World Atlas 2010 (4th edition)

176

FACTFILE

OFFICIAL NAME: Bosnia and Herzegovina

DATE OF FORMATION: 1992

CAPITAL: Sarajevo

POPULATION: 3.77 million

TOTAL AREA: 19,741 sq. miles

(51,129 sq. km)

DENSITY: 191 people per sq. mile

LANGUAGES: Bosnian, Serbian,

Croatian*

RELIGIONS: Muslim 40%, Orthodox

Christian 31%, Catholic 15%, other 14%

ETHNIC MIX: Bosniak 44%, Serb 31%,

Croat 17%, other 8%

GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary system

CURRENCY: Marka = 100 pfeninga

Perched in the highlands of southeast Europe, Bosnia

and Herzegovina was the focus of the bitter ethnic conflict which

accompanied the early 1990s dissolution of the Yugoslav state.

GEOGRAPHY

Hills and mountains, with narrow

river valleys. Lowlands in the north.

Mainly deciduous forest covers about

half of the total area.

CLIMATE

Continental. Hot summers

and cold, often snowy winters.

PEOPLE & SOCIETY

Despite sharing the same origin

and spoken language, Bosnians have

been divided by history between

Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and

Muslim Bosniaks. Ethnic cleansing was

practiced by all sides in the civil war,

displacing about 60% of the population.

Hopes for EU integration will require

further ethnic reconciliation.

THE ECONOMY

Potential to recover status as a

thriving market economy with a strong

manufacturing base, but still struggles

with resettling refugees and the legacy

of war. Little investment.

INSIGHT: The murder of Archduke

Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo in

1914 triggered the First World War

EUROPE

Bosnia & Herzegovina

50 km

50 miles

0

0

2000m/6562ft

1000m/3281ft

500m/1640ft

200m/656ft

Sea Level

CROATIA

MONTENEGRO

CROATIA

SERBIA

D

in

a

r

i

c

A

l

p

s

Sava

Bo

sn

a

Dr

ina

Banja Luka

Zenica

Tuzla

Mostar

Prijedor

Zvornik

Srebrenica

Travnik

Bugojno

Bihaá

Doboj

Modriâa

SARAJEVO

REPUBLICA SRPSKA

FEDERACIJA

BOSNA I

HERCEGOVINA