The country consists of numerous mountains. The Dinaric Alps stretch along the western border. The mountainous areas are earthquake-prone. An earthquake in caused widespread building damage in the city of Banja Luka. Forest covers half the land in Bosnia and Herzegovina and natural springs are found throughout the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a diverse country made up of a mix of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, and people of other ethnicities who follow a mix of Muslim, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and other faiths.
Family and friends play an important role for people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and hospitality is common. Popular foods include baklava, a type of sweet cake, and stuffed vegetables, both of which have Turkish roots.
Around 40 percent of Bosnia and Herzegovina is covered in forest, consisting of oak, pine, and beech trees. Plums, grapes, pears, and apples are common in the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina is abundant in wildlife, which includes bears , wolves , foxes, otters, and falcons. A pilot project in the sustainable collection of wild plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina proved successful in with the possibility of its use as a model for conservation in other European countries.
Bosina and Herzegovina is split into two regions that govern themselves independently, each having its own president. As a result of tensions that remain among the country's three main ethnic communities, the president is elected as part of a tripartite presidency, whereby a Bosniak, Serb, and Croat president rotate, each serving eight months.
Agriculture plays a major role in Bosnia and Herzegovina's economy, with some 50 percent of the land used to raise livestock or grow crops. EU enlargement: The next seven. Who can save Bosnia's heritage? International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Office of the High Representative in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Capital: Sarajevo. Read full media profile. Civilians and Bosnian troops under Serbian sniper fire during the siege of Sarajevo in Bosnia formally applies for European Union membership.
Read full timeline. Related Topics. Published 13 March Published 7 February Published 2 November A relatively secular society, intermarriage among religious groups was not uncommon. Neighboring Serbia and Montenegro fought against the Ottoman Empire in and were aided by the Russians, their fellow Slavs. Although the provinces were still officially part of the Ottoman Empire, they were annexed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire on Oct.
As a result, relations with Serbia, which had claims on Bosnia and Herzegovina, became embittered. The hostility between the two countries climaxed in the assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, , by a Serbian nationalist.
This event precipitated the start of World War I ? The name was later changed to Yugoslavia in During the German and Italian occupation, Bosnian and Herzegovinian resistance fighters fought a fierce guerrilla war against the Ustachi, the Croatian Fascist troops. His authoritarian control kept the ethnic enmity of his patchwork nation in check. Tito died in , and with growing economic dissatisfaction and the fall of the iron curtain over the next decade, Yugoslavia began to splinter.
In Dec. In a March referendum, Bosnian voters chose independence, and President Alija Izetbegovic declared the nation an independent state.
Both the Croatian and Serbian presidents had planned to partition Bosnia between themselves. Attempting to carve out their own enclaves, the Serbian minority, with the help of the Serbian Yugoslav army, took the offensive and laid siege, particularly on Sarajevo, and began its ruthless campaigns of ethnic cleansing, which involved the expulsion or massacre of Muslims.
Croats also began carving out their own communities. By the end of Aug. About , died in the war between and Sixty thousand NATO troops were to supervise its implementation. Fighting abated and orderly elections were held in Sept. President Izetbegovic, a Bosnian Muslim, or Bosniak, won the majority of votes to become the leader of the three-member presidency, each representing one of the three ethnic groups.
But this alliance of unreconstructed enemies had little success in creating a working government or keeping violent clashes in check. The terms of the Dec. Many indicted war criminals, including Karadzic, remain at large. NATO proved to be a largely ineffective peacekeeping force. The crucial priorities facing postwar Bosnian leaders were rebuilding the economy, resettling the estimated one million refugees still displaced, and establishing a working government.
Progress on these goals has been minimal, and a massive corruption scandal uncovered in severely tested the goodwill of the international community.
In Aug. It was the first genocide conviction in Europe since the UN genocide treaty was drawn up in In , the trial of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic began. He was charged with crimes against humanity. The expensive and lengthy trial ended without a verdict when he died in March Under pressure from Paddy Ashdown, the international administrator of Bosnia authorized under the Dayton Accord, Bosnian Serb leaders finally admitted in June that Serbian troops were responsible for the massacre of up to 8, Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in Until then, Serb leaders had refused to acknowledge guilt in the worst civilian massacre since World War II.
In Feb. The decision spared Serbia from having to pay war reparations to Bosnia.
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