Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosna i Hercegovina Босна и Херцеговина |
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Anthem: Državna himna Bosne i Hercegovine The National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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Capital and largest city | Sarajevo 43°52′N 18°25′E / 43.867°N 18.417°E | |||||
Official languages | Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian [1] | |||||
Ethnic groups | 48% Bosniak 37% Serb 14% Croat 1% others[2] |
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Demonym | Bosnians, Herzegovinians [3] | |||||
Government | Federal democratic republic[3] | |||||
- | High Representative | Valentin Inzko1 | ||||
- | Presidency members | Nebojša Radmanović2 Željko Komšić3 Bakir Izetbegović4 |
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- | Prime Minister | Nikola Špirić | ||||
Independence | ||||||
- | First Mentioned De Administrando Imperio | 950 | ||||
- | Banate | 1154 | ||||
- | Kingdom | 1377 | ||||
- | Independence lost to Ottoman Empire conquest |
1463 | ||||
- | Bosnian uprising | 1831 | ||||
- | Jurisdiction transferred to Austro-Hungarian Empire |
1878 | ||||
- | Annexation of Bosnia by Austro-Hungarian Empire | 1908 | ||||
- | National Day | November 25, 1943 ZAVNOBIH) | ||||
- | Independence Day (from Yugoslavia) | March 1, 1992 | ||||
- | Observed | April 6, 1992 | ||||
Area | ||||||
- | Total | 51,209 km2 (127th) 19,772 sq mi |
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Population | ||||||
- | 2009 estimate | 3,842,566[4] (127th5) | ||||
- | 1991 census | 4,377,053 | ||||
- | Density | 75/km2 (126th5) 194/sq mi |
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GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
- | Total | $31.492 billion[5] | ||||
- | Per capita | $8,095[5] | ||||
GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
- | Total | $16.631 billion[5] | ||||
- | Per capita | $4,275[5] | ||||
Gini (2007) | 56.2[6] Error: Invalid Gini value |
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HDI (2010) | ![]() Error: Invalid HDI value · 68th |
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Currency | Convertible Mark (BAM ) |
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Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |||||
- | Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
Drives on the | right | |||||
Calling code | 387 | |||||
Internet TLD | .ba | |||||
1. | Not a government member; the High Representative is an international civilian peace implementation overseer with authority to dismiss elected and non-elected officials and enact legislation | |||||
2. | Current presidency Chair; Serb. | |||||
3. | Current presidency member; Croat. | |||||
4. | Current presidency member; Bosniak. | |||||
5. | Rank based on 2007 UN estimate of de facto population. |
Bosnia-Herzegovina is a state on the Balkan peninsula of Southern Europe with an area of 51,280 square kilometres (19,741 sq mi). Around 4.3 million people lived in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1991, prior to its 1992–1995 war. As of 2021 its population is 3,260,688.[8]
Modern History
In 1878 the Austria-Hungary evicted the Turks from Bosnia-Herzegovina, which became a Protectorate, and set up what was described as a "model administration" of these provinces. However, they were open to destabilisation by neighbouring Serbia who sought a 'Greater Serbia' and into which they wanted to include these provinces. This was aggravated in 1903 when the pro-Austrian Serbian Royal Family were brutally murdered in a putsch by Serbian officers who then installed the pro-Russian Karadjordjevic family at the palace in Belgrade. This family were far more robust in pursuing a policy of 'Greater Serbia' expansion. In 1908, some thirty years after their occupation of the provinces, Austria-Hungary formally annexed Boznia-Herzegovina into their empire.[9]
Following The Great War, the liberal plutocratic Western Allies removed Bosnia-Herzegovina from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which they were dismembering, and awarded the provinces to the Serbs' new 'Greater Serbian' state called the Kingdom of Jugoslavia, without a referendum or consulting the inhabitants.
In June 1941 King Peter fled to London following the German invasion provoked by his Cabinet, in league with the British. After World War II, in November 1945, the Yugoslav Constituent Assembly formally deposed King Peter and proclaimed Yugoslavia a Republic. It initially became a Communist client state of the Soviet Union, although this did not stand the test of time and Yugoslavia soon took an independent route under former communist terrorist-now-dictator Josip Tito. Bosnia-Herzegovina became one of the six federal units constituting the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Bosnia-Herzegovina gained its independence from Serbia/Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars of independence of the early 1990s.
Today
The country is home to three ethnic constituent peoples: Bosnians, Serbians and Croats. Regardless of ethnicity, a citizen of Bosnia-Herzegovina is often identified in English simply as a Bosnian. In Bosnia however, the distinction between a Bosnian and a Herzegovinian is maintained as a regional, rather than an ethnic distinction. The country is decentralized and comprised of two political entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, with District Brčko as a de facto third entity.
Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the south, Bosnia-Herzegovina is mostly landlocked, except for 26 kilometres of the Adriatic Sea coastline, centered around the town of Neum. The interior of the country is mountainous in the center and south, hilly in the northwest, and flat in the northeast. The nation's capital and largest city is Sarajevo, seated between several high mountains. Sarajevo was the host site of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games.
The region of Bosnia is the largest geographic region of the modern state with moderate continental climate, marked by hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Smaller Herzegovina is the southern tip of the country, with Mediterranean climate and topography. Bosnia and Herzegovina's natural resources are abundant.
References
- ↑ Parlamentarna Skupština Bosne I Hercegovine. Parlament.ba. Retrieved on 2011-01-04.
- ↑ Bosnia and Herzegovina – CIA World Factbook
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 CIA - The World Factbook. Cia.gov. Retrieved on 2011-01-04.
- ↑ Demography of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Agency for Statistics, november 2010. Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Bosnia and Herzegovina. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
- ↑ Distribution of family income – Gini index. The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved on 2009-09-01.
- ↑ Human Development Report 2010. United Nations (2010). Retrieved on 5 November 2010.
- ↑ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/bosnia-and-herzegovina-population/
- ↑ Bassett, Richard, For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army 1619 to 1918, Yale University Press, 2015, p.416-7. ISBN 978-0-300-17858-6
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