Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
After four centuries of Ottoman rule over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary took control in 1878 and held the region until 1918, when it was incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. After World War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Bosnia and Herzegovina declared sovereignty in October 1991 and independence from the SFRY on 3 March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. Bosnian Serb militias, with the support of Serbia and Croatia, then tried to take control of territories they claimed as their own.
- Capital
- Sarajevo
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Population
- 3,653,499
- Area
- 51,197 sq km
- Location
- Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia
- Climate
- hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters;
- Natural resources
- coal; iron ore; antimony; bauxite; copper; lead…
- Languages
- Bosnian (official) 52.9%; Serbian (official) 30.8%; Croatian (official) 14.6%; other 1.6%…
- Religions
- Muslim 50.7%; Orthodox 30.7%; Roman Catholic 15.2%; atheist 0.8%…
- Independence
- 1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia)
- Administrative divisions
- 3 first-order administrative divisions - Brcko District (Brcko Distrikt) (ethnically mixed), Federation of Bosnia and He…
- Currency
- konvertibilna markas (BAM)
- Export partners
- Germany 15%; Croatia 14%; Serbia 12%; Austria 10%…
- Import partners
- Italy 13%; Germany 11%; Serbia 11%; China 9%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain