Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina
a republic in S Europe: formerly (1945-92) a constituent republic of Yugoslavia. 2,607,734; 19,909 sq. mi. (51,565 sq. km). Cap.: Sarajevo.

* * *

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Introduction Bosnia and Herzegovina -
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 signed a peace agreement that brought to a halt the 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, economic, 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 internal functions. 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 at the January 2002 level of approximately 18,000 troops, though further reductions may take place later in the year. Geography Bosnia and Herzegovina
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 water: 0 sq km land: 51,129 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: total: 1,459 km border countries: Croatia 932 km, Yugoslavia 527 km
Coastline: 20 km
Maritime claims: NA
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, bauxite, manganese, forests, copper, chromium, lead, zinc, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 9.8% permanent crops: 2.94% other: 87.25% (1998 est.)
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 Environment - international party to: Air Pollution, Climate
agreements: Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, 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 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Montenegro), and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority in the west and an ethnic Serb majority in the east People Bosnia and Herzegovina -
Population: 3,964,388 note: all data dealing with population are subject to considerable error because of the dislocations caused by military action and ethnic cleansing (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 19.8% (male 403,391; female 382,037) 15-64 years: 70.6% (male 1,432,559; female 1,366,224) 65 years and over: 9.6% (male 161,659; female 218,518) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.76% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 12.76 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 8.1 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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: 0.74 male(s)/ female total population: 1.02 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 23.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.02 years female: 74.93 years (2002 est.) male: 69.3 years
Total fertility rate: 1.71 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.04% (1999 est.) HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ NA
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Bosnian(s) adjective: Bosnian
Ethnic groups: Serb 31%, Bosniak 44%, Croat 17%, Yugoslav 5.5%, other 2.5% (1991) 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%, Protestant 4%, other 10%
Languages: Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian
Literacy: definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% Government Bosnia and Herzegovina -
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; it is not part of either Republika Srpska or the Federation 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)
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
Suffrage: 16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Beriz BELKIC (chairman since 14 February 2002, presidency member since 30 March 2001 - Bosniak); other members of the three-member rotating (every eight months) presidency: Zivko RADISIC (since 13 October 1998 - Serb) and Jozo KRIZANOVIC (since 30 March 2001 - Croat) 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 12-13 September 1998 (next to be held NA October 2002); the chairman of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the National House of Representatives head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Dragan MIKEREVIC (since 15 March 2002), position rotates every eight months cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved by the National House of Representatives election results: percent of vote - Zivko RADISIC with 52% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first eight months; Ante JELAVIC with 52% of the Croat vote followed RADISIC in the rotation; Alija IZETBEGOVIC with 87% of the Bosniak vote won the highest number of votes in the election but was ineligible to serve a second term until RADISIC and JELAVIC had each served a first term as Chairman of the Presidency; IZETBEGOVIC retired from the presidency 14 October 2000 and was replaced first temporarily by Halid GENJAC and subsequently by Beriz BELKIC; Ante JELAVIC was replaced by Jozo KRIZANOVIC in March 2001 when the High Representative barred him from public office note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Safet HALILOVIC (since 1 January 2002); Vice President Karlo FILIPOVIC (since 1 January 2002); note - president and vice president rotate every year; President of the Republika Srpska: Mirko SAROVIC (since 11 November 2000); Vice President of the Republika Srpska: Dragan CAVIZ (since NA)
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the National House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats - 14 Serb, 14 Croat, and 14 Bosniak; 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; officials elected in 2000 and previously were elected to two-year terms on the presumption that a permanent law would be in place before 2002 election results: National House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - SDP 22%, SDA 20%, SDS 15%, HDZ-BiH 12%, SBH 12%, PDP 5%, NHI 2%, BPS 2%, DPS 2%, SNS 2% SNSD-DSP 2%, DNZ 2%, SPRS 2%; seats by party/coalition - SDP 9, SDA 8, SDS 6, HDZ-BiH 5, SBH 5, PDP 2, NHI 1, BPS 1, DPS 1, SNS 1, SNSD-DSP 1, DNZ 1, SPRS 1; House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA%; seats by party/coalition - NA elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held in NA October 2002); House of Peoples - last constituted after the 11 November 2000 elections (next to be constituted in the fall of 2002) note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that consists of a House of Representatives (140 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held NA October 2002); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party/ coalition - SDA 38, SDP 37, HDZ-BiH 25, SBH 21, DNZ 3, NHI 2, BPS 2, DPS 2, BOSS 2, GDS 1, RP 1, HSS 1, LDS 1, Pensioners' Party of FBiH 1, SNSD-DSP 1, HKDU 1, HSP 1; and a House of Peoples (74 seats - 30 Bosniak, 30 Croat, and 14 others); last constituted November 2000; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 11 November 2000 (next to be held in the fall of 2002); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party/ coalition - SDS 31, PDP 11, SNSD 11, SDA 6, DSP 4, SDP 4, SPRS 4, SBH 4, DNS 3, SNS 2, NHI 1, DSRS 1, Pensioners' Party 1; Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures; officials elected in 2000 and prior were elected to two- year terms on the presumption that a permanent law would be in place before 2002
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) note: a new state court, mandated in November 2000, has jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities; 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: Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes AJANOVIC]; Bosnian Patriotic Party or BPS [Sefer HALILOVIC]; Civic Democratic Party of BiH or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC]; Croat Christian Democratic Union or HKDU BiH [Ante PASALIC]; Croatian Democratic Union of BiH or HDZ-BiH [Ante JELAVIC; note - not recognized by the international community]; Croatian Party of Rights of BiH or HSP-BiH [Zdravko HRSTIC]; Croatian Peasants Party of BiH or HSS-BiH [Ilija SIMIC]; Democratic National Alliance or DNS [Dragan KOSTIC]; Democratic Party of Pensioners or DPS [Alojz KNEZOVIC]; Democratic Party of RS or DSRS [Dragomir DUMIC]; Democratic Peoples Union or DNZ [Fikret ABDIC]; Democratic Socialist Party or DSP [Nebojsa RADMANOVIC]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Rasim KADIC]; New Croatian Initiative or NHI [Kresimir ZUBAK]; Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBH [Safet HALILOVIC]; Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC]; Party of Democratic Progress or PDP [Mladen IVANIC]; Party of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad DODIK]; Pensioners' Party of FBiH [Husein VOJNIKOVIC]; Pensioners' Party of SR [Stojan BOGOSAVAC]; People's Party-Working for Progress or NS-RZB [Mladen IVANKOVIC]; Republican Party of BiH or RP [Stjepan KLJUIC]; Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Dragan KALINIC]; Serb National Alliance (Serb People's Alliance) or SNS [Branislav LULIC]; Social Democratic Party of BIH or SDP-BiH [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS [Zivko RADISIC] Political pressure groups and NA
leaders: International organization BIS, CE (guest), CEI, EBRD, ECE,
participation: FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, 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 consulate(s) general: New York FAX: [1] (202) 337-1502 Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador
US: Clifford J. 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
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
Government - note: The Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995, retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's exterior border and created a joint multi- ethnic and democratic government. This national government - based on proportional representation similar to that which existed in the former socialist regime - is charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy. The Dayton Agreement also recognized a second tier of government, comprised of two entities - a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska (RS) - each presiding over roughly one-half the territory. The Federation and RS governments are charged with overseeing internal functions. The Bosniak/Croat Federation is further divided into 10 cantons. The Dayton Agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. About 250 international and 450 local staff members are employed by the OHR. Economy Bosnia and Herzegovina
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 large share of Yugoslavia's defense plants. The bitter interethnic warfare in Bosnia caused production to plummet by 80% from 1990 to 1995, unemployment to soar, and human misery to multiply. 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 and 2001. 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 activity that occurs on the black market. The marka - 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 - $7 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,800 (2001 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 16% industry: 28% services: 56% (1998 est.) Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 1.026 million Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate: 40% (2001 est.)
Budget: revenues: $1.9 billion expenditures: $2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)
Industries: steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining Industrial production growth rate: 9% (2001 est.) Electricity - production: 2.615 billion kWh (2000) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 37.67% hydro: 62.33% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% Electricity - consumption: 2.577 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 205 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 350 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: miscellaneous manufactures, crude materials
Exports - partners: Croatia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany
Imports: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, industrial products, foodstuffs
Imports - partners: Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Italy
Debt - external: $2.8 billion (2001) Economic aid - recipient: $650 million (2001 est.)
Currency: marka (BAM)
Currency code: BAM
Exchange rates: marka per US dollar - 2.161 (October 2001), 2.124 (2000), 1.837 (1999), 1.760 (1998), 1.734 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year Communications Bosnia and Herzegovina - Telephones - main lines in use: 303,000 (1997) Telephones - mobile cellular: 9,000 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: telephone and telegraph network needs modernization and expansion; many urban areas are below average as contrasted with services in other former Yugoslav republics domestic: NA international: no satellite earth stations Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 16, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 940,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 33 (plus 277 repeaters) (September 1995)
Televisions: NA
Internet country code: .ba Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000)
Internet users: 3,500 (2000) Transportation Bosnia and Herzegovina -
Railways: total: 1,021 km (795 km electrified; operating as diesel or steam until grids are repaired) standard gauge: 1,021 km 1.435- m gauge; note - many segments still need repair and/or reconstruction because of war damage (2000 est.)
Highways: total: 21,846 km paved: 14,020 km note: road system is in need of maintenance and repair (2001) unpaved: 7,826 km
Waterways: NA km; large sections of the Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and debris
Pipelines: crude oil 174 km; natural gas 90 km (1992)
Ports and harbors: Bosanska Gradiska, Bosanski Brod, Bosanski Samac, and Brcko (all inland waterway ports on the Sava), Orasje
Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)
Airports: 27 (2001) Airports - with paved runways: total: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2001) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 19 under 914 m: 11 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7
Heliports: 5 (2001) Military Bosnia and Herzegovina -
Military branches: VF Army (the air and air defense forces are subordinate commands within the Army), VRS Army (the air and air defense forces are subordinate commands within the Army) Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age (2002 est.) Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,131,537 (2002 est.) Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 898,117 (2002 est.)
service: Military manpower - reaching males: 29,757 (2002 est.)
military age annually: Military expenditures - dollar $NA
figure: Military expenditures - percent of NA%
GDP: Transnational Issues Bosnia and Herzegovina - Disputes - international: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia have delimited about half of their boundary, but several segments, particularly along the meandering Drina River, remain in dispute; discussions continue with Croatia on the disputed boundary in the Una River near Kostajnica, Hrvatska Dubica, and Zeljava; protests Croatian claim to the tip of the Klek Peninsula and several islands near Neum
Illicit drugs: minor transit point for marijuana and opiate trafficking routes to Western Europe

* * *

officially Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Country, Balkan Peninsula, southeastern Europe.

It is bounded by Serbia and Montenegro and by Croatia. Area: 19,741 sq mi (51,129 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 3,964,000. Capital: Sarajevo. Major ethnic groups include Bosniacs (Bosnian Muslims; about two-fifths of the population), Serbs (about one-third), and Croats (about one-fifth). Language: Serbo-Croatian (official). Religions: Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism. Currency: marka. The country's relief is largely mountainous, and elevations of more than 6,000 ft (1,800 m) are common. The land drops abruptly southward toward the Adriatic Sea. It is drained by the Sava, Drina, and Neretva rivers and their tributaries. Agriculture is a mainstay of the economy; though the area possesses a variety of minerals, it remains one of the poorest regions of the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the chairman of the tripartite presidency, and the heads of government are the two cochairmen of the Council of Ministers. Habitation long predates the era of Roman rule, during which much of the country was included in the province of Dalmatia. Slav settlement began in the 6th century AD. For the next several centuries, parts of the region fell under the rule of Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, Venetians, and Byzantines. The Ottoman Turks invaded Bosnia in the 14th century, and after many battles it became a Turkish province in 1463. Herzegovina, then known as Hum, was taken in 1482. In the 16th and 17th centuries the area was an important Turkish outpost, constantly at war with the Habsburgs and Venice. During this period much of the population converted to Islam. At the Congress of Berlin after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, Bosnia and Herzegovina was assigned to Austria-Hungary, and it was annexed in 1908. Growing Serbian nationalism resulted in the 1914 assassination of the Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb, an event that precipitated World War I. After the war the area was annexed to Serbia. Following World War II, the twin territories became a republic of communist Yugoslavia. With the collapse of communist regimes in eastern Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence in 1992; its Serbian population objected, and conflict ensued among Serbs, Croats, and Muslims (see Bosnian conflict). A peace accord in 1995 established a loosely federated government roughly divided between a Muslim-Croatian federation and a Serbian republic. In 1996 a NATO peacekeeping force was installed there.

* * *

▪ 2009

Area:
51,209 sq km (19,772 sq mi)
Population
(2008 est.): 3,858,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite (Serb, Croat, Muslim) presidency with a chair that rotates every eight months; members in 2008 were Nebojsa Radmanovic (Serb), Zeljko Komsic (Croat; chairman), and Haris Silajdzic (Muslim; chairman from March 6). Final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative and EU Special Representative, Miroslav Lajcak (Slovakia)
Head of government:
Prime Minister Nikola Spiric

      Bosnia and Herzegovina continued in 2008 to face a multitude of economic, political, and social problems that were exacerbated by the persistent lack of cooperation between the republic's Bosniaks (Muslims), Serbs, and Croats. Paddy Ashdown, the former high representative and EU special representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, warned that the country was on the edge of “disintegration,” blaming spiraling ethnic tensions, the lack of EU interest in the area, and the Bosnian Serb pressure toward secession following Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February. Miroslav Lajcak, the current high representative, also warned that despite “significant progress” over the first six months of the year, “nationalist forces remain strong.” The U.S. Department of State's annual report on global terrorism characterized Bosnia and Herzegovina as a “weak, decentralized state” where “ethnically based political confrontations continued to undermine national government.” The report also warned that the country's vulnerability could serve as a potential staging ground for terrorist operations in Europe. An initiative by regional nongovernmental organizations to hold Bosnia and Herzegovina's first truth commission on war crimes failed to materialize, largely owing to government indifference and lack of public interest; the Dayton accords had been signed 13 years earlier, and the establishment of a truth commission was seen as a step toward reconciliation.

      Nationalist sentiment was confirmed by results of local elections held on October 5; Serbs, Muslims, and Croats voted mostly along ethnic party lines. More than 29,000 candidates, representing 72 political parties and dozens of coalitions and independent lists, competed for 140 mayoral offices in 78 municipalities in the Muslim-Croatian federation and 62 municipalities in the Republika Srpska (RS). Overall turnout was about 55% in the two entities, but the response in major cities was relatively low, which local media reports attributed to the disdain held toward nationalist rhetoric and the absence of political programs not based on ethnic lines.

      Labour leaders expressed concern over growing public unrest and the government's inability to deal with the country's problems amid a worsening global economic situation and soaring prices on goods and services. Sharp criticism was leveled against the governments of both entities for blocking privatization efforts and reforms, and both were accused of corruption. Transparency International, a Berlin-based corruption watchdog group, closed its offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina owing to what it called “concerns for the safety of its staff” after RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik accused the agency of fraud. The Bosnia and Herzegovina central bank governor, Kemal Kozaric, leveled criticism on leaders of both entities for “not being adequately engaged” in keeping the country's economy in line with EU membership requirements.

      Bosnia and Herzegovina's signing in June of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) signaled the first concrete step in the country's path toward EU membership. Both entities approved laws for police reform, a requirement that needed to occur prior to the SAA signing. Constitutional reform was another key requirement that had to be addressed before the country could achieve EU integration.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2008

Area:
51,209 sq km (19,772 sq mi)
Population
(2007 est.): 3,855,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite (Serb, Croat, Muslim) presidency with a chair that rotates every eight months; members in 2007 were Nebojsa Radmanovic (Serb; chairman), Zeljko Komsic (Croat; chairman from July 6), and Haris Silajdzic (Muslim). Final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative and EU Special Representative, Christian Schwarz-Schilling (Germany) and, from July 2, Miroslav Lajcak (Slovakia)
Head of government:
Prime Ministers Adnan Terzic and, from January 11 to November 1 and again from December 29, Nikola Spiric

      Leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina's two entities, the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska ( Bosnian Serb Republic; RS), failed in 2007 to endorse a comprehensive reform of the country's postwar constitution. The sticking point remained with the RS's refusal to accept amendments that would create a strong unified government and replace the country's ethnically based structure with economic regions. Bosnian Serb leaders were unanimous in their rejection of any further integration and failed to adopt the reforms. Their refusal to compromise remained one of the main obstacles encountered in rebuilding the country since the 1992–95 war ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

      In May the UN appointed Bosnia's sixth high representative, Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak, who—shortly after taking up the post in July—stressed that “there is no better future for Bosnia than its EU future.” Lajcak scored some successes by brokering the formation of a government in the Hercegovina-Neretva Canton, persuading Bosnia's parliament to adopt reforms in higher education, removing 35 police officers in the RS who were suspected of involvement in the 1995 Srebenica massacre, and warning RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik (who considered the RS a “permanent category”) to refrain from inflammatory statements or face sanctions. Lajcak's efforts toward implementing long-awaited police reform, however, were spurned by both entities. European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn reiterated that the EU would not sign a stabilization and association agreement with Bosnia unless its leaders agreed to reform the country's police forces. On November 1 Prime Minister Nikola Spiric resigned his post to protest Lajcak's efforts to institute new rules on decision making in the central parliament. Spiric and other Bosnian Serb leaders argued that the proposed changes would weaken their influence. Bosnia's parliament reappointed Spiric on December 29.

      According to a report issued by Bosnia's Office of Auditors, about 65% of the state's 2007 budget was earmarked for salaries of government officials, often exceeding €1,800 monthly (€1 = about $1.40). Local media and government watchdog activists criticized the government for widespread corruption, extensive waste, and poor accounting. Average monthly salaries hovered around €350 for regularly employed Bosnians. Some 40% of workers were unemployed, and nearly half the population lived at or below the poverty level. Conditions were reportedly worse in the RS, and officials there said that some relief might be on the way after the sale (for €646 million) of 65% of its telecommunications company, Telekom Srpske, to Serbia's Telekom Srbija.

      For the first time in its 14-year history, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) met in Sarajevo, to hear testimony by a jailed Bahraini who fought with Bosnian Muslim forces during the 1992–95 war. Meanwhile, the War Crimes Chamber of Bosnia's State Court, set up in 2005 to take over some of the less-prominent cases from the ICTY, continued its work investigating some three dozen suspects.

      A Sarajevo-based nongovernmental research institute released a report showing that the 1992–95 war resulted in the deaths of 97,207 people, more than 40% of whom were civilians. Previously, Bosnian and international officials had often cited 200,000 deaths as the official number.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2007

Area:
51,209 sq km (19,772 sq mi)
Population
(2006 est.): 3,860,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite (Serb, Croat, Muslim) presidency with a chair that rotates every eight months; members in 2006 were Borislav Paravac (Serb), Ivo Miro Jovic (Croat), and Sulejman Tihic (Muslim) and, from November 6, Nebojsa Radmanovic (Serb; chairman), Zeljko Komsic (Croat), and Haris Silajdzic (Muslim). Final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, Baron Ashdown (U.K.), and, from January 31, Christian Schwarz-Schilling (Germany)
Head of government:
Prime Minister Adnan Terzic

      In March 2006 political leaders endorsed the reform of the postwar constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the debate over the future rekindled the deep ethnic divide among Serbs, Croats, and Muslims. Most political parties agreed on an amendment to transfer power from the two entities, the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska ( Bosnian Serb Republic; RS), to a streamlined central state structure. A second proposal was to create a strong unified government and replace the country's ethnically based entities with economic regions. These proposed constitutional amendments failed to pass an April vote in the parliament, and further talks were delayed.

      In October 54% of eligible voters cast ballots in the general election for representatives to the Muslim-Croat Federation and RS and to federal and local assemblies, as well as for the president and vice president of the RS. Though the election took place without incident, voter apathy was high. The officials who were elected would have to forge a coalition, which, as of the expiration of the UN-appointed Office of the High Representative (OHR) mandate on June 30, 2007, would be the first government to run the country without international supervision since the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995. Winners stood on both sides of the constitutional-reform debate, and there was skepticism that elected officials were capable of reaching a compromise without strong pressure from OHR head Christian Schwarz-Schilling.

      The traditional nationalistic parties—the (Muslim) Party of Democratic Action, the Serbian Democratic Party, and the Croatian Democratic Union—lost their 16-year hold on the three-member rotating presidency, though they retained power in other elected bodies. Haris Silajdzic, the wartime prime minister and foreign minister and head of the moderate Muslim Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina, strongly advocated the elimination of Bosnia's two entities. He was opposed by the Bosnian Serb member, Nebojsa Radmanovic of the moderate Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, who, along with all other Serb parties, threatened to hold an independence referendum should the RS be eliminated through a constitutional amendment. The Croat representative, Zeljko Komsic, a member of the small multiethnic Social Democrats, was the surprise winner in the balloting; he supported Silajdzic's position on a unified republic.

      On January 1 a value-added tax of 17% was introduced in order to boost state revenues. The OHR described it “an essential prerequisite” for the country's integration into Europe, but economists and labour union officials believed that the tax would undermine living standards. On November 29 Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited to join NATO's Partnership for Peace outreach program, a first step toward full NATO membership.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2006

Area:
51,209 sq km (19,772 sq mi)
Population
(2005 est.): 3,853,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite (Serb, Croat, Muslim) presidency with a chair that rotates every eight months; members in 2005 were Borislav Paravac (Serb); Dragan Covic to March 29 and, from June 28, Ivo Miro Jovic (Croat); and Sulejman Tihic (Muslim); final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, Baron Ashdown (U.K.)
Head of government:
Prime Minister Adnan Terzic

 Two anniversaries in 2005 served as reminders that multiethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina had a long way to go in terms of reconciliation among the republic's Croats, Muslims, and Serbs. In July the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 mainly Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces was indicative of how little progress had been made to reconcile Serbs and Muslims and to bring to trial the main perpetrators, namely Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic. More than 50,000 people, including leaders from Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro, attended the solemn ceremonies. Many Serbs remained doubtful that Serb forces committed the atrocity, however, despite growing evidence from confessions by former Serb officers and a televised videotape broadcast throughout the region showing Serb paramilitary troops executing Bosnian Muslim males near Srebrenica.

      In November the U.S.-sponsored Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992–95 conflict, was commemorated. The accord, though widely credited with preserving the peace, remained a target of harsh criticism, mainly for its alleged political shortcomings and biases. Opposition parties repeatedly accused the powerful Office of the High Representative that governed both entities within the republic—the Croatian-Muslim Federation and Republika Srpska (RS)—of refusing to support crucial anticorruption laws curbing the power of the ruling nationalist parties. To mark the accord's 10th anniversary, the country's leaders agreed to constitutional reforms, including the elimination of a three-president system, that they hoped to implement by March 2006.

      The Croat, Muslim, and Serb nationalist parties that had led the republic into war were still in power and were actively preparing for the general election slated for October 2006. Muslim members of the federal parliament proposed a new constitutional arrangement calling for the redefinition of the republic as a decentralized state divided into five economic regions. Croat and Serb representatives opposed the plan, however, believing that it would weaken their nationalist agendas. In the RS the parliament leveled sharp criticism against Mladic, an indicted war criminal, and renewed calls for former RS president Radovan Karadzic to surrender to the UN War Crimes Tribunal. In what was seen as a breakthrough, the Bosnian Serb leaders later issued their first public statement calling for the surrender or arrest of the two fugitives. Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement calling for the creation of a joint army and defense ministry with the federation by July 2007 and in early October approved plans calling for the integration of its police with the federation. Both reforms were seen as crucial to Bosnia and Herzegovina's acceptance into the EU and NATO.

      The economy continued to record high levels of unemployment, unsteady productivity, and widespread poverty. Hundreds of farmers staged protests throughout the year demanding government action to develop a national agricultural policy to curb the tide of cheap imports from Croatia and Serbia and improve farm technology. The government suggested a plan to combat poverty, but no steps were taken to legislate such a program, and protesting farmers ended up distributing food to the urban poor. Among these poor were thousands of disabled veterans who received monthly government pensions of about €50 (about $60).

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2005

Area:
51,209 sq km (19,772 sq mi)
Population
(2004 est.): 3,870,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite presidency chaired by Dragan Covic, Sulejman Tihic from February 28, and, from October 28, Borislav Paravac; final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, Baron Ashdown (U.K.)
Head of government:
Prime Minister Adnan Terzic

      In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as in previous years, efforts in 2004 to reintegrate and reform the two entities that make up the country—the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serbian Republika Srpska (RS)—were pushed through by international pressure. The continuing weakness of the state and the failure of RS to arrest a single suspect wanted by the International War Crimes Tribunal were the major obstacles blocking Bosnia and Herzegovina's eligibility for membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

      In January the Office of the High Representative (OHR), which administered Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressed its dissatisfaction with Mostar's inability to speed its reintegration process and reacted by combining that city's six municipal governments into a single city council with specific orders to ensure that the city remained united. High Representative Paddy Ashdown also gerrymandered the voting districts to prevent any one group from dominating. Mostar's 16th-century Old Bridge, which had been destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces in 1993, was reopened in July.

      In June Ashdown clamped down on governmental foot-dragging in RS by firing 59 Bosnian Serb officials, and he issued a report the following month on the governing Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), suggesting widespread tax evasion, abuse of power, and corruption. The moves were interpreted as a direct response by the OHR to the Serbs' lack of cooperation and alleged involvement with former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, an indicted war criminal. The RS parliament responded by passing a resolution urging all indicted war criminals, including Karadzic, to turn themselves in or face arrest. In October both entities held local elections in 142 municipalities. For the first time since 1990 the Bosnians themselves funded and organized the balloting, and it was the first time that mayors were directly elected. Low voter turnout and apathy among younger voters, however, meant that the vast majority of offices were won by the three ruling nationalist parties.

      In October a Bosnian Serb commission released its final report to the government on the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Bosniac (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys outside Srebrenica. The Bosnian Serbs acknowledged that their armed forces had planned and carried out the executions.

      Amid widespread corruption and a lacklustre economy, Bosnia continued to find ways of attracting foreign investments. In August the transnational firm LNM Holdings announced that it had purchased a 51% stake in BH Steel, Bosnia and Herzegovina's largest producer. Independent state auditors reported that the country's presidency and other officials had squandered millions of dollars of tax revenues on luxuries such as automobiles and gifts for foreign dignitaries. No laws or decrees regulating these expenses existed, and no criminal proceedings were brought against any official. The government failed to legislate reforms proposed by the EU calling for the creation of 45 new laws and 25 new agencies. At the end of the year, NATO turned over command of peacekeeping activities to the 7,000-strong EU force.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2004

Area:
51,197 sq km (19,767 sq mi)
Population
(2003 est.): 3,720,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite presidency chaired by Mirko Sarovic, Borislav Paravac, from April 10, and, from June 27, Dragan Covic; final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, Baron Ashdown (U.K.)
Head of government:
Prime Minister Adnan Terzic

      Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two entities, the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serb Republika Srpska, experienced a relatively uneventful year in 2003. Since the end of the civil war in 1995, the ethnic-based entities had operated with parallel political, economic, and social infrastructures. The few steps toward integration in recent years had been taken only through international pressure.

      Nationalist parties continued to obstruct and hinder both the implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement and the process of reconstruction. A vast majority of Croats were seeking either their own republic or union with Croatia. Similarly, the majority of Bosnian Serbs still believed their future lay with Serbia and not in union with the federation. Borislav Paravac, a hard-line nationalist member of the ruling Serbian Democratic Party, was elected in April to represent the Bosnian Serbs in Bosnia's multiethnic presidency. Paravac replaced Mirko Sarovic, who resigned under international pressure for having allowed a Bosnian Serb company to sell arms to Iraq. The Bosnian Serb constitution was redrafted to place the army under full civilian control and remove all references to statehood and sovereignty. Alija Izetbegovic, the first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, died on October 19. (See Obituaries (Izetbegovic, Alija ).) Shortly after his death the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia announced that he had been under investigation as a war-crimes suspect.

      In September the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska signed an agreement that established a new locally administered Human Rights Commission. The body became part of each entity's constitutional court system and replaced the Human Rights Chamber, an internationally sponsored court set up under the Dayton accord. The commission was dealing with some 10,000 cases, most of which had to do with property disputes. Under international pressure to reform the armed forces and intelligence services, the two entities agreed to set up their first joint intelligence agency in 2004 and began negotiations toward the formation of a unified force of about 15,000 troops, which was a prerequisite for Bosnia to qualify for full entry into NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

      The economy steadily declined in 2003. Social unrest escalated as thousands of workers mounted strikes in October and November to demand overdue wages and contributions to pension and health-insurance plans. Labour union officials threatened a nationwide general strike in early 2004. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reported some reduction in the rate of inflation and improvements in fiscal discipline but warned of weak economic growth due to the lack of new sources of investment to replace the loss of aid through foreign investment and private-sector activity. According to the Office of the High Representative, there was no substantial progress in the private sector of the economy in either entity during the first half of 2003. Unemployment was officially set at 40%. International organizations warned of a dramatic rise of AIDS throughout the region amid reports of alarming increases in drug abuse and prostitution.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2003

Area:
51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi)
Population
(2002 est.): 3,964,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Nominally a tripartite presidency chaired by Jozo Krizanovic, Beriz Belkic, from February 14 and, from October 28, Mirko Sarovic; final authority resides in the Office of the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch (Austria) and, from May 27, Paddy Ashdown, Baron Ashdown (U.K.)
Head of government:
Prime Ministers Zlatko Lagumdzija, Dragan Mikerevic from March 15, and, from December 23, Adnan Terzic

      Despite the political efforts of the international community and the more than $5 billion that had flowed into the country over the previous six years, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002 remained enmeshed in a profound economic and social crisis. In October nationalist parties won in general elections organized without international supervision for the first time since war broke out in 1992. The elections were held for the multiethnic three-member presidency, the legislatures for the Croat-Muslim Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republic entities, the president and vice president of the Bosnian Serb Republic, and the cantonal governments. Electoral turnout was low. According to High Commissioner Paddy Ashdown, the elections met international standards, and the results suggested a backlash against reforms by moderates over the previous two years rather than a victory for nationalists.

      The nationalist-oriented parties—the Muslim Party of Democratic Action, the Serbian Democratic Party, and the Croatian Democratic Union—had little room to maneuver, because of new election laws and constitutional changes handed down in April by then high commissioner Wolfgang Petritsch. Muslims, Serbs, and Croats were now politically equal throughout the federation, and government positions were expected to be filled more equitably. The newly elected government representatives would also rule for four years rather than two, as they had previously. In keeping with an ethnic-quota system based on the 1991 census, the changes attempted to undercut the foundations of the ethnic-oriented political entities. After the election, however, nationalists quickly made it clear that they would not be intimidated. Bosnian Serb leaders reiterated that the Bosnian Serb Republic had to remain Serb.

      Ashdown also issued a series of decrees after the elections aimed at improving the country's business climate and at strengthening his own powers. In keeping with the constitutional changes, his approval would henceforth be required for many ministerial appointments and decrees on the formation of governments. The move also anticipated the formal withdrawal of the United Nations peacekeeping mission at the end of the year.

      The situation remained bleak in both entities as the economy continued its downward spiral amid frequent labour and civil unrest. Almost 50% of the active labour force remained unemployed, and the average monthly wage of workers stood at about $250. Foreign capital investment was lacking because of the region's political instability, rampant corruption, and confusing tax codes and business regulations that forced much economic activity underground.

      Reforms had also so far failed to unite the separate and antagonistic educational systems, and widespread ethnic distrust remained. In July, when several thousand people gathered in Srebrenica to mark the seventh anniversary of the massacre of as many as 8,000 Muslim males by Bosnian Serb forces, none of the invited leaders of the Bosnian Serb Republic attended, and local Serbs reportedly jeered the mourners and held up pictures of indicted war criminals Gen. Ratko Mladic (who had commanded the Srebrenica forces) and Radovan Karadzic.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2002

Area:
51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi)
Population
(2001 est.): 3,922,000
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Tripartite presidency headed by Zivko Radisic and, from June 14, Jozo Krizanovic
Head of government:
Prime Ministers Martin Raguz, Bozidar Matic from February 22, and, from July 18, Zlatko Lagumdzija

      In 2001 Bosnia and Herzegovina began to stand on its own administratively without extensive international supervision. Moderate parties took over the leadership of the Bosniak (Muslim)-Croat Federation and won considerable influence in Republika Srpska (Serb Republic). Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija advised the world that “the role of the international community is to help us, but not to work, think, and decide for us.”

      In January the reform-oriented 10-party Alliance for Change succeeded in getting its members appointed speaker, deputy speaker, and parliamentary secretary of the legislative assembly by narrowly outvoting the two dominant Croat and Muslim nationalist parties, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). The House of Representatives also passed a bill that standardized procedures for all elected offices—though the nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the HDZ boycotted the vote. Local organizations were beginning to take over from international organizations in monitoring voter education and human rights, but the nongovernment sector remained too weak to monitor elections and develop a civic society. Meanwhile, the three nationalist parties were cooperating closely in order to maintain their grip on power. In March Wolfgang Petritsch, head of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), sacked HDZ leader Ante Jelavic from the Bosnian tripartite presidency after Jelavic called for the formation of two predominantly Croat cantons; in October Jelavic was reelected HDZ president despite repeated warnings from the OHR. The OHR advised the federation government that more progress would be required in electoral laws before Bosnia and Herzegovina could be admitted to the Council of Europe.

      The spurt of growth that came with postwar reconstruction faltered in 2001. Dissatisfied workers staged daily work stoppages, and much of the country's economic activity was forced underground owing to irrational tax codes and business regulations. Almost 50% of the active labour force was unemployed, in large part because of cutbacks in international aid and the lack of foreign capital investment.

      In August the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) released former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic from detention until the start of her trial. The same month, Gen. Radislav Krstic received a 46-year prison sentence for having planned, prepared, and carried out the killings of thousands of Muslim men at Srebrenica. In September Sefer Halilovic, the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslim to appear before the war crimes court, pleaded not guilty to charges of having failed to prevent the 1993 killings of Bosnian Croat civilians by his troops.

      In the wake of the September 11 attacks in the U.S., Bosnia and Herzegovina found itself on a list of favourite destinations for terrorists. Interior Minister Muhamed Besic admitted that his country attracted terrorists—some with ties to Osama bin Laden—and that some had been granted Bosnian passports by militant elements of the former Sarajevo government. He denied the existence of terrorist training camps in the country, however.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2001

Area:
51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi)
Population
(2000 est.): 3,836,000, excluding more than 300,000 refugees in adjacent countries and Western Europe
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Tripartite presidency headed by Ante Jelavic, Alija Izetbegovic from February 14, and, from October 14, Zivko Radisic
Heads of government:
Cochairmen of the Council of Ministers (co-prime ministers) Haris Silajdzic and Svetozar Mihajlovic; Prime Ministers Spasoje Tusevljak from June 6 and, from October 18, Martin Raguz

      In 2000, five years after the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, progress toward rebuilding Bosnia and Herzegovina continued but at a chronically slow and dismal pace. Economically, rampant unemployment and corruption persisted, and the worst drought in nearly 50 years fueled social unrest in the country. Labour leaders resorted increasingly to strikes in attempts to obtain workers' back pay. As the economy neared collapse, experts expressed deep concern over the plight of the majority of workers. According to government data, though the average monthly food bill for a family of four was $234, average monthly wages were about half that amount. Some observers continued to blame the black-market economy—which accounted for as much as 70% of the country's gross domestic product—for the multitude of socioeconomic problems. While much of the over $5 billion in reconstruction funds donated by the international community had put people to work and laid the groundwork for prosperity, Bosnia's transition to a free-market economy remained stalled.

      International aid to support the return of Bosnian refugees to their former homes was of limited help. Some refugees were acting on their own initiative and without any international assistance. According to estimates by the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, only about 5% of all the refugees and displaced persons created by the war had returned to their prewar places of residence since 1996. Politically, municipal and general elections produced encouraging results. Overall, the voting was free of violence and more open and fair than in any previous election. The recent voter trend toward moderate parties continued, with the most impressive performance coming from the nonnationalist, Muslim-led Social Democrats, who outpolled the Party of Democratic Action in many municipalities.

      In the November general elections moderates fared somewhat better than in the previous general election (1998) and were now poised to influence the formation of governments in the two constituent entities the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republic. Their performance, however, did not fulfill the expectations of international officials, nor did the replacement of strongmen Franjo Tudjman in Croatia and Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia by moderates find much resonance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many of the country's Serbs and Croats remained loyal to their narrowly nationalist parties. Mirko Sarovic, the candidate of the hard-line Serbian Democratic Party, won the presidency of the Bosnian Serb Republic over the Western-backed incumbent moderate Milorad Dodik.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2000

Area:
51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi)
Population
(1999 est.): 3,838,000, excluding about 400,000 refugees in adjacent countries and Western Europe
Capital:
Sarajevo
Heads of state:
Tripartite presidency headed by Zivko Radisic and, from July 15, Ante Jelavic
Heads of government:
Two cochairmen of the Council of Ministers (co-prime ministers)

      In 1999, four years after the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina remained bleak. The difficult process of restoring the rule of law and the rehabilitation and reform of the economic and political systems were complicated by widespread corruption, massive embezzlement of foreign aid funds, and persistent divisions between the republic's three main ethnic groups—Serbs, Croats, and Slavic Muslims. Cracks within the nationalist power structures widened during the year, but the biggest threat to the authorities was not the opposition parties but expanding criminal networks and growing civil unrest.

      What international mediators had hoped to establish at Dayton was a minimum program for Bosnia's future and the foundation for a multiethnic state, including self-determination of peoples and the emergence of pluralist and democratic institutions. On all points some progress was reported in 1999. World Bank-funded projects succeeded in reconstructing much of Bosnia's war-damaged public infrastructure. There seemed to be a tug toward moderation as hard-line nationalist forces began to lose control over some police units and some broadcast media, and the three major nationalist parties were suffering from internal feuds between hard-liners and moderates. Some observers believed that this could give the nonnationalist parties the opportunity to achieve significant gains in municipal and presidential elections in 2000; others feared a violent nationalist backlash.

      Another positive legacy of Dayton was that the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia in the spring did not stir the Bosnian Serbs to rebellion. Furthermore, the capital city, Sarajevo, was considered stable enough to serve as host of the 28-nation Stability Pact Summit, where the future of the entire Balkan region was discussed. Participants agreed that Bosnia and Herzegovina, just as the rest of southeastern Europe, would have to stand on its own feet, both economically and politically. To accomplish this, primary emphasis would have to be placed on reform, rather than reconstruction, the summit participants agreed. In October Wolfgang Petritsch, the international community's new high representative in charge of Bosnia and Herzegovina, introduced the concept of “ownership,” handing over to new power structures the responsibility for building a state, reintegrating the ethnic groups, and modernizing the economy. Petritsch also facilitated new laws to speed the return of the large number of refugees and penalize those who did not cooperate.

      Economically, there was little improvement. Unemployment in the Muslim-Croat federation hovered near 40% and reached as high as 70% in Republika Srpska. Gross domestic product was predicted to reach $4.5 billion in 1999. Since 1996 the international community had funded Bosnia and Herzegovina's reconstruction to the tune of $5.1 billion, and the World Bank estimated that as much as 30% of the country's GDP may have been dependent on donor expenditure. Other observers believed that the black-market economy might have accounted for as much as 70% of the country's GDP.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 1999

      Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi)

      Population (1998 est.): 3,366,000, excluding about 850,000 refugees in adjacent countries and Western Europe

      Capital: Sarajevo

      Heads of state: Tripartite presidency headed by Alija Izetbegovic and, from October 13, Zivko Radisic

      Heads of government: Two cochairmen of the Council of Ministers

      International efforts to rebuild and stabilize Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to show progress in 1998, but they fell short of achieving the goal of establishing the multinational country as a stable, functioning state, able to run its own affairs without the need for international help. During the year about 100,000 refugees returned, nearly twice as many as in the previous two years. Of those, 30,000 returned to their prewar municipalities as minorities—20,000 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the part of the nation populated predominantly by Croats and Muslims) and 10,000 in Republika Srpska (Serb Republic).

      In an effort to increase international authority over the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, signed in 1995, the powers of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) were expanded in December 1997. In 1998 High Representative Carlos Westendorp pushed through a series of measures aimed at speeding up that process. These included a common vehicle license plate, which made it possible for Bosnians to travel throughout the country with a reasonable degree of security, and a new Bosnian flag and passport. He appointed special envoys to supervise the implementation of the peace agreement in strategic parts of the country and dismissed local officials if they blocked such efforts. His office also instituted a systematic restructuring of the media by wresting control of the principal television stations from the ruling parties, placing international supervisors in the stations, and imposing new regulatory procedures. In November Westendorp proposed a 30% increase in his office's 1999 budget, so that "critical tasks" of postwar reconstruction could move forward.

      Domestic political institutions, however, failed to function properly and expeditiously. The NATO-led peacekeeping mission remained in the nation almost three years after the peace accord came into force, and, because of fears that if it withdrew, the country would quickly slide back into war, there seemed little prospect that it would do so in the near future. Five separate, internationally supervised elections, including a general election in September 1998, did not produce a situation in which the peace process could be judged as self-sustaining. Muslim Bosnian and Croat parallel institutions existed, but officials often behaved more as representatives of their ethnic groups and political parties than as public servants of the federation. Theoretically, a joint command for the federation army existed, but in practice separate Muslim and Croat military formations remained, along with the Republika Srpska armed forces, so Bosnia continued to have three military forces representing the three wartime (1992-95) protagonists. The long-awaited agreement on special relations between Croatia and the federation was signed late in the year, but details remained incomplete.

      In the September general election, federation Pres. Alija Izetbegovic's coalition placed first in the federation, winning some 52% of the votes; Serbian Radical Party (SRS) candidate Nikola Poplasen defeated the West-backed Biljana Plavsic of the moderate nationalist Serbian People's Alliance for the presidency of Republika Srpska; and Kresimir Zubak of the New Croatian Initiative lost to Ante Jelavic, candidate of the hard-line Croat Democratic Community (HDZ), for the Croat seat on the federation's three-member presidency. The election of the moderate Zivko Radisic over hard-liner Momcilo Krajisnik as the Serb representative on the presidency somewhat offset Poplasen's victory. As expected, Izetbegovic was reelected as the Muslim Bosnian representative and Radisic as chairman of the presidency. The most crushing defeat for the international community came when the Social Democrats failed to win in the canton of Tuzla-Podrinje. Experts had predicted great changes for Bosnia's political scene emanating from Tuzla's Social Democrats.

      Most of the other election results revealed a slight departure from hard-line nationalism. In the federation the Coalition for a United and Democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina won a majority in the legislature with 68 seats, and the HDZ dropped from 36 seats to 28. The Social Democratic Party gained 19 seats, and a group of small nonnationalist parties won 7. Also, for the first time, the Republika Srpska-based Socialist Party took two seats.

      The economy of the federation continued to deteriorate. Although industrial production in 1997 increased by 35% in relation to 1996, the rate of growth slowed down. Many Bosnians worked in low-level jobs—as chauffeurs and secretaries, for example. Salaries were often paid after delays of several months, and workers' strikes were becoming more frequent. Enterprises accumulated debts exceeding $750 million, of which 88% was incurred by state enterprises.

MILAN ANDREJEVICH

▪ 1998

      Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi)

      Population (1997 est.): 3,124,000, excluding about 1,000,000 refugees in adjacent countries and Western Europe

      Capital: Sarajevo

      Heads of state: Tripartite presidency headed by Alija Izetbegovic

      Heads of government: Two cochairmen of the Council of Ministers

      The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded a second year of relative peace following three and a half years of bloodshed. The Dayton Peace Agreement, signed on Dec. 14, 1995, was intended to end the vicious fighting, lay the foundation for a new constitutional order, and provide the framework for a multiethnic state with pluralistic and democratic institutions. On all points some progress was reported, but serious problems remained.

      The fundamental issue was the very definition of the state, which was sharply divided after the Dayton accords along ethnic and geographic lines. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation) included the areas populated predominantly by Croats and Muslims, while Republika Srpska (Serb Republic), a crescent-shaped area north and east of the Federation, was home to most ethnic Bosnian Serbs. Ethnic Serbs and Croats in Bosnia continued to identify with—and show loyalty to—the adjacent states of Serbia or Croatia, rather than the central Bosnian government in Sarajevo. Worse, the Croat areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nominally part of the Federation, were de facto a part of Croatia—and this was almost true as well in the case of Republika Srpska and Serbia. Consequently, the notion of "Bosnia and Herzegovina" often seemed like a historical relic, and many wondered if it could become a unified state commanding even minimal loyalty from the majority of its inhabitants. The two ministates in Bosnia and Herzegovina had so far failed to create even the minimum conditions for establishing a democratic country with free elections: a politically neutral environment was absent; indicted war criminals, for the most part Bosnian Serbs, continued to exert powerful influence behind the scenes; freedom of movement and expression remained restricted; many disenfranchised refugees were still unable to return home; and nationalists on all three sides remained committed to setting up their separate, "ethnically pure" states.

      Under these handicaps municipal elections, postponed from 1996, were held on September 13-14. Councils were elected in 135 municipalities—74 in the Federation and 61 in Republika Srpska. As expected, the three nationalist ruling parties (the predominantly Muslim Party of Democratic Action, the Serbian Democratic Party, and the Croatian Democratic Union) won a clear majority of the council seats. Nonnational parties—those that did not exclusively represent one ethnic group—won only 6% of council seats throughout the country, and independent candidates also fared poorly.

      A significant power struggle between Bosnian Serb leaders reemerged in June, hampering reform efforts in Republika Srspka. In July the republic's president, Biljana Plavsic, accused war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic and several of his allies of corruption. In November a parliamentary election was held in the republic. Plavsic and her coalition Serbian National Alliance failed to win a majority, but the Serbian Democratic Party and its ally, the Radical Party, fell three seats short of an overall majority. The situation remained tense, and deep rifts continued to impede progress.

      Not surprisingly, Bosnia and Herzegovina began 1997 in near economic paralysis, and little improvement was seen in the months that followed. More than 50% of the workers in the Federation and nearly 70% in Republika Srpska were unemployed. Most companies were still state-owned; few were operating. Under heavy international pressure, in October the Federation parliament approved part of a package of privatization laws in an effort to jump-start the economy. Bosnia and Herzegovina had to import almost everything it consumed, and black-marketing in tobacco and alcohol was widespread, especially in Republika Srpska. Billions of dollars in foreign aid were arriving to help rebuild housing, bridges, and airports, and a number of small and medium-sized companies were able to take advantage of lending programs from international agencies and the United States. Still, Bosnian enterprises were severely hampered by heavy taxes, bureaucratic red tape, and sometimes corrupt police officials.

      Key questions still hovered over Bosnia and Herzegovina: was there a way to partition the country in a fair and stable way along ethnic lines, and if the NATO-led UN forces withdrew on schedule in June 1998, would war resume? At the end of the year, the U.S. government concluded that it would be necessary to keep some American troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina after their current mission ended and that a continued Western military presence was a prerequisite for even minimal stability.

MILAN ANDREJEVICH
      This article updates Bosnia and Herzegovina, history of (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

▪ 1997

      A federal republic of the western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Croatia on the north, southwest, and south, the Adriatic Sea on the south (via a narrow extension), and Yugoslavia on the east. Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 3.2 million (excluding about 1.3 million refugees in adjacent countries and Western Europe). Cap.: Sarajevo. Monetary unit: Bosnia & Herzegovina dinar, with (Oct. 15, 1996) a par value of 100 dinars to DM 1 (free rates of 153.78 dinars = U.S. $1 and 243.48 dinars = £1 sterling). Head of the three-member presidency in 1996, Alija Izetbegovic.

      After three and a half years of bloodshed, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina entered 1996 in relative peace. By the year's end, however, it appeared to be on the verge of regional violence involving the repatriation of refugees. Major developments of the year included general elections, the enforcement of the internationally brokered peace accords (negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, and signed in Paris on Dec. 14, 1995), and the beginning of the reconstruction of the war-ravaged republic. At the end of the year, the process of restoring the rule of law and of achieving economic and social rehabilitation was further complicated by continued divisions between the republic's three main ethnic groups—Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians (Slavic Muslims).

      The military aspects of the Dayton accords were implemented at the beginning of 1996 without major problems. Observing the civilian provisions proved, however, to be another matter altogether. The relative peace secured by the presence of some 60,000 troops of the NATO-led Implementation Force was plagued by differences in goals and strategies. For the most part, military muscle was not used to enforce the civilian provisions of the treaty. As a result, the parties to the Dayton accords (the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two constituent entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) had not created the conditions for establishing a democratic country with free elections. A politically neutral environment was absent, and the nationalists on all three sides were well on their way to setting up separate, ethnically "pure" states.

      Under such handicaps the elections on September 14 were bound to confirm the de facto division of the country along ethnic lines. As in 1990, when the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina had last voted in multiparty elections, the three nationalist parties swept the board. In the key battle for the triumvirate presidency of the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which according to the constitution had to consist of one Bosnian (Muslim), one Croat, and one Serb, the Bosnian Alija Izetbegovic of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Croat Kresimir Zubak of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and the Serb Momcilo Krajisnik of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) in Republika Srpska were elected. Izetbegovic polled 724,733 votes, Krajisnik 698,891, and Zubak 297,976. Izetbegovic thus became head of the federation until the next elections, in 1998. In the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina the SDA became the largest party, with 19 of the 42 seats. Late in December the Serb leaders said they would not take part in the new government.

      Reports by international monitoring groups revealed a highly imperfect vote, which provided ample reasons for concern about Bosnia's troubled future. President Izetbegovic later warned the UN General Assembly that the conflict could resume in Bosnia and Herzegovina if the Dayton accords were not enforced, adding that the continuation of an international military presence past the initial departure date on December 20 was necessary. After conferring with NATO allies, U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton announced in mid-November that the deployment of U.S. and NATO troops would continue well into 1998. The announcement came at a time of renewed violence over the resettlement of refugees in certain regions of Bosnia.

      Bosnia and Herzegovina established bilateral relations with Yugoslavia on October 3. Though establishing relations with Belgrade may have signaled some breakthrough on the diplomatic front between the two countries, questions remained as to whether outstanding bilateral and regional problems could be resolved soon.

      (MILAN ANDREJEVICH)

      This article updates Bosnia and Herzegovina, history of (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

▪ 1996

      A republic of the western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Croatia on the north, southwest, and south, the Adriatic Sea on the south (via a narrow extension), and Yugoslavia on the east. Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi). Pop. (1995 est.): 3,459,000 (excluding about 800,000 refugees in adjacent countries and Western Europe). Monetary unit: Bosnia & Herzegovina dinar, with (Oct. 1, 1995) a free rate of 147 dinars to U.S. $1 (233.33 dinars = £1 sterling). President in 1995, Alija Izetbegovic; prime minister, Haris Silajdzic.

      The four-month cease-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina negotiated by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, which had come into force on Jan. 1, 1995, failed to stick. Following a military agreement on February 20 on closer cooperation between Bosnian and Croatian Serbs, combined Serb forces tightened their blockade of the Bihac enclave in northwestern Bosnia, one of the UN-designated "safe areas." On March 6 the governments of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded a military alliance. On March 19 Bosnian government forces started successful offensives against Serb positions on strategic Mt. Vlasic near Travnik in central Bosnia, as well as north and east of Tuzla.

      Heavy shelling of Sarajevo was resumed by Serb forces in April. The offensive by Bosnian government forces in May aimed at breaking the siege of Sarajevo failed after heavy government losses. On May 24 the UN forces commander in Bosnia, Lieut. Gen. Rupert Smith, issued an ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian government to pull back their heavy weapons from a 32-km (20-mi) exclusion zone around Sarajevo. The next day Smith ordered bombing raids by NATO aircraft against Serb arms dumps near their headquarters at Pale, whereupon the Serbs took over 300 UN soldiers hostage. The last of the hostages were all released by June 18 following mediation by Pres. Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia. In early June defense ministers from NATO and other countries decided to create a 14,000-strong rapid deployment force consisting of British, French, and Dutch troops to support UN units and to protect the remaining safe areas. A U.S. F-16 plane flown by Capt. Scott O'Grady was shot down by Serb fire over Bosnia on June 2. The pilot bailed out and was found and rescued in a U.S. operation after six nights.

      The Serbs captured the safe area of Srebrenica in July, having previously disarmed the Dutch UN battalion stationed there. The safe area of Zepa, also in eastern Bosnia, fell to the Serbs that same month. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former prime minister of Poland and since 1992 UN rapporteur on humanitarian affairs in former Yugoslavia, accused the world of "inactivity" and "hypocrisy" and resigned. On July 25 the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague indicted Radovan Karadzic, leader of the so-called Republika Srpska in Bosnia, and his military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

      On July 22 an agreement on political, diplomatic, and military cooperation was signed by Pres. Franjo Tudjman of Croatia and Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Just days later Croatian army forces entered western Bosnia from Croatia to relieve Bihac in a combined operation with Bosnian Croat forces. In August Serb forces suffered a series of military defeats at the hands of Croatian and Bosnian government forces in western and central Bosnia and lost a significant amount of territory. A mortar bomb fired into a Sarajevo market on August 28 killed 37 people and injured many others. NATO ordered a number of large-scale attacks against strategic Serb targets throughout Bosnia.

      A new U.S. peace initiative in former Yugoslavia led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, which had begun on August 9, allowed U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton to announce a cease-fire on October 5. U.S.-sponsored peace talks held in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a detailed agreement officially signed in Paris on December 14. It provided for a Bosnian and Herzegovinian state consisting of two entities: the Muslim-Croatian federation (approximately 51% of the territory, including the whole of Sarajevo) and the Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) with about 49%. People indicted as war criminals would not be allowed to hold public office in either of the two entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina was to have a constitution and central institutions. Free elections were to be held within a specified period, and all refugees were to be allowed to return to their homes or—if this was not possible—awarded proper compensation. The agreement provided for the presence of 60,000 NATO troops (including 20,000 from the United States) for one year to supervise the implementation of the agreement. NATO, whose forces were deployed immediately after the signing of the Dayton agreements on December 14, took over officially from the UN in Bosnia on December 20. The International Monetary Fund admitted Bosnia and Herzegovina on the same day and approved a $45 million emergency loan. As provided in the Dayton accords, the IMF would nominate the head of a new central bank for the country.

      (K.F. CVIIC)

      This updates the article Bosnia and Herzegovina, history of (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

▪ 1995

      A republic of the western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Croatia on the north, southwest, and south, the Adriatic Sea on the south (via a narrow extension), and Yugoslavia on the east. Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est. based on prewar projection): 4,447,000; (1994 de facto est.): 3.4 million. Cap.: Sarajevo. Monetary unit: no national currency. President in 1994, Alija Izetbegovic; prime minister, Haris Silajdzic.

      In 1994 peace did not come to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the scene of a bitter war since early 1992. Military operations involving Muslim, Serb, and Croat forces as well as NATO troops continued throughout the year, with the exception of the period ushered in by a comprehensive cease-fire on December 23 that had been negotiated by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

      Following a mortar bomb attack on the Sarajevo market on February 5, which killed about 68 people and injured some 200 others, NATO issued an ultimatum for Serb forces besieging the capital to cease their bombardment and pull back their heavy weapons from an exclusion zone around it. On February 6, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali asked for NATO authorization to order future air strikes. By February 21 the Serbs had largely complied with the ultimatum in Sarajevo. On February 28, however, NATO jet planes on patrol over Bosnia and Herzegovina enforced the no-fly ban, which had been in existence since late 1992, for the first time by shooting down four Serb warplanes that had been bombing Sarajevo government forces' installations in the central Bosnia part of the republic.

      In April NATO planes bombed Serb forces attacking Gorazde, a Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia designated by the UN in 1993 as one of the six "safe areas." The NATO operations' lack of military impact was much criticized, notably in the United States. Leading Republican politicians continued to press for the lifting of the embargo on arms supplies to Bosnia and Herzegovina as the only effective means of pressure on the Serbs to give up occupied territories, allowing those driven out by the Serbs to return to their homes. Serb reprisals against UN and other foreign personnel in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including hostage taking on a large scale, led to talk of a pullout under NATO's protection of all UN personnel, but in December the decision was taken to carry on with the UN effort for the time being. Tensions between the U.S. government, which had throughout the war refused to commit U.S. ground forces to UN operations, and the British and French governments were somewhat alleviated in December after the U.S. stopped pressing for action against the Serbs.

      The most important political event of the year was the signing in Washington on March 1 of the Muslim-Croat accord that ended the bitter fighting between the two former allies that had been going on since 1993—with the Serbs as the main beneficiaries. Under the Washington agreement it was decided to set up a Croat-Muslim federation as part of a Bosnia and Herzegovinian state entity to which the Serbs would be invited to accede. On May 31 Kresimir Zubak, a Croat, was elected president of the new Croat-Muslim federation. Ejup Ganic, a Muslim, was elected vice president and Haris Silajdzic as prime minister both of the Croat-Muslim federation and of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole.

      In July the "contact group" (the U.K., France, Germany, Russia, and the U.S.) put forward a plan for dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina between a Serbian unit on one side with 49% of the land and the Croat-Muslim federation (with 51%) on the other. The Croats and the Muslims accepted the plan; the Serbs, who held about 70% of the republic's territory, rejected it following a referendum in the area under their control. Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia's president, urged Bosnia's Serbs to accept, and when they refused, he imposed an embargo on all trade except humanitarian and medical aid and other contacts.

      On July 23 the European Union took over responsibility for running the divided city of Mostar, the Herzegovinian capital and the scene of some of the most bitter battles between Croats and Muslims in 1993, for two years. NATO aircraft were in action again in November in the Bihac region in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, also designated in 1993 as a UN "safe area," but this time they extended their strikes also against targets in the Serb-occupied area in Croatia near the source of the attacks on Bihac.

      Bosnia received many visitors in 1994, including Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Tansu Ciller of Turkey and Croatian Pres. Franjo Tudjman. A planned visit to Sarajevo in September by Pope John Paul II had to be called off, however. (K.F. CVIIC)

      This updates the article Bosnia and Herzegovina, history of (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

▪ 1994

      A republic of the western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Croatia on the north, southwest, and south, the Adriatic Sea on the south (via a narrow extension), and Yugoslavia on the east. Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est. based on prewar projection): 4,422,000. Cap.: Sarajevo. De facto monetary unit: Yugoslav new dinar, with (Oct. 4, 1993) a free rate of 104.24 new dinars to U.S. $1 (157.92 new dinars = £ 1 sterling); Bosnia has no national currency and has not been supplied with dinars by Yugoslav authorities since June 1992. President in 1993, Alija Izetbegovic; prime ministers, Mile Akmadzic to August and, from October 25, Haris Silajdzic.

      The year began with a joint European Community-United Nations initiative for Bosnia named after the two chief negotiators, Lord Owen and Cyrus Vance, which was presented to the UN Security Council by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on February 2. The Vance-Owen plan proposed dividing the republic into 10 autonomous provinces, largely based on nationality and with guarantees for a balanced representation of minority groups in each area. The Serbs (33% of the total population in 1991) would get about 46% of the republic's territory, the Muslims (with 44% of the population) about 30%, and the Croats (18%) about 24%. The Bosnian Croat leadership accepted the plan; the Muslims were unhappy but did not reject it outright; and the Bosnian Serbs accepted it subject to ratification by their self-styled parliament—which it declined to do.

      At a meeting in Washington that marked the abandonment of the Vance-Owen plan, representatives of the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, and Spain proposed a new 13-point plan for "safe areas" based on the Vance-Owen plan and linked to provision of international policing and humanitarian aid. On June 4 the Security Council established six "safe areas" for the Muslims, mainly in eastern and central Bosnia. UN troops supervising them were empowered to retaliate if attacked, and on June 18 the UN decided to dispatch 7,600 soldiers to protect the zones.

      The Bosnian government rejected the idea of "safe areas" as both unjust and unviable. Meanwhile, its forces started an offensive against Croat troops, in central Bosnia, who had taken some mixed regions allocated to the Croats under the old Vance-Owen plan. The Muslims made considerable headway against the Croats, although the latter managed to hold on to the strategic city of Mostar, where Croatian shelling destroyed the 16th-century bridge that had connected the Muslim and Croat parts of the city. The Serbs, meanwhile, continued to besiege Sarajevo.

      In September, Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg (who had replaced Cyrus Vance) led another round of negotiations centring on the concept of Bosnia as a union of three republics, each of which could later join other states. The interested parties met on the British warship Invincible on the Adriatic, but the attempt to reach a settlement failed when the Muslims demanded more territory from the Serbs and access to the sea from the Croats. In the end, the mainly Muslim assembly in Sarajevo rejected the proposed settlement, partly because the U.S. failed to provide assurances of military presence to protect the settlement. Another initiative, associated with the German and French foreign ministers, offered the Serbs the gradual lifting of economic sanctions in return for territorial concessions demanded by the Muslims. But the Serbs, increasingly torn by internal divisions in Bosnia (an anti-Karadzic rebellion among army units in Banja Luka in September was put down with difficulty), refused to oblige. Meanwhile, Fikret Abdic, a local Muslim leader, denounced the Sarajevo officials as intransigent and made a separate deal with the Serbs and Croats. International negotiators met again in late December, but a proposed cease-fire failed, and fighting continued.

      (K.F. CVIIC)

      This updates the article Bosnia and Herzegovina, history of (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

* * *

Introduction
Bosnia and Herzegovina, flag of   country of the western Balkan Peninsula. The larger region of Bosnia occupies the northern and central parts of the republic, and Herzegovina occupies the south and southwest. The capital is Sarajevo.

      The land has often felt the influences of stronger regional powers that have vied for control over it, and these influences have helped to create Bosnia and Herzegovina's characteristically rich ethnic and cultural mix. Islam, Orthodox Christianity, and Roman Catholicism are all present, the three faiths corresponding to three major ethnic groups: Bosniacs, Serbs, and Croats, respectively. This multiethnic population, as well as the country's historical and geographic position between Serbia and Croatia, has long made Bosnia and Herzegovina vulnerable to nationalist territorial aspirations. In 1918 it was incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Kingdom of), and after World War II it became a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the disintegration of this state in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence, but it was immediately drawn into the broader Yugoslav war.

Land

Relief
 The roughly triangular-shaped Bosnia and Herzegovina is bordered on the north, west, and south by Croatia, on the east by Serbia, on the southeast by Montenegro, and on the southwest by the Adriatic Sea along a narrow extension of the country.

       Bosnia and Herzegovina has a largely mountainous terrain. Numerous ranges, including the Plješivica, Grmeč, Klekovača, Vitorog, Cincar, and Raduša, run in a northwest-southeast direction. The highest peak, reaching 7,828 feet (2,386 metres), is Maglič, near the border with Montenegro. In the south and southwest is the karst, a region of arid limestone plateaus that contain caves, potholes, and underground drainage. The uplands there are often bare and denuded (the result of deforestation and thin soils), but, between the ridges, depressions known as poljes (polje) are covered with alluvial soil that is suitable for agriculture. Elevations of more than 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) are common, and the plateaus descend abruptly toward the Adriatic Sea. The coastline, limited to a length of 12 miles (20 km) along the Adriatic Sea, is bounded on both sides by Croatia and contains no natural harbours. In central Bosnia the rocks and soils are less vulnerable to erosion, and the terrain there is characterized by rugged but green and often forested plateaus. In the north, narrow lowlands extend along the Sava River and its tributaries.

      Geologic fault lines are widespread in the mountainous areas. In 1969 an earthquake destroyed 70 percent of the buildings in Banja Luka, and in 1992 a minor earthquake shook Sarajevo.

Drainage
      The principal rivers are the Sava (Sava River), a tributary of the Danube, which forms the northern boundary with Croatia; the Bosna (Bosna River), Vrbas, and Una, which flow north and empty into the Sava; the Drina (Drina River), which flows north, forms part of the eastern boundary with Serbia, and is a tributary of the Sava; and the Neretva (Neretva River), which flows from the southeast but assumes a sharp southwestern flow through the Karst region, continues through Croatia, and empties into the Adriatic Sea. Rivers in the Karst flow largely underground. Numerous glacial lakes dot the landscape. Bosnia and Herzegovina is also rich in natural springs, many of which are tapped for bottled mineral water or for popular thermal health spas.

Climate
      Although situated close to the Mediterranean Sea, Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely cut off from its climatic influence by the Dinaric Alps. The weather in Bosnia resembles that of the southern Austrian highlands—generally mild, though apt to be bitterly cold in winter. In Banja Luka the coldest month is January, with an average temperature of about 32 °F (0 °C), and the warmest month is July, which averages about 72 °F (22 °C). During January and February Banja Luka receives the least amount of precipitation, and in May and June it experiences the heaviest rainfall.

      Herzegovina has more affinity to the Dalmatian mountains, which are oppressively hot in summer. In Mostar, situated along the Neretva River near the Adriatic coast, the coldest month is January, averaging about 42 °F (6 °C), and the warmest month is July, averaging about 78 °F (26 °C). Mostar experiences a relatively dry season from June to September. The remainder of the year is wet, with the heaviest precipitation between October and January.

Plant and animal life
      About half the country is forested with pine, beech, and oak. Fruits are common, among them grapes, apples, pears, and especially plums; these last are made into thick jam and slivovitz, a popular brandy. The country's rich and varied wildlife includes bears, wolves, wild pigs, wildcats, chamois, otters, foxes, badgers, and falcons.

Ethnic groups and religions
      Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to members of numerous ethnic groups. The three largest are the Bosniacs (Islāmic world), Serbs, and Croats, who constitute about two-fifths, one-third, and one-fifth, respectively, of the population. Physically the three groups are indistinguishable; culturally the major difference between them is that of religious origin and affiliation. Serbs are primarily Serbian Orthodox, Croats Roman Catholic, and Bosniacs Muslim. Despite low attendance at church and mosque services, the association of religion with national identity has meant that religious identity has remained important. The demise of communism brought a religious revival within all three populations, partly in response to the end of official disapproval and partly in assertion of national identity.

Languages
      The mother tongue of the vast majority is the Serbo-Croatian language, but it is now known as Serbian, Croatian, or Bosnian, depending on the speaker's ethnic and political affiliation. There are some minor regional variations in pronunciation and vocabulary, but all variations spoken within Bosnia and Herzegovina are more similar to one another than they are to, for example, the speech of Belgrade (Serbia) or Zagreb (Croatia). A Latin and a Cyrillic alphabet exist, and both have been taught in schools and used in the press, but the rise of nationalism in the 1990s prompted a Serb alignment with Cyrillic and a Croat and Bosniac alignment with the Latin alphabet.

Settlement patterns
      About two-thirds of the population is rural. The arid plateaus in the southern region are less populated than the more hospitable central and northern zones. Villages are of variable size; houses are either of the old small, steep-roofed variety or of the larger, multistoried modern type.

 An urban-rural divide is a significant part of Bosnian culture, with urbanites tending to view villagers as primitives and villagers often defensive about this view and frequently anxious to move to town. During the 1960s and '70s the urban population almost doubled. This shift particularly affected the economic and industrial centres of Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla, Banja Luka, and Mostar, around which sprawling suburbs of apartment blocks were built. Traditional settlement patterns were disrupted by the postindependence war, with the population of many cities swelled by refugees.

      Patterns of ethnic distribution before 1992 created an intricate mosaic. Certain areas contained high concentrations of Serb, Croat, or Bosniac inhabitants, while in others there was no overall ethnic majority or only a very small one. Towns were ethnically mixed. Many larger villages also were mixed, although, in some of these, members of different ethnic groups tended to live at different ends or in different quarters. Most smaller villages were inhabited by only one group. Much of the violence of the postindependence war had the aim of creating ethnic (ethnic cleansing) purity in areas that once had a mixture of peoples. In addition to killing thousands, this “ ethnic cleansing” displaced more than one-third of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina either within its borders or abroad.

Demographic trends
      When it was a part of the Yugoslav federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina had one of the lowest death rates and among the highest live birth rates of Yugoslavia's republics, and its natural rate of increase in population was high in comparison with most of them. As a consequence the population was quite young, with more than one-quarter under the age of 15. Large numbers of citizens lived abroad as guest workers in western Europe. War radically altered this demographic situation, with the Bosniac population particularly affected.

Economy
      As a republic of the Yugoslav federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina adhered to the unique economic system known as socialist self-management. In this system, business enterprises, banks, administration, social services, hospitals, and other working bodies were intended to be run by elected workers' councils, which in turn elected the management boards of the bodies. In practice the level of workers' control was extremely variable from enterprise to enterprise, since ordinary workers often were not motivated to participate except in matters such as hiring, firing, and benefits and in any case lacked the necessary time and information to make business decisions. In the 1980s Yugoslavia's large foreign debt and rising inflation lowered the standard of living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the period immediately following the 1991 war in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina's official economy collapsed. Huge increases in the price of oil, falling imports and exports, hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine, insolvent banks, and unpaid pensions all resulted in a swelling black market, or informal economy. In addition, war after independence caused widespread destruction, and the eventual peace required a complete rebuilding of the economy.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
      Bosnia and Herzegovina is a significant agricultural region, with some one-sixth of its land under cultivation. The most fertile soils are in the north, along the Sava River valley. In more-hilly areas land is employed for both cultivation and grazing. Principal crops are wheat, corn (maize), barley, soybeans, and potatoes. In Herzegovina and in the more sheltered areas of Bosnia, tobacco is grown. Sheep are the major livestock, although cattle and pigs also are raised. With about half the country forested, timber, as well as furniture and other wood products, has been a major export. Fishing potential remains underutilized.

Power and resources
      Bosnia and Herzegovina has important reserves of iron ore around Banja Luka and in the Kozara Mountains, bauxite near Mostar, and lignite and bituminous coal in the regions around Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla, and the Kozara Mountains. Zinc, mercury, and manganese are present in smaller quantities. Forests of pine, beech, and oak provide an important source of timber. The country's considerable hydroelectric potential has been increasingly exploited; there are more than a dozen hydroelectric and thermal power plants.

Manufacturing
      Manufacturing represents a large part of Bosnia and Herzegovina's economy. Of the country's significant mineral resources, iron, coal, and bauxite are the most exploited. Textiles, cement, armaments, food, chemicals, building materials, and cellulose and paper are produced in various parts of the country.

Transportation
      The major obstacle to communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina has always been the mountainous topography. In addition, much of the transportation infrastructure was destroyed in the postindependence war. The railway system, begun under Austro-Hungarian rule (1878–1918), connects Sarajevo with major towns to the north and with Zagreb and Belgrade. Another line runs south from Sarajevo to Mostar and on to Ploče on Croatia's Adriatic coast. However, few lines are direct, and as a result roads of variable quality have in many cases been the preferred means of passenger and freight transportation. Scheduled air services connect Sarajevo with other Balkan capitals, such as Belgrade and Zagreb, as well as with other international destinations.

Government

Constitutional framework
      An agreement negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, U.S., in November 1995 established Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state composed of two largely autonomous entities, the Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latter is a decentralized federation of Croats and Bosniacs. Each entity has its own legislature and president. The central institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina include a directly elected tripartite presidency, which rotates every eight months between one Bosniac, one Serb, and one Croat member. The presidency, as the head of state, appoints a multiethnic Council of Ministers. The chairman of the council, who is appointed by the presidency and approved by the national House of Representatives, serves as the head of government. The parliament is bicameral. Members are directly elected to the 42-seat lower house (House of Representatives), in which 28 seats are reserved for the federation and 14 for the Republika Srpska. Members of the upper house (the House of Peoples, with five members from each ethnic group) are chosen by the entity parliaments.

Political process
      In 1990 the League of Communists of Yugoslavia fragmented, and multiparty elections were held in each of the country's six constituent republics. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the national parties—the Bosniac Party of Democratic Action (Stranka Demokratske Akcije; SDA), the Serbian Democratic Party (Srpska Demokratska Stranka; SDS), and the Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica; HDZ)—formed a tacit electoral coalition. The three swept the elections for the bicameral parliament and for the seven-member multiethnic presidency, which had been established by constitutional amendment “to allay fears that any one ethnic group would become politically dominant.” They attempted to form a multiparty leadership, but their political and territorial ambitions (and those of their associates in Zagreb and Belgrade) were incompatible. The parliament failed to pass a single law, and war began in spring 1992. Following the establishment of peace in 1995, the nationalist SDS, HDZ, and SDA continued to win voter support, although other parties, such as the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (Stranka Nezavisnih Socijaldemokrata; SNSD), the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Stranka za Bosnu i Hercegovinu; SBiH), and the Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska Partija; SDP), also gained seats in the parliament.

Security
      The Yugoslav People's Army was designed to repel invasion, and, as part of its strategy, it used the geographically central republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a storehouse for armaments and as the site of most military production. Bosnian Serb forces, aided by the Yugoslav People's Army and fighting for a separate Serb state, appropriated most of this weaponry. Elsewhere, the Croatian Defense Council, aided by Zagreb, and the (mainly Bosniac) Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina were formed, but cooperation between them soon broke down. The Dayton agreement of 1995 provided for the state to retain two separate armies, one from the Republika Srpska and the other from the federation.

Cultural life

Daily life and social customs
      Mediterranean, western European, and Turkish influences are all felt in the cultural life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there are considerable variations between traditional 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. Summer activities include strolling on town korza (promenades), and throughout the year popular meeting places are kafane (traditional coffeehouses) and kafići (modern café-bars). Bosnian cuisine is a matter of pride and displays its Turkish influence in stuffed vegetables, coffee, and sweet cakes of the baklava type. Folk songs remain popular and well-known.

The arts
      During the 1970s Sarajevo, with a less repressive atmosphere than that of the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, gave rise to a dissident rock-and-roll culture; the most popular band of the time, Bijelo Dugme (“White Button”), enjoyed a large following throughout the country. The city has produced other popular musical groups and artists, such as Zabranjeno Pušenje, Divlje Jagode, Elvis J. Kurtović, and Crvena Jabuka. International artists often tour the country, many times in the service of humanitarian causes. The Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti lent his talent to raise funds for the Pavarotti Music Center in Mostar, an institution that offers courses in music, filmmaking, photography, and acting.

      Sarajevo enjoys an active literary culture as well, with a number of publishing houses releasing contemporary and classic writing from the region. Popular writers include Amila Buturović, Semezdin Mehmedinović, and Fahrudin Zilkić. Ivo Andrić (Andrić, Ivo), born in Dolac, Bosnia, received the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature. Andrić's novels, such as Na Drini ćuprija (1945; The Bridge on the Drina), are concerned with the history of Bosnia. Before the onset of the civil war, Sarajevo was also an important film centre, made well-known internationally by the work of director Emir Kusturica, whose films depict the private face of Yugoslavia's history; his Sječaš li se Dolly Bell? (Do You Remember Dolly Bell?) won the Golden Lion award at the 1981 Venice Film Festival.

Sports and recreation
      Bosnians, like many Europeans, share a passion for football (soccer). The country fields dozens of professional and semiprofessional teams, and virtually no Bosnian village lacks a field and a few players willing to populate it. The civil war of the 1990s caused the Bosnian football league to break into three comparatively weak divisions along ethnic lines, with Bosniac, Serb, and Croat teams that rarely played against anyone not of their own allegiance. In 2000 the Croat and Bosniac divisions agreed to interethnic play, joined by the Serbian league in 2002. During the Yugoslav era Bosnia had powerful basketball players, and the sport is still widely popular. However, as with football, ethnic division plagued the sport in the 1990s.

      During the period of Yugoslav rule, Bosnian athletes competed in many Olympic Games, and the Winter Games of 1984 were held in Sarajevo. (Sarajevo's ski runs built for the Games were later used as firing ranges for Serb and Yugoslav army artillery during the civil war.) Newly independent Bosnia formed a national Olympic committee in 1992, which the International Olympic Committee recognized in 1993. Bosnia's first Olympic appearance came in 1992 at Barcelona. Despite the ongoing war an interethnic team also participated in the 1994 Winter Games at Lillehammer, Norway.

      Bosnia and Herzegovina features large national parks at Sutjeska and Kozara. Mountains and open spaces offer hiking, skiing, and hunting. Hunting is a popular pastime, and assorted hunting societies include thousands of members.

Media and publishing
      In comparison with news outlets in much of eastern Europe, the news media in Yugoslavia were relatively independent, censorship being achieved more through implicit threat than through direct intervention. The warring factions during the civil war appropriated most media for the distribution of propaganda. Following the war the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska each began operating public radio and television stations. Numerous private stations also exist. Among the many newspapers, magazines, and journals circulating in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the Sarajevo dailies Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz and the Banja Luka daily Nezavisne Novine.

History

Ancient and medieval periods
      When the Romans (ancient Rome) extended their conquests into the territory of modern Bosnia during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the people they encountered there belonged mainly to Illyrian tribes. Most of the area of modern Bosnia was incorporated into the Roman province of Dalmatia. During the 4th and 5th centuries AD, Roman armies suffered heavy defeats in this region at the hands of invading Goths. When the Goths were eventually driven out of the Balkans by the Byzantine (Byzantine Empire) emperor Justinian I in the early 6th century, the Bosnian territory became, notionally at least, part of the Byzantine Empire.

      Slavs (Slav) began to settle in this territory during the 6th century. A second wave of Slavs in the 7th century included two powerful tribes, the Croats and the Serbs; Croats probably covered most of central, western, and northern Bosnia, while Serbs extended into the Drina River valley and modern Herzegovina. (The terms “Serb” and “Croat” were, in this period, tribal labels; they were subsequently used to refer to the inhabitants of Serbian or Croatian political entities and only later acquired the connotations of ethnic or national identity in the modern sense.)

      During the late 8th and early 9th centuries, part of northwestern Bosnia was conquered by Charlemagne's Franks; this area later became part of Croatia under King Tomislav. After Tomislav's death in 928, much of Bosnia was taken over by a Serb princedom that acknowledged the sovereignty of the Byzantine Empire. The first recorded mention of Bosnia was written during this period by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who described “Bosona” as a district in “baptized Serbia.” The district he referred to was an area much smaller than modern Bosnia and centred on the Bosna River. Soon after Constantine wrote those words, most of the modern territory of Bosnia reverted to Croatian rule.

      During the 11th and 12th centuries Bosnia experienced rule by Byzantium through Croatian or Serb intermediaries, incorporation into a Serb kingdom that had expanded northward from the territory of modern Montenegro and Herzegovina, rule by Hungary, and a brief period of renewed Byzantine rule. After the death of the emperor Manuel I Comnenus in 1180, Byzantine rule fell away but government by Croatia or Hungary was not restored: a Bosnian territory (excluding much of modern Bosnia and all of Herzegovina) thus became, for the first time, an independent entity.

      A Bosnian state of some kind existed during most of the period from 1180 to 1463, despite periodic aggression from the neighbouring kingdom of Hungary, which maintained a theoretical claim to sovereignty over Bosnia. Bosnia enjoyed periods of power and independence, especially under three prominent rulers: Ban Kulin (Kulin) (1180–1204), Ban Stjepan Kotromanić (1322–53), and King Tvrtko I (Tvrtko I) (1353–91). Under Kotromanić, Bosnia expanded southward, incorporating the principality of Hum (modern Herzegovina). During the reign of Tvrtko I, Bosnia expanded farther south and acquired a portion of the Dalmatian coast. For a brief period in the late 14th century, Bosnia was the most powerful state in the western Balkans, though the Greater Bosnia of Tvrtko's final decades was an exception: for most of the medieval period, Bosnia was mainly a landlocked state, isolated and protected by its impenetrable terrain.

      One consequence of this isolation was the development of a distinctive Bosnian church. After the division between Roman and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, most of the Bosnian territory (excluding modern Herzegovina) had been Roman Catholic, but during the long period of isolation from Rome the Bosnian church fell into de facto schism, electing its own leaders from among the heads of the monastic houses. A combination of poor theological training, lax observances, and Eastern Orthodox practices led to frequent complaints from neighbouring areas, beginning in the 1190s, that the Bosnian church was infected with heresy. In 1203 a papal legate was sent to investigate these charges, and Ban Kulin gathered a special council at Bolino Polje (near modern Zenica), where the church leaders signed a declaration undertaking a series of reforms. Most involved correcting lax religious practices; in addition, however, they promised not to shelter heretics in their monasteries. The extent to which these reforms were observed is very uncertain, since over the following century the church in Bosnia became increasingly isolated. Occasional complaints from the 1280s onward still referred to “heretics” in Bosnia, and, by the time the Franciscan order began to operate there in 1340, the official view from Rome was that the entire Bosnian church had fallen into heresy, from which its members needed to be converted.

      Since the mid-19th century, many historians have argued that the Bosnian church had adopted the extreme dualist heresy of the Bulgarian Bogomils (Bogomil). Evidence for this view came from the papal denunciations of the Bosnians, which sometimes accused them of Manichaeism, the dualist theology on which Bogomil beliefs were based. In addition, Italian and Dalmatian sources referred to the Bosnians as “Patarins (Patarine),” a term used in Italy for a range of heretics including the Cathars, whose beliefs were linked to Bogomilism. However, more recent scholarship has suggested that the authors of those denunciations had little or no knowledge of the situation inside Bosnia and that confusion may have been caused by the existence of genuine dualist heretics on the Dalmatian coast. Furthermore, the surviving evidence of the religious practices of the Bosnian church shows that its members accepted many things that Bogomils fiercely rejected, such as the sign of the cross, the Old Testament, the mass, the use of church buildings, and the drinking of wine. The Bosnian church should thus be considered an essentially nonheretical branch of the Catholic church, based in monastic houses in which some Eastern Orthodox practices also were observed. During the 14th century the Franciscans (Franciscan) established a network of friaries in Bosnia and spent more than a century trying to convert members of the Bosnian church to mainstream Catholicism. In 1459 this campaign received the full support of the Bosnian king, Stjepan Tomaš, who summoned the clergy of the Bosnian church and ordered them to convert to Catholicism or leave the kingdom. When most of the clergy converted, the back of the Bosnian church was broken.

      The final decades of the medieval Bosnian state were troubled by civil war, Hungarian interference, and the threat of Turkish invasion. Turkish armies began raiding Serbia in the 1380s and crossed into Bosnian-ruled Hum (Herzegovina) in 1388; King Tvrtko (Tvrtko I) I sent a large force to fight against them alongside the Serbian army at the Battle of Kosovo Polje in the following year. Tvrtko's successor, King Ostoja, struggled for possession of the crown against Tvrtko's illegitimate son, Tvrtko II, who was supported first by the Turks and then by the Hungarians after Ostoja's death. The nobleman Stefan Vukčić also engaged in tactical alliances against the Bosnian rulers, establishing his own rule over the territory of Hum and giving himself the title herceg (duke), from which the name Herzegovina is derived. Turkish forces captured an important part of central Bosnia in 1448, centred on the settlement of Vrhbosna, which they developed into the city of Sarajevo. In 1463 they conquered most of the rest of Bosnia proper, although parts of Herzegovina and some northern areas of Bosnia were taken over by Hungary and remained under Hungarian control until the 1520s. Vukčić and his son were gradually forced out of their domains, and the last fortress in Herzegovina fell to the Turks in 1482.

Ottoman (Ottoman Empire) Bosnia
      Bosnia was rapidly absorbed into the Ottoman Empire and was divided into military-administrative districts, or sanjaks (from Turkish sancàk, “banner”). In 1580 a broad area covering modern Bosnia and some surrounding areas of Croatia and Serbia was given the full status of an eyalet, or constituent province of the empire. Bosnia enjoyed this status as a distinct entity throughout the rest of the Ottoman period. The Bosnian eyalet was governed by a vizier and administered through a network of junior pashas and local judges. Land was distributed according to the Ottoman feudal system (feudalism), in which the holder of a timar (estate) had to report for military duty, bringing and supporting other soldiers. A wide range of taxes (taxation) was imposed, including the harač, a graduated poll tax on non-Muslims. The notorious system called devşirme was also introduced, under which Christian children were taken off for training in the imperial administration and the Janissary corps, an elite army division. In all these respects, conditions in Bosnia were similar to those in the other conquered areas of Europe.

      In one crucial way, however, Bosnia differed from the other Balkan lands (except, later, Albania): a large part of the native population converted to Islam (Islāmic world). This was a gradual development; it took more than a hundred years for Muslims to become an absolute majority. There was no mass conversion at the outset, and no mass emigration of Muslims from Turkey. The fundamental reason for the growth of such a large Muslim population in Bosnia may lie in the earlier religious history of the Bosnian state. Whereas neighbouring Serbia had benefited from a strong, territorially organized national church, Bosnia had seen competition in most areas between the Bosnian church and the Roman Catholic church, both of which operated only out of monastic houses. In Herzegovina a third church, the Serbian Orthodox, had also competed. Christianity was thus structurally weaker in Bosnia than in almost any other part of the Balkans. The motives that inclined Bosnians to adopt Islam were partly economic: the prosperous cities of Sarajevo and Mostar were mainly Muslim, and it was not possible to lead a full civic life there without converting to Islam. Other motives included the privileged legal status enjoyed by Muslims and, possibly, a desire to avoid the harač, though Muslims were subject, unlike Christians, both to the alms tax and to the duties of general military service. But the traditional belief that Bosnian noblemen converted en masse to Islam in order to keep their estates has been largely disproved by modern historians.

      Another way in which Bosnia differed from other parts of the Ottoman Balkans is that for most of the Ottoman period Bosnia was a frontier province, facing two of the empire's most important enemies, Austria-Hungary and Venice. To fill up depopulated areas of northern and western Bosnia, the Ottomans encouraged the migration of large numbers of hardy settlers with military skills from Serbia and Herzegovina. Many of these settlers were Vlachs (Vlach), members of a pre-Slav Balkan population that had acquired a Latinate language and specialized in stock breeding, horse raising, long-distance trade, and fighting. Most were members of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Before the Ottoman conquest, that church had had very few members in the Bosnian lands outside Herzegovina and the eastern strip of the Drina valley; there is no definite evidence of any Orthodox church buildings in central, northern, or western Bosnia before 1463. During the 16th century, however, several Orthodox monasteries were built in those parts of Bosnia, apparently to serve the newly settled Orthodox population there.

      Major wars affecting Bosnia took place almost every two generations throughout the Ottoman period. Bosnia was an important recruiting ground for Süleyman I the Magnificent's campaign to conquer Hungary (1520–33); there was fighting on Bosnia's borders during his final Hungarian campaign of 1566; and the large-scale Habsburg-Ottoman conflict of 1593–1606 was sparked by fighting in the Bihać region of northwestern Bosnia. This war left Bosnia financially drained and militarily exhausted. A Venetian-Ottoman war began in the 1640s and lasted until 1669, involving heavy fighting and destruction in parts of western Bosnia. In the Habsburg-Ottoman war of 1683–99, Austria reconquered Ottoman Hungary and Slavonia, sending a flood of Muslim refugees (mainly converted Slavs) into Bosnia. In 1697 a small Austrian army under Prince Eugene Of Savoy marched into the heart of Bosnia, put Sarajevo to the torch, and hurried back to Austrian territory, taking thousands of Catholic Bosnians. In the next major war (1714–18) Austria joined forces with Venice; at the Treaty of Passarowitz (Passarowitz, Treaty of) (Požarevac) in 1718, Venetian-ruled Dalmatia was allowed to extend its territory inland, reaching a line that since then has formed part of the southwestern border of Bosnia. Austria invaded Bosnia again in 1736 but was repelled by local forces; at the subsequent peace settlement (the Treaty of Belgrade (Belgrade, Treaty of), 1739), Austria gave up its claim to the territory south of the Sava River. This settlement formed the basis of the northern border of modern Bosnia. Austria seized more territory after invading Bosnia again in 1788, but it yielded up its gains at the peace settlement in 1791.

      The chronic fighting weakened Bosnia. War necessitated increased taxation, causing tax revolts. Forced conscription and frequent plague epidemics led to a relative reduction in the Muslim population, which contributed its manpower to Ottoman campaigns throughout the empire and may have suffered disproportionately from the effects of plague in the cities. In the 18th century there was strong growth in the Christian population; by the end of the century the Muslims were probably no longer in the majority. The social consequences of war also included a change in the system of land tenure: increasingly, the old feudal timar estates were converted into a type of private estate known as a čiftlik, in response to the imperial treasury's need for cash instead of old-style feudal service. The conditions of work demanded of the peasants on these estates were usually much more severe, and these peasants tended increasingly to be Christians, since Muslim peasants were able to acquire smallholdings in their own right.

      Nevertheless, Ottoman Bosnia was not permanently sunk in misery. Descriptions of Sarajevo by visiting travelers portray it as one of the wonders of the Balkans, with fountains, bridges, schools, libraries, and mosques. Fine mosques were also built in towns such as Foča and Banja Luka. (Many of these buildings were systematically demolished by Serb forces in 1992–93.) Numerous works of poetry, philosophy, and theology were written. The cities of Sarajevo and Mostar, where such urban culture flourished, enjoyed a large degree of autonomy under elected officials. After the Bosnian viziers moved out of Sarajevo in the 1690s, they found it almost impossible to return, residing instead in the town of Travnik and exercising only limited power. Real local power passed increasingly into the hands of a type of hereditary official (unique to the Bosnian eyalet) known as a kapetan.

      The existence of these powerful local institutions meant that Bosnia was well equipped to resist the reforming measures that the Ottoman sultans began to issue in the early 19th century. When Sultan Mahmud II reformed the military in 1826 and abolished the Janissary corps (which had acquired the status of a privileged social institution), the reform was fiercely resisted by local Janissaries in Bosnia. The Ottoman authorities mounted punitive campaigns against the Janissaries' stronghold, Sarajevo, in 1827 and 1828. In 1831 a charismatic young kapetan called Husein seized power in Bosnia, imprisoning the vizier in Travnik. With an army of 25,000 men, Husein then marched into Kosovo to negotiate with the Ottoman grand vizier, demanding local autonomy for Bosnia and an end to the reform process there. But the grand vizier stirred up a rivalry between Husein and the leading kapetan of Herzegovina, Ali-aga Rizvanbegović, and in the following year Husein's support melted away when a large Ottoman army entered Bosnia. Rizvanbegović's reward was that Herzegovina was separated from the Bosnian eyalet as a distinct territory under his rule. Further reforms announced by Sultan Abdülmecid I, involving new rights for Christian subjects, a new basis for army conscription, and an end to the much-hated system of tax-farming, were either resisted or ignored by the powerful Bosnian landowners. During these final decades of Ottoman rule, Muslims were violently expelled from Serbia; the rise of Serbia as a quasi-autonomous Christian province made Bosnian Muslims feel more isolated and vulnerable, and the increasing role of foreign powers (especially Austria and Russia) as “protectors” of the interests of Christians in the Balkans also raised their suspicions. Bosnian landowners, feeling that they could no longer trust the Ottoman authorities in Constantinople (now Istanbul) to maintain their power, frequently turned to more repressive measures against their Christian subjects.

      However, two Bosnian governors succeeded in forcing through some of the sultan's reforms and curbing local resistance. The first of these, Omer-paša Latas, crushed a major rebellion in 1850–51 and revoked the separate status of Herzegovina. The second, Topal Osman-paša, introduced a new method of military conscription in 1865 and a completely new administrative system in 1866, dividing Bosnia into seven sanjaks and establishing a consultative assembly. He also built schools, roads, and a public hospital and allowed the two Christian communities to build new schools and churches of their own. Tax demands on Bosnian peasants continued to grow. In 1875 a revolt against the state tax collectors began among Christian peasants in the Nevesinje region of Herzegovina; unrest soon spread to other areas of Bosnia, and repressive force was applied both by the new Bosnian governor and by local landowners using their own irregular troops. Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1876, and Russia came into the war on their behalf in the following year. When the Serbo-Turkish War ended in 1878, the other great powers of Europe intervened at the Congress of Berlin (Berlin, Congress of) to counterbalance Russia's new influence in the Balkans. The congress decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina, while remaining notionally under Turkish sovereignty, would be occupied and governed by Austria-Hungary. In 1878 Austro-Hungarian troops took control of Bosnia, overcoming vigorous resistance from local Bosnian forces; they also occupied the neighbouring sanjak of Novi Pazar, which had been one of the seven Bosnian sanjaks in the late Ottoman period.

Bosnia under Austro-Hungarian rule
      Bosnia was declared a “crown land” and was governed by a special joint commission under the Common Ministry of Finance. The Ottoman administrative division of Bosnia was preserved, and Ottoman laws were only gradually replaced or supplemented. This policy of gradualism was the most striking aspect of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia under the Common Finance Minister Benjamin Kállay (Kállay, Benjamin), a specialist in Slav history who directed Bosnian policy from 1882 to 1903. Indeed, a common criticism of Austro-Hungarian rule was that little was done to resolve tensions between landlords and peasants. In other areas, however, Kállay's rule was extremely active. A public works program was initiated, and by 1907 Bosnia had a well-developed infrastructure, including an extensive railway and road network. Mines and factories were developed, and agriculture was promoted with model farms and training colleges. Three high schools and nearly 200 primary schools were built, although compulsory education was not introduced until 1909.

      While he succeeded in many of these areas of practical improvement, Kállay failed in his central political project: developing a Bosnian national consciousness to insulate the people of Bosnia from the growing movements of Croatian, Serbian, and Yugoslav (“South Slav”) nationalism. Catholic and Orthodox people of Bosnia had begun by the mid-19th century to identify themselves as “Croats” and “Serbs.” At the same time, Muslim intellectuals were campaigning for greater powers over the Islamic institutions of Bosnia, thereby becoming quasi-political representatives of a Muslim community with its own distinctive interests. During the first decade of the 20th century, “national organizations” of Muslims, Serbs, and Croats were set up that functioned as embryonic political parties. In response, Kállay's successor, István, Baron von Burián, granted a degree of autonomy in religious affairs to both the Muslims and the Serbs.

      In October 1908 (Bosnian crisis of 1908) nationalist feeling was strongly aroused by the sudden announcement that Bosnia would be fully annexed by Austria-Hungary. The decision, which caught other great powers by surprise and created a diplomatic crisis lasting many months, was prompted by the revolution of the Young Turks in Constantinople, who appeared ready to establish a more democratic regime in Turkey, which could then plausibly reclaim Turkish rights over Bosnia. Inside Bosnia, one effect of this change was beneficial: Burián felt able to promote democratic institutions, introducing a parliament there (with limited powers) in 1910. But the bitter resentment that the annexation caused among Serb and South Slav nationalists led to the growth of revolutionary groups and secret societies dedicated to the overthrow of Habsburg rule. One of these, Mlada Bosna (“Young Bosnia”), was especially active in Bosnian schools and universities. Tension was heightened by the First Balkan War (Balkan Wars) of 1912–13, in which Serbia expanded southward, driving Turkish forces out of Kosovo, Novi Pazar, and Macedonia. In May 1913 the military governor of Bosnia, General Oskar Potiorek, declared a state of emergency, dissolving the parliament, closing down Serb cultural associations, and suspending the civil courts. The heir to the Habsburg throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand (Francis Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este), traveled to Bosnia to review a military exercise. He entered Sarajevo and was killed there on June 28, 1914, by a young assassin from the Mlada Bosna organization, Gavrilo Princip (Princip, Gavrilo), who had received some assistance from inside Serbia. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia one month later, precipitating World War I.

      Bosnia was under military rule throughout World War I, and repressive measures were applied to those Bosnian Serbs whose loyalty was suspect. At the end of the war, Bosnian politicians from each of the three main communities followed the political leaders of Croatia and Slovenia in throwing off Habsburg rule and joining in the creation of a new South Slav state, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Kingdom of).

Bosnia in the Yugoslav kingdom
      When the constitution of this new state was finally settled in June 1921, Bosnia retained no formal status of its own; however, its outline was preserved on the map, in the form of six oblasti (provinces) corresponding to the sanjaks (excluding that of Novi Pazar) of the late Ottoman period. Serfdom was abolished, but Bosnia remained relatively undeveloped socially and politically. In the territorial division of 1929, Bosnia was divided between four other administrative districts and thus was wiped off the map. Further adjustments were made in 1939, with the creation of a special Croatian territory within Yugoslavia that included portions of Bosnian territory. In 1941, after the Axis invasion (World War II) of Yugoslavia, the entire Bosnian territory was absorbed into the puppet state known as the Independent State of Croatia.

      The killing that took place in Bosnia between 1941 and 1945 was terrible in both scale and complexity. The Ustaša, the fascist (fascism) movement that ruled Croatia during the war, exterminated (genocide) most of Bosnia's 14,000 Jews and massacred Serbs on a large scale: more than 100,000 Serbs from Bosnia died, roughly half in death camps. Two organized resistance movements emerged, a Serbian royalist force known as the Chetniks (Chetnik), led by Draža Mihailović (Mihailović, Dragoljub), and the communist Partisan force (including Serbs, Croats, and Muslims) led by Josip Broz Tito (Tito, Josip Broz). The sharply divergent aims of the two movements resulted in a civil war. Royalist forces turned increasingly to German and Italian forces for assistance and committed atrocities against Bosnian Muslims; some Bosnian Muslims joined an SS division that operated in northern and eastern Bosnia for six months during 1944, exacting reprisals against the local Serb population. The Partisans liberated Sarajevo in April 1945 and declared a “people's government” for Bosnia later that month. It is estimated that the total number of deaths in Bosnia during the war was 164,000 Serbs, 75,000 Muslims, and 64,000 Croats.

Bosnia in communist (communism) Yugoslavia
      In 1946 the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the constituent republics of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Life in Bosnia underwent all the social, economic, and political changes that were imposed on the whole of Yugoslavia by its new communist government, but Bosnia was particularly affected by the abolition of many traditional Muslim institutions, such as Qurʾānic primary schools, rich charitable foundations, and dervish religious orders. However, a change of official policy in the 1960s led to the acceptance of “Muslim” as a term denoting a national identity: the phrase “Muslim in the ethnic sense” was used in the 1961 census, and in 1968 the Bosnian Central Committee decreed that “the Muslims are a distinct nation.” By 1971 Muslims formed the largest single component of the Bosnian population. During the next 20 years the Serb and Croat populations fell in absolute terms as many Serbs and Croats emigrated. In the 1991 census Muslims made up more than two-fifths of the Bosnian population, while Serbs made up slightly less than one-third and Croats one-sixth. From the mid-1990s, the term Bosniac had replaced Muslim as the name for this group.

      In the 1980s the rapid decline of the Yugoslav economy led to widespread public dissatisfaction with the political system. This attitude, together with the manipulation of nationalist feelings by politicians, destabilized Yugoslav politics. Independent political parties appeared in 1988. In early 1990 multiparty elections were held in Slovenia and Croatia; when elections were held in Bosnia in December, new parties representing the three national communities gained seats in rough proportion to their populations. A tripartite coalition government was formed, with the Bosniac politician Alija Izetbegović leading a joint presidency. Growing tensions both inside and outside Bosnia, however, made cooperation with the Serbian Democratic Party, led by Radovan Karadžić (Karadžić, Radovan), increasingly difficult.

      In 1991 several self-styled “Serb Autonomous Regions” were declared in areas of Bosnia with large Serb populations. Evidence emerged that the Yugoslav People's Army was being used to send secret arms deliveries to the Bosnian Serbs from Belgrade. In August the Serbian Democratic Party began boycotting the Bosnian presidency meetings; in October it removed its deputies from the Bosnian assembly and set up a “Serb National Assembly” in Banja Luka. By then full-scale war had broken out in Croatia, and the breakup of Yugoslavia was under way. Bosnia's position became highly vulnerable. The possibility of partitioning Bosnia had been discussed during talks between the Croatian president, Franjo Tudjman, and the Serbian president, Slobodan Milošević, earlier in the year, and two Croat “communities” in northern and southwestern Bosnia, similar in some ways to the “Serb Autonomous Regions,” were proclaimed in November 1991. When the European Community (EC; now European Union) recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia in December, it invited Bosnia to apply for recognition also. A referendum on independence was held February 29–March 1, 1992, although Karadžić's party obstructed voting in many Serb-populated areas. Nearly two-thirds of the electorate cast a vote; almost all voted for independence, which was officially proclaimed on March 3 by President Izetbegović.

Independence and war
      Attempts by EC negotiators to promote a new division of Bosnia into ethnic “cantons” during February and March 1992 failed: different versions of these plans were rejected by each of the three main parties. When Bosnia's independence was recognized by the United States and the EC on April 7, Serbian paramilitary forces immediately began firing on Sarajevo, and the bombardment of the city by heavy artillery began soon thereafter. During April many of the towns in eastern Bosnia with large Bosniac populations, such as Zvornik, Foča, and Višegrad, were attacked by a combination of paramilitary forces and Yugoslav army units. Most of the local Bosniac population was expelled from these areas, the first victims in Bosnia of a process described as “ ethnic cleansing.” Within six weeks, a coordinated offensive by the Yugoslav army, Serbian paramilitary groups, and local Bosnian Serb forces left roughly two-thirds of Bosnian territory under Serbian control. In May the army units and equipment in Bosnia were placed under the command of a Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladić.

      From the summer of 1992, the military situation remained fairly static. A hastily assembled Bosnian government army, together with some better-prepared Croat forces, held the front lines for the rest of that year, though its power was gradually eroded in parts of eastern Bosnia. The Bosnian government was weakened militarily by an international arms embargo and by a conflict in 1993–94 with Croat forces. In 1994, however, Croats and Bosniacs agreed to form a joint federation. The United Nations (UN) refused to intervene in the war in Bosnia, but its troops facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid; the organization later extended its role to the protection of a number of UN-declared “safe areas.” Several peace proposals failed, largely because the Serbs refused to concede any territory (they controlled about 70 percent of land by 1994).

      In May 1995 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces launched air strikes on Serbian targets after the Serbian military refused to comply with a UN ultimatum. Further air strikes led to U.S.-sponsored peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, in November. The agreement that resulted from those talks called for a federalized Bosnia in which 51 percent of the land would constitute a Croat-Bosniac federation and 49 percent a Serb republic. To enforce the agreement, signed in December, a 60,000-member international force was deployed. It was originally estimated that at least 200,000 people were killed and more than 2,000,000 displaced during the 1992–95 war. Subsequent studies, however, concluded that the death toll was actually about 100,000.

      An election in September 1996 produced a tripartite national presidency chaired by Izetbegović but including Croat and Serbian representatives. Karadžić had been indicted for war crimes and was prohibited from being a candidate, though he retained some support among Bosnian Serbs into the 21st century. (He eluded capture until his arrest in Belgrade, Serb., in July 2008.) The federal legislature, with seats apportioned to each ethnic group, was dominated by nationalist parties.

Noel R. Malcolm
      Over the next several years the country experienced an uneasy peace. It received extensive international assistance, but the economy remained in shambles. Much of the workforce was unemployed—about 50 percent in the Bosniac-Croat federation and 70 percent in the Serb Republic. The two parts of the republic were largely autonomous, each having its own president and assembly. The national government was largely responsible for international affairs, and a representative of the international community was appointed to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement and act as the final authority. By the early 21st century, projects funded by the World Bank had succeeded in reconstructing much of the country's infrastructure, and some political and economic reforms were implemented. Nevertheless, ethnic tensions continued to flare, and the long-term future of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was questionable, as a vast majority of Croats and Serbs believed their future lay in independence or with Croatia and Serbia, respectively, rather than with the republic.

Ed.

Additional Reading
William G. Lockwood, European Moslems: Economy and Ethnicity in Western Bosnia (1975), by a social anthropologist, studies village life in the 1960s, focusing on a Muslim community and suggesting the ways in which economic activity in the regional marketplace integrates different ethnic group members. John V.A. Fine, Jr., The Bosnian Church: A New Interpretation (1975), a highly detailed study of religion and conversion patterns in pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina, argues powerfully against the “Bogomil” interpretation. Ivo Banac, The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics (1984), deals with the period between the two world wars—see especially pp. 359–378, which consider Muslim political activity and self-perceptions. Two books cover the entire history of Bosnia from early medieval times to the 1990s: Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A Short History (1994); and Robert J. Donia and John V.A. Fine, Jr., Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed (1994). Mark Pinson (ed.), The Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina (1994), contains essays on the Muslim population from the early Ottoman period to the present. Valuable information on Austro-Hungarian policy is presented in Peter F. Sugar, Industrialization of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1878–1918 (1963). Bosnia's international significance in the years before World War I is discussed in Bernadotte E. Schmitt, The Annexation of Bosnia, 1908–1909 (1937, reprinted 1970); and the background to the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand is vividly presented in Vladimir Dedijer, The Road to Sarajevo (1966). On the war that began in 1992, the report by Helsinki Watch, War Crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2 vol. (1992–93), contains both cool analysis and a mass of carefully substantiated detail.Noel R. Malcolm William G. Lockwood, European Moslems: Economy and Ethnicity in Western Bosnia (1975), by a social anthropologist, studies village life in the 1960s, focusing on a Muslim community and suggesting the ways in which economic activity in the regional marketplace integrates different ethnic group members. John V.A. Fine, Jr., The Bosnian Church: A New Interpretation (1975), a highly detailed study of religion and conversion patterns in pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina, argues powerfully against the “Bogomil” interpretation. Ivo Banac, The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics (1984), deals with the period between the two world wars—see especially pp. 359–378, which consider Muslim political activity and self-perceptions. Two books cover the entire history of Bosnia from early medieval times to the 1990s: Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A Short History (1994); and Robert J. Donia and John V.A. Fine, Jr., Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed (1994). Mark Pinson (ed.), The Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina (1994), contains essays on the Muslim population from the early Ottoman period to the present. Valuable information on Austro-Hungarian policy is presented in Peter F. Sugar, Industrialization of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1878–1918 (1963). Bosnia's international significance in the years before World War I is discussed in Bernadotte E. Schmitt, The Annexation of Bosnia, 1908–1909 (1937, reprinted 1970); and the background to the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand is vividly presented in Vladimir Dedijer, The Road to Sarajevo (1966). On the war that began in 1992, the report by Helsinki Watch, War Crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2 vol. (1992–93), contains both cool analysis and a mass of carefully substantiated detail.Noel R. Malcolm

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bosnia redirects here. For other uses, see Bosnia (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosna i Hercegovina Босна и Херцеговина …   Wikipedia

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina — • Together, form the north western corner of the Balkan Peninsula Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Bosnia and Herzegovina     Bosnia and Herzegovina      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina —    Bosnia and Herzegovina has been predominantly Muslim since the Ottoman Muslim conquest of the 15th century. Christianity had some presence, thanks largely to Catholic Croatia to the north and west and Orthodox Serbia to the east, but there was …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina — [bäz′nē ə and hert΄sə gō vē′nə] country in SE Europe: it came under Turkish rule in the 15th cent. and under Austro Hungarian control in 1878: it was part of Yugoslavia (1918 91): 19,741 sq mi (51,129 sq km); pop. 4,366,000; cap. Sarajevo: also… …   English World dictionary

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina — <p></p> <p></p> Introduction ::Bosnia and Herzegovina <p></p> Background: <p></p> Bosnia and Herzegovina s declaration of sovereignty in October 1991 was followed by a declaration of independence… …   The World Factbook

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina — noun a mountainous republic of south central Europe; formerly part of the Ottoman Empire and then a part of Yugoslavia; voted for independence in 1992 but the mostly Serbian army of Yugoslavia refused to accept the vote and began ethnic cleansing …   Useful english dictionary

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia relations — Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia relations Croatia …   Wikipedia

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark — konvertibilna marka (Bosnian) (Croatian) (Serbian) конвертибилна марка (Serbian) …   Wikipedia

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 — Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was Lejla by Hari Varešanović. It was selected as the country s entry by the national broadcaster, PBSBiH. At the European final, it came third, giving the country its highest… …   Wikipedia

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina–Russia relations — is the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia. Russia has an embassy in Sarajevo, and Bosnia has an embassy in Moscow …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”