 1908.

The assassination (1914) of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb nationalist in Sarajevo precipitated World War I. In 1918, Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed to Serbia. The dismemberment of Yugoslavia during World War II led to Bosnia and Herzegovina's incorporation into the German puppet state of Croatia. Much partisan guerrilla warfare raged in the mountains of Bosnia during the war. In 1946, Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the six constituent republics of Yugoslavia. Under the Communist regime Bosnia remained relatively undeveloped. Economic problems and ethnic quarrels during the 1980s led to widespread dissatisfaction with the central government.

Independence and Civil War

In Oct., 1991, following the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia, the Croats and Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina, fearing Serbian domination, voted for a declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. In 1992, the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognized by the European Community (now the European Union) and the United States, and it entered the United Nations. Many Bosnian Serbs opposed the new republic, in which they were a minority, and Serb troops, both from Serbia and Bosnia, began to carve out the Serb-populated areas and declared the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats in Bosnia, also fearing Bosniak domination, declared their own Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna.

An arms embargo reinforced the disparity between the well-armed Serbs and their foes, and Bosniaks were forced from their homes and towns as part of an “ethnic cleansing” policy carried out mostly by the Serbs. Thousands were killed, many were placed in detention camps, and many more fled the country. (Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was among a number of Serbs later indicted in absentia by a United Nations tribunal for war crimes.) The major Western powers rejected military intervention but endorsed the establishment of six “safe areas” with a United Nations presence, where Bosniaks would supposedly not be attacked.

Fighting between Bosniaks and Croats intensified in 1993. Shelling, mainly by Serb forces, destroyed much of Sarajevo and laid waste to other cities throughout the country. In 1994, Yugoslavian and Croatian forces fought in support of Bosnian Serbs and Croats, respectively. The Bosnian government army launched major offensives from Bihac and elsewhere, and the balance of power among Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks shifted from time to time.

In 1994, Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats agreed to a cease-fire and established a joint Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During 1995, Serb forces shelled the besieged Sarajevo and launched attacks on the UN-proclaimed “safe areas” of Tuzla, Zepa, and Srebrenica. There were mass deportations of Bosniaks and widespread instances of rape and execution of civilians, especially in Srebrenica. Croat and Bosniak forces later made heavy inroads against Serbs in western Bosnia. An estimated 97,000 to 110,000 persons died during the years of fighting; roughly two thirds of those who died were Bosniaks.

In late 1995, the Bosniak-dominated Bosnian government and the leaders of Croatia and Serbia met under U.S. auspices in Dayton, Ohio, and negotiated a peace accord. It called for a Bosnian republic with a central government and two semiautonomous regions, roughly equal in size, one dominated by Serbs, the other by Bosniaks and Croats in federation. The accord provided for the dispatch of NATO-led troops for peacekeeping purposes; the forces originally were to stay until June, 1998. In addition, a high representative of the Peace Implementation Council (the nations overseeing the peace process) is the final authority on the civilian aspects of the settlement, and has the power to dismiss elected Bosnian officials. The accord was implemented and conditions have slowly improved.

Bosnian disillusionment with the moderates who had held power since 1998 resulted in electoral victories for the ethnic nationalist parties in the 2002. The peacekeeping forces Bosnia were transferred in 2004 from NATO's leadership to the European Union's. In 2006 the International Court of Justice began hearing Bosnia's genocide case against Serbia. The charges, which were first filed in 1993, accused Serbia of state-planned genocide against Bosnian Muslims. The court, which had limited access to internal Serbian evidence, did not find Serbia guilty of genocide (which would have required proving intent on the part of Serbia's leaders) but did find (2007) that Serbia had violated international law when it failed to prevent or prosecute those responsible for genocide against the Bosniaks.

Bosnian political leaders agreed in Mar., 2006, to constitutional revisions that would establish a single-person presidency and move the country toward a strong-prime-minister parliamentary system. The changes, designed to strengthen the central government, were also intended to promote Bosnia's accession to the European Union and NATO. The following month, however, the reforms failed to win the required two-thirds majority in the parliament. Much distrust remains among Bosnia's three communities, whose members now typically live in areas that are largely ethnically homogeneous, and the Oct., 2006, presidential and parliamentary elections for the central government reinforced and even exacerbated ethnic divisions. Slovakian diplomat Miroslav Lajčák has been the international high representative since July, 2007.

Bibliography

See B. E. Schmitt, The Annexation of Bosnia, 1908–1909 (1937, repr. 1971); J. G. Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro (2 vol., 1848; repr. 1971); L. J. Cohen, Political Cohesion in a Fragile Mosaic: The Yugoslav Experience (1983); H. Lydall, Yugoslavia in Crisis (1989); N. Malcom, Bosnia: A Short History (1996); D. Rohde, Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica (1997).

Bosna i Hercegovina Босна и Херцеговина Bosnia and Herzegovina
Flag Coat of arms
Motto "Jedna lasta, men' s' čini proljeće"
Anthem Intermeco
Location of  Bosnia and Herzegovina  (orange) on the European continent  (white)  —  [Legend]
Capital (and largest city)		Sarajevo 43°52′N, 18°25′E
Official languages		Bosnian Croatian Serbian
Demonym		Bosnian, Herzegovinian
Government		Parliamentary democracy
-	Presidency members	Željko Komšić1 Nebojša Radmanović2 Haris Silajdžić3
-	Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Nikola Špirić
-	High Representative	Miroslav Lajčák4
Independence
-	Formed	29 August 1189
-	Kingdom established	26 October 1377
-	Independence lost    to Ottoman Empire	1463
-	National Day	November 25, 1943
-	Independence from SFR Yugoslavia	March 1 1992
-	Recognized	April 6 1992
Area
-	Total	km² (127th)  sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	2007 estimate	3,935,000 (126th5)
-	1996 census	3,919,953
-	Density	89/km² (116th5)  /sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$36.5 billion (IMF) (94th)
-	Per capita	$9,168 (IMF) (77th)
GDP (nominal)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$13.2 billion (IMF)
-	Per capita	$3,306 (IMF)
Gini? (2001)		26.2 (low)
HDI (2004)		0.800 (high) (62nd)
Currency		Convertible mark (BAM)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
-	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD		.ba
Calling code		[[+387]]
1	Presidency Chair; Croat.
2	Presidency member; Serb.
3	Presidency member; Bosniak.
4	Not a government member; The High Representative is an international civilian peace implementation overseer with full authority to dismiss elected and non-elected officials and inaugurate legislation
5	Rank based on 2007 UN estimate of de facto population.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkan peninsula of Southern Europe with an area of 51,280 square kilometres (19,741 sq mi). Around 4.3 million people lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991, prior to its 1992–1995 war. As of 2007 its population is estimated at well over 4 million people.

The country is home to three ethnic "constituent peoples": Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Regardless of ethnicity, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina is often identified in English as a Bosnian. In Bosnia however, the distinction between a Bosnian and a Herzegovinian is maintained as a regional, rather than an ethnic distinction. The country is decentralized and comprised of two political entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina is mostly landlocked, except for 26 kilometres of the Adriatic Sea coastline,^[1][2] centered around the town of Neum. The interior of the country is mountainous in the center and south, hilly in the northwest, and flat in the northeast. The nation's capital and largest city is Sarajevo, seated between several high mountains. Sarajevo was the host site of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games.

The region of Bosnia is the largest geographic region of the modern state with moderate continental climate, marked by hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Smaller Herzegovina is the southern tip of the country, with Mediterranean climate and topography. Bosnia and Herzegovina's natural resources are abundant.

Formerly one of the six federal units constituting the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina gained its independence during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. As a result of the Dayton Accords, the civilian peace implementation is supervised by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina selected by the Peace Implementation Council. The High Representative has many governmental and legislative powers, including the dismissal of elected and non-elected officials. More recently, several central institutions have been established (such as defense ministry, security ministry, state court, indirect taxation service etc.) in the process of transferring part of the jurisdiction from the entities to the state.

Bosnia is a potential candidate for membership in the European Union and a candidate for NATO.

Etymology

The first preserved mention of the name "Bosnia" is in the De Administrando Imperio, a politico-geographical handbook written by Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in 958. The exact meaning and origin of the word is somewhat cloudy. The name "Bosnia" most probably comes from the name of the Bosna river around which it has been historically based, which was recorded in the Roman Age under the name Bossina.^[3] More direct root of the river's names are unknown. Philologist Anton Mayer proposed a connection with the Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning "running water".^[4] Certain Roman sources similarly mention Bathinus flumen, or the Illyrian word Bosona, both of which would mean "running water" as well.^[4] Other theories involve the rare Latin term Bosina, meaning boundary, and possible Slavic origins.^[4]

The origins of the word Herzegovina can be identified with more precision and certainty. During the Early Middle Ages the region was known as Hum or Zahumlje, named after the Zachlumoi tribe of Slavs which inhabited it. In the 1440s, the region was ruled by powerful nobleman Stefan Vukčić Kosača. In a document sent to Friedrich III on January 20, 1448, Stefan Vukčić Kosača called himself Herzog of Saint Sava, lord of Hum and Primorje, great duke of the Bosnian kingdom (Herzog means duke in German) and so the lands he controlled would later become known as Herzog's lands or Herzegovina.^[3] The name Herzegovina was first included in the official name of the then Ottoman province in the mid-nineteenth century.

History

This article is part of:

History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Chronology

Until 958 958–1463 1463–1878 1878–1918 1918–1941 1941–1945 1945–1992 1992–1995 1995–present

Topics

Culture Rulers Presidents Demographics Economy Military Islam Catholicism Serbs Croats Jews Roma

Main article: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Pre-Slavic period

Main article: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (until 958)

Bosnia has been inhabited at least since Neolithic times by Illyrian tribes. In the early Bronze Age, the Neolithic population was replaced by more warlike Indo-European tribes known as the Illyres or Illyrians. Celtic migrations in the fourth century BC and third century BC displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former lands, but some Celtic and Illyrian tribes mixed.^[3] Concrete historical evidence for this period is scarce, but overall it appears that the region was populated by a number of different peoples speaking distinct languages.^[3] Conflict between the Illyrians and Romans started in 229 BC, but Rome would not complete its annexation of the region until AD 9. In the Roman period, Latin-speaking settlers from all over the Roman empire settled among the Illyrians and Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire in the region.

Some claim that Christianity arrived in the region by the end of the first century, but there are no artifacts or objects from the time testify to this. There were only 2 Roman Catholic churches in Bosnia-Herzegovina up until the occupation of Austro-Hungary, and no Serb Orthodox churches at all. Hoewever, the Fransciscans founded their permanent missions in Bosnia as early as the 11th century. The land originally was part of the Illyria up until the Roman occupation. Following the split of the Roman Empire between 337 and 395, Dalmatia and Pannonia became parts of the Western Roman Empire. Some claim that the region was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 455. It subsequently changed hands between the Alans and Huns. By the sixth century, Emperor Justinian had reconquered the area for the Byzantine Empire. The Slavs, an intruding people from eastern Europe (Russia), were conquered by the Avars in the sixth century.

Medieval Bosnia

Main article: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (958–1463)

Modern knowledge of the political situation in the west Balkans during the Dark Ages is patchy and confusing. Upon their arrival, the Slavs brought with them a tribal social structure, which probably fell apart and gave way to Feudalism only with Frankish penetration into the region in the late ninth century.^[3] It was also around this time that the south Slavs were Christianized. Bosnia, due to its geographic position and terrain, was probably one of the last areas to go through this process, which presumably originated from the urban centers along the Dalmatian coast.^[3] The principalities of Serbia and Croatia split control of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the ninth and tenth century, but by the High Middle Ages political circumstance led to the area being contested between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire. Following another shift of power between the two in the late twelfth century, Bosnia found itself outside the control of both and emerged as an independent state under the rule of local bans.

The first notable Bosnian monarch, Ban Kulin, presided over nearly three decades of peace and stability during which he strengthened the country's economy through treaties with Dubrovnik and Venice. His rule also marked the start of a controversy with the Bosnian Church, an indigenous Christian sect considered heretical by both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In response to Hungarian attempts to use church politics regarding the issue as a way to reclaim sovereignty over Bosnia, Kulin held a council of local church leaders to renounce the heresy and embraced Catholicism in 1203. Despite this, Hungarian ambitions remained unchanged long after Kulin's death in 1204, waning only after an unsuccessful invasion in 1254.

Bosnian history from then until the early fourteenth century was marked by the power struggle between the Šubić and Kotromanić families. This conflict came to an end in 1322, when Stjepan II Kotromanić became ban. By the time of his death in 1353, he was successful in annexing territories to the north and west, as well as Zahumlje and parts of Dalmatia. He was succeeded by his nephew Tvrtko who, following a prolonged struggle with nobility and inter-family strife, gained full control of the country in 1367. Tvrtko crowned himself on 26 October 1377 as Stefan Tvrtko I by the mercy of God King of Serbs, Bosnia and the Seaside and the Western Lands.

Historians considered that he was crowned in the Serbian Orthodox Mileševa monastery, even though there is no archeological evidences.^[5] Another possibility, advanced by P. Anđelić and based on archeological evidence, is that he was crowned in Mile near Visoko in the church which was built in time of Stephen II Kotromanić's reign, where he was also buried alongside his uncle Stjepan II.^[6][7] Following his death in 1391 however, Bosnia fell into a long period of decline. The Ottoman Empire had already started its conquest of Europe and posed a major threat to the Balkans throughout the first half of the fifteenth century. Finally, after decades of political and social instability, Bosnia officially fell in 1463. Herzegovina would follow in 1482, with a Hungarian-backed reinstated "Bosnian Kingdom" being the last to succumb in 1527.

Ottoman era

Main article: History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1463–1878)

The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia marked a new era in the country's history and introduced tremendous changes in the political and cultural landscape of the region. Although the kingdom had been crushed and its high nobility executed, the Ottomans nonetheless allowed fo