BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Official name: Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Capital Sarajevo
Population: 4,007,608

Languages Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Time GMT+1 in winter and GMT+2 in summer
Independence 1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence was completed 1 March 1992; independence was declared 3 March 1992)
National holiday National Day, 25 November (1943)
Currency marka (BAM)

Temp Summer Temp: 19º C / 28º C
Winter Temp: 1º C /8º C
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%
Location:
South-eastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia
Area:
total: 51,129 sq km
land: 51,129 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Land boundaries:
total: 1,459 km
border countries: Croatia 932 km, Serbia and Montenegro 527 km
Coastline:
20 km
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 : Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest : Maglic 2,386 m
Natural resources:
coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, cobalt, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, forests, hydropower
Natural hazards:
destructive earthquakes
Called Illyricum in ancient times, the area now called Bosnia and Herzegovina was conquered by the Romans in the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. and folded into the Roman province of Dalmatia. In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., Goths overran that portion of the declining Roman Empire and occupied the area until the 6th century, when the Byzantine Empire claimed it. Slavs began settling the region during the 7th century. Around 1200, Bosnia won independence from Hungary and endured as an independent Christian state for some 260 years.
The expansion of the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans introduced another cultural, political, and religious framework. The Turks defeated the Serbs at the famous battle of Kosovo in 1389. They conquered Bosnia in 1463. During the roughly 450 years Bosnia and Herzegovina were under Ottoman rule, many Christian Slavs became Muslim. A Bosnian Islamic elite gradually developed and ruled the country on behalf of the Turkish overlords. As the borders of the Ottoman Empire began to shrink in the 19th century, Muslims from elsewhere in the Balkans migrated to Bosnia. Bosnia also developed a sizable Jewish population, with many Jews settling in Sarajevo after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. However, through the 19th century the term Bosnian commonly included residents of all faiths. A relatively secular society, intermarriage among religious groups was not unknown.
Neighbouring Serbia and Montenegro fought against the Ottoman Empire in 1876 and were aided by the Russians, their fellow Slavs. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, following the end of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Austria-Hungary was given a mandate to occupy and govern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in an effort by Europe to ensure that Russia did not dominate the Balkans. Although the provinces were still officially part of the Ottoman Empire, they were annexed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire on October 7, 1908. As a result, relations with Serbia, which had claims on Bosnia and Herzegovina, became embittered. The hostility between the two countries climaxed in the assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by a Serbian nationalist. This event precipitated the start of World War I (1914–1918). Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed to Serbia as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on October 26, 1918. The name was later changed to Yugoslavia in 1929.
When Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, Bosnia and Herzegovina were made part of Nazi-controlled Croatia. During the German and Italian occupation, Bosnian and Herzegovinian resistance fighters fought a fierce guerrilla war against the Ustachi, the Croatian Fascist troops. At the end of World War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina were reunited into a single state as one of the six republics of the newly re-established Communist Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito. His authoritarian control kept the ethnic enmities of his patchwork nation in check. Tito died in 1980, and with growing economic dissatisfaction and the fall of the iron curtain over the next decade, Yugoslavia began to splinter.
In Dec. 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia and asked for recognition by the European Union (EU). In a March 1992 referendum, Bosnian voters chose independence, and President Izetbegovic declared the nation an independent state. Unlike the other former Yugoslav states, which were generally composed of a dominant ethnic group, Bosnia was an ethnic tangle of Muslims (44%), Serbs (31%), and Croats (17%), and this mix contributed to the duration and savagery of its fight for independence.
Both the Croatian and Serbian presidents had planned to partition Bosnia between themselves. Attempting to carve out their own enclaves, the Serbian minority, with the help of the Serbian Yugoslav army, took the offensive and laid siege, particularly on Sarajevo, and began its ruthless campaigns of ethnic cleansing, which involved the expulsion or massacre of Muslims. Croats also began carving out their own communities. By the end of Aug. 1992, rebel Bosnian Serbs had conquered over 60% of Bosnia. The war did not begin to wane until NATO stepped in, bombing Serb positions in Bosnia in Aug. and Sept. 1995. Serbs entered the UN safe havens of Tuzla, Zepa, and Srebrenica, where they murdered thousands. About 250,000 died in the war between 1992 and 1995.
U.S.-sponsored peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, led to an agreement in 1995 that called for a Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb entity within the larger federation of Bosnia. Sixty thousand NATO troops were to supervise its implementation. Fighting abated and orderly elections were held in Sept. 1996. President Alija Izetbegovic, a Bosnian Muslim, or Bosniak, won the majority of votes to become the leader of the three-member presidency, each representing one of the three ethnic groups.
But this alliance of unreconstructed enemies had little success in creating a working government or keeping violent clashes in check. The terms of the Dec. 1995 Dayton Peace Accord were largely ignored by Bosnian Serbs, with its former president, arch-nationalist Radovan Karadzic, still in de facto control of the Serbian enclave. Many indicted war criminals, including Karadzic, remain at large. NATO proved to be a largely ineffective peacekeeping force.
The crucial priorities facing post-war Bosnian leaders were rebuilding the economy, resettling the estimated one million refugees still displaced, and establishing a working government. Progress on these goals has been minimal, and a massive corruption scandal uncovered in 1999 severely tested the goodwill of the international community.
In 1994, the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia opened in The Hague, Netherlands. In Aug. 2001, Radislav Drstic, a Bosnian Serb general, was found guilty of genocide in the killing of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995. It was the first genocide conviction in Europe since the UN genocide treaty was drawn up in 1951. In 2001, the trial of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic began. He was charged with crimes against humanity.
Under pressure from Paddy Ashdown, the international administrator of Bosnia authorized under the Dayton Accord, Bosnian Serb leaders finally admitted in June 2004 that Serbian troops were responsible for the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995. Until then, Serb leaders had refused to acknowledge guilt in the worst civilian massacre since World War II. Thus far, only a handful of individuals have been indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for their role in the killings, and Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic, who orchestrated the massacre, remains at large.
In Dec. 2004, the European Union officially took over NATO's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. It is the largest peacekeeping operation the EU has undertaken. In March 2005, Ashdown, the international administrator, sacked Dragan Covic, the Croat member of the presidency, charging him with corruption and abuse of office. Covic became the third member of the Bosnian presidency forced to resign since the tripartite presidency was established.

The country is a homeland to three ethnic "constituent peoples": Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Regardless of ethnicity, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina is usually identified in English as a Bosnian. The country is decentralized and is administratively divided into two "entities", the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.
Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost entirely landlocked, except for 20 km of the Adriatic Sea coastline, centered around the town of Neum. The interior of the country is heavily mountainous and divided by various rivers, most of which are nonnavigable. The nation's capital and largest city is Sarajevo.
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 it is currently administered in a supervisory role by a High Representative selected by the UN Security Council. More recently the country has acquired many central institutions (such as ministry of defense, state court etc.) as it takes the jurisdiction back from its entities.
Culture
Mediterranean, western European, and Turkish influences are all felt in the cultural life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there are considerable variations between orthodox and modern and between rural and urban culture as well. Family ties are strong and friendship and neighbourhood networks are well-developed. Great value is placed on hospitality, spontaneity, and the gifts of storytelling and wit. Bosnian cuisine is a matter of pride and displays its Turkish determine in stuffed vegetables, coffee, and sweet cakes of the baklava type. Folk songs remain popular and well-known.
Bosnia’s various population has made the nation’s cultural life valuable. Epic stories, a form of orthodox oral literature, were still sung throughout the nation well into the 1950s. Bosnian urban love songs, largely Muslim in origin, were popular throughout the former Yugoslavia. Ivo Andric, a Serb who was raised Catholic in Bosnia, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1961. His novels include Na Drini cuprija, in which a bridge from the Ottoman time symbolically united the peoples of Bosnia. The novelist Meša Selimovic was of Muslim origin but said that he wrote Serbian literature.
In comparison with much of eastern Europe, the news media in Yugoslavia were comparatively independent, censorship being achieved more through implicit threat than through direct intervention. Of the many newspapers, magazines, and journals circulating in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the most widely distributed were the dailies Oslobodenje and Vecernje Novine. The republic had almost 50 radio stations and one television station.
Religion and Language
· Bosnia and Herzegovina was and is a complex mix of people and religions. Since the civil war of 1992-1995, the ethnic compositions of the areas have dramatically changed.
About 44% is Muslim ("Bošnijak"), 31% Serbs, 17% Croat, 7% the rest (like Albanians, Turks, etc.) Despite the fact that Bošnijak is the official name, many people still use "Muslim". In fact, between the 3 major groups there is not much difference. The Slavic people who came to the Balkans in the 9th century, came partly under Western influence (Western Roman Empire), and became Catholics, and partly under Eastern influence (Byzantian, Christian, Orthodox). The Catholics are the Croats, the Christians Serbs. After the 15th century, a lot of people became Muslim under the Ottoman empire, which were mostly former Serbs and Croats who converted themselves to the Islam. The religion defines the ethnic group. Because they have lived together for centuries some customs and the languages have mixed up. In common, people are not fanatic, despite the fact that religion came more popular since the early 90's.
The languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina have different names: Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian. Those are Slavic languages which are related to Slovene, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Russian, Belarussian, Polish, Czech, Slovak. These 3 languages hardly differ from each other, there are no problems in understanding each other. The official languages in former Yugoslavia was "Serbo-Croatian". Although the 3 languages are official, they are mixed up in most areas.

Tourism
Not many people see Bosnia and Herzegovina as a tourist destination. That is a pity, because the country has a lot to offer, especially to people who love sports or nature. In the east there are possibilities for climbing, in the central part skiing and in the west rafting and canoeing. The Adriatic Sea (near Neum) can provide the tourist a vacation with sun, sea and beach.

Culture
Despite the war, many historical constructions have been preserved. As old as many of hundreds of years are the Stecci: Carved stones by a group of Bogumils, a religion which does not exist any more. Near the museum of Sarajevo one can find some in the garden, but in rural places some can be found in nature.
High on the mountain Bjelašnica, south of Sarajevo is the country highest and most remote village of Lukomir. The village can only be reached by car in the summer and time seems to have forgotten this village.
In the south is the village of Pocitelj, from the 15th century, built by the Bosnian king Tvrtko.

At the source of the Buna-river, near the village of Blagaj one can find an old Turkish monastery (Tekija), built against a 250m high rock. This well preserved building is one of the country most known construction.

The most known symbol of Bosnia-Herzegovina is the bridge of Mostar. This bridge, built in the 14th century was destroyed in the war in 1993, but rebuilt with original stones and opened on July 23rd, 2004.

Nature
Bosnia-Herzegovina knows many virgin nature areas. Most of all the high peaks of the Dinaric alps in the southeast are inaccessible and therefore preserved.
National park Sutjeska: In the eastern part named after the river Sutjeska which has created a beautiful canyon. The park is well known for the heavy fighting during World War II, there is still a giant monument there. On the slopes of the highest mountain of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Maglic, 2.386m, on the border with Montenegro) is one of the last ancient European forests, Perucica. It is a good area for hiking.
· National park Kozara, in the north. This is a mountainous area in the Panonian plains. The area has forests, and much flowers and wildlife.
· Hutovo Blato, in the south. This swamp has more then 250 bird species.
Activities
Bosnia-Herzegovina is an excellent country for active sports.
· Canoeing and Rafting: The rivers Una and Sana (west), Neretva (south), Drina and Tara (east) are perfect for this wet experience.
· Climbing: With summits above 2.000 metres, Bosnia-Herzegovina has great conditions for climbing.
· Hiking: the mountains and forests have excellent possibilities for those who want to walk through the country, both for the starting as for the more experienced ones.
· Fishing: the rivers and lakes (including the well-known lakes Jablanicko jezero, Boracko jezero) are suitable for a day (or more) fishing.
Wintersport
In 1984 the area around Sarajevo was put on the map as a winter destination by the Olympics. The mountains in Bosnia-Herzegovina are assured of snow every winter. Around Sarajevo many facilities have been modernised in recent years, therefore it is a good alternative than the countries in the Alps. Facilities can also be found on the Vlašic-mountain near Zenica
Religion
Medugorje is the most-known place of worship. Every year the village attracts hundreds of thousands of people, pilgrims and people from the Croatian coast on excursion. This village has everything what a tourist destinations has: (internet)cafes, souvenir shops, restaurants, etc. Everything is built around the main square with its Sv.Jakov-church where masses are held in several languages. From there pilgrims can walk to the mountain of the cross, where Mary was supposed to have been seen.

Sun and beach
Only 22 km of the Adriatic Coast belongs to Bosnia-herzegovina. The village of Neum separates the southern part of the Croatian province Dubrovnik-Neretva from the rest of Croatia. Neum is a tourist destination with beach, much sun and most of all many hotels along the coast with prices which are remarkably lower then in Croatia.

Getting There
Though the airports at Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka have reopened, commercial service is limited to Sarajevo, and even that is spotty. A few big-name airlines and a number of private carriers fly into the country, but don't go looking for bargains. There is a departure tax from Sarajevo airport of about USD15.00.

The nation's railways are currently undergoing reconstruction, so you won't find a whole lot of passenger service available. In brighter news, rail and road links between the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina and the Republika Srpska are back on track, and links to the outside world are improving. Buses leave Sarajevo daily for many eastern and central European cities.

Cities
Sarajevo
the capital of both the country and the Federation (about 350.000 inhabitants) is situated close to the source of the Bosna-river but the river which is flowing through the city is the Miljacka. The name Sarajevo is derived from the Turkish words Saraj (palace) and ovasi (field). This city has suffered much from the civil war 1992-1995. Captured between the mountains the city was an ideal target for snipers. Sarajevo was two times more known in world's history: In 1914 when Gavrilo Princip killed the Austrian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand (what actually started World War I) and the Olympic winter-games of 1984.
Because of it’s situation in the interior of the country and between the mountains those mountains are assured of snow every winter which makes the area suitable for winter-sports.
In recent years, Sarajevo is growing rapidly in the number of festivals. Also tourism is increasing.
The old (Turkish) center of Sarajevo is situated in the easternmost part of town. The newer centre built in the Austrian-Hungarian era is built later more to the west. And the rest of the city is expanded to the west. The centre is very compact and most of the sights are in walking distance from each other.

What to see in the city
· Bašcaršija. The central square in the centre. Here are the oldest buildings of the city mostly from the Ottoman era.
· Gazi Husrev Bey mosque. This mosque from 1531 is qualified as the most beautiful ones on the Balkans.
· Old Serbian-Orthodox church. This building is from the beginning of the Ottoman rule (1539).
· Brusa Bezistan Bazar. This bazaar near the Gazi Husrev bey mosque contains several little shops where a lot of products can be found.
· Roman-catholic cathedral. Built in the 15th century and redecorated during the Austrian-Hungarian domination.
· Old Jewish synagogue. Sarajevo has had a Jewish community since the Sephardic Jews were forced to leave Spain in 1492.
· Post-office. A beautiful, totally restored after the war, building from the Austrian-Hungarian period on the banks of the Miljacka river.
· Library. At the eastern part of town. This was qualified as one of the country's most beautiful building. unfortunately it was totally destroyed (with its contents) during the war, but a lot of efforts are made nowadays to restore it completely.
· Zelenih Beretki. In this street can be found the tourist information centre as well as the spot where the Austrian-Hungarian heir to the throne was murdered in 1914.
· Latinska Cuprija. The bridge over the street where the assassination took place.

· Kazandžiluk. Better known as 'copper smith street'. In this side-street of the Bašcaršija are little shops where copper products are made and sold.
· Obala Kulina Bana. In the center, this is the road along the Miljacka river.
· Ferhadija. In the newer part of the center, this is the main shopping street (pedestrians only).
· Trg Oslobodenje. Along the Ferhadija this is a little park surrounded by terraces. Here is the new Serbian-Orthodox church.
What to see outside the city
· Igman, Trebevic, Bjelašnica, Jahorina. These mountains south of the city are good for hiking or winter-sports.
· Ilidža. Near this old roman settlement is the source of the Bosna river in a park ("Vrelo Bosne").
· Butmir. In this little village near the airport starts a tunnel to the suburb Dobrinja under the airport. The tunnel was dug during the war and was the only lifeline between Sarajevo and the rest of the world. Now there is a museum and a part of the tunnel can be visited.

Sarajevo has a good and cheap network of public transport because of the situation of the town, most bus- and tramline run from west to east and backwards. Busses mostly drive to the central station, trams run between Ilidža and Bašcaršija. The city is easily accessible for cars but it is much easier to park in a suburb and continue by bus or tram. A single ticket does not cost much more than 1,50 KM, daily tickets are also available. Taxis operate day and night and are relatively cheap.
In Ilidža it is possible to take a horse and carriage for the 3 km tree-lined "Aleja" which separates the main parking from the source of the Bosna-river. Sarajevo has a lot of facilities for eating: From little 'cevabžinice' to expensive stylish restaurants, everything can be found in the centre and in the suburbs.

Mostar
In former Yugoslavia, Mostar was a well-known tourist attraction. The old Turkish bridge where the city was named after (Stari Most=Old Bridge) was famous for all over the world as was the old town. In 1993 the bridge was destroyed but rebuilt and reopened in 2004.
Mostar is the capital of the Hercegovina-Neretva canton and is an important (administrative) city in the southern part of the country. Since the war, the Neretva divided the city into a Croatian and a Muslim part. Mostar is on the list of many excursions from Croatia and a good starting point for the pilgrimage Medugorje.

Zenica
An industrial town along the Bosna-river in the middle of the country. The city is known for its steel-industry.

Banja Luka
The capital of the Republika Srpska (In 1992-1995 it was Pale) on the banks of the Vrbaš-river in the north of the country (about 30km from the Croatian border). Since it is the second-largest city of the country it is a very important city for this area. It was hardly damaged in the war, but many non-Serb buildings (like mosques) have been destroyed. The area is known for its spas (Banja=spa, Luka=harbour).

Bihac
Bihac is a muslim-town in the north-western part, not far from the Croatian border and the Plitvice-lakes in Croatia. During the war, Muslims rose up against the Muslims from Izetgebovic. Nowadays the city is a good starting place for natural areas and active rafting excursions.

Bijeljina
An industrial town, with it’s own university. Bijelija is in the northeast, about 8 km. from the Serbian border.

Trebinje
A city in the southeast of Herzegovina, about 30km. from Dubrovnik. The city is well-known for its art, especially Serbian icons.

Tuzla
An industrial town in the northeast of the Federation, known for its salt-mines. (Tuz is Turkish for salt).

Srpsko Sarajevo
Since the Dayton-agreement Sarajevo is divided by the hardly marked entity-boundary. The major part belongs to the Federation, only some suburbs to Srpska. This part is hardly important and it is more a region than a village. The prefix 'Srpsko' will be dropped in the near future.

Brcko
During the civil war both parties fought heavily for Brcko; the Serbs because it connects the northern and eastern part of Republika Srpska, the Croats because it could connect Croatian parts in Bosnia with Croatia. Brcko is the biggest harbour on the banks of the Sava river. Nowadays, Brcko does not belong to the Federation neither to Srpska, but is a `district.