Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
A country in southern Europe, in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. It consists of two entities: the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS). The territory covers 51,000 km². The FBiH accounts for 26,100 km², while the RS covers 24,990 km². The capital is Sarajevo (300,000), with major cities including Tuzla, Banja Luka, Mostar, and Zenica. The population, according to estimates from the Federal Statistical Agency, is 3.6 million (2005), of which 2.14 million live in the FBiH and 1.46 million in the RS. Before the armed conflict (according to the 1991 census), the country had a population of 4.36 million: Muslims (Slavs who converted to Islam, now known as Bosniaks) - 43.6%, Serbs - 31.4%, Croats - 17.3%. During the conflict from 1992 to 1995, approximately 260,000 people died in BiH, and over 2 million became refugees and internally displaced persons.
The official languages are Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian. Religions include Islam, Orthodoxy, and Catholicism. The currency is the convertible mark of BiH, which is pegged to the euro at a ratio of 1:0.51.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (Russia recognized BiH on April 27, 1992, and diplomatic relations were established on December 26, 1996).
Currently, there is no officially established national holiday.
According to the constitution, Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a "soft federation," whose members have a high degree of autonomy in political, economic, and other areas of life.
The collective head of state is the Presidency of BiH, consisting of 3 members - one representative from each of the 3 constituent nations. The new composition of the Presidency was elected in 2002. Currently, the members of the Presidency are Croat I.M. Jovic, Serb B. Paravac, and Bosniak S. Tihic. The position of the rotating Presidency chair is rotated every 8 months (since late June 2005 - I.M. Jovic). The term of office for the Presidency is 4 years. The Presidency is responsible for foreign policy issues, the appointment of ambassadors and other international representatives of BiH, the chair of the Council of Ministers, and presenting budget proposals to the parliament, among others.
The highest legislative body is the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, which consists of 2 chambers: the House of Peoples (15 deputies: 10 from the Federation of BiH, 5 from the Republika Srpska elected by the parliaments of the two entities) and the House of Representatives (42 directly elected deputies: 2/3 from the Federation of BiH, 1/3 from the Republika Srpska). The current composition of the BiH parliament was elected in October 2002.
The term of office for deputies is 4 years.
The highest executive authority in BiH is the Council of Ministers, which consists of 10 ministries: Foreign Affairs, Security, Defense, Finance, Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Transport and Communications, Civil Affairs, Human Rights and Refugees, and Justice.
The leading political parties in BiH include the Bosniak parties: the Party of Democratic Action and the Party for BiH; the Croatian Democratic Union; and the Serbian parties: the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, the Serbian Democratic Party, and the Party of Democratic Progress.
Since the 1st century, the country was under Roman rule, and from the 6th century, it was under Byzantine control. Slavs settled in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 6th-7th centuries AD. From the 7th to the 14th centuries, BiH was a feudal principality, and then (in the 14th century) a kingdom. In the 15th century, a period of feudal fragmentation began, which ended with the conquest of BiH by the Ottoman Empire (from 1463 to 1482). After Turkey's defeat in the war with Russia in 1878, BiH was ceded to Austria-Hungary. In 1918, BiH became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (from 1929 - the Kingdom of Yugoslavia).
In 1941, the territory of BiH was occupied by German-fascist troops and included in the "Independent State of Croatia." As a result of the National Liberation War from 1941 to 1945, the territory of BiH was liberated from occupation. After World War II (from 1945), BiH became part of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (from 1963 - the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) as one of its 6 republics.
In April 1992, BiH declared its independence. In the spring of the same year, interethnic tensions (between the Muslim, Croatian, and Serbian communities) escalated into armed clashes and then into a full-scale war that lasted until October 1995. During negotiations in Dayton (USA) in 1995, a package of peace agreements to resolve the Bosnian conflict was initialed between the leaders of the Bosnian sides, the FRY, and Croatia, with the participation of representatives from Russia, the USA, and the EU. On December 14, 1995, the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH was signed in Paris, one of the annexes of which is the Constitution of BiH. Since December 1995, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution No. 1031, the process of implementing the peace agreement has been ongoing in BiH. Initially, implementation forces were deployed, followed by stabilization forces, with overall military command exercised through NATO. Since December 2004, they have been replaced by EU forces (EUFOR) numbering about 7,000. From 1996 to 2003, a Russian military contingent was stationed in BiH in the settlement of Ugljevik.
BiH is a member of the UN (since 1992) and the OSCE.
In April 2002, BiH became a member of the Council of Europe.
The country has significant reserves of minerals, including iron and lead-zinc ores, bauxite, and lignite. Before the outbreak of hostilities, there were machine engineering enterprises (aircraft and automobile manufacturing, machine tool manufacturing, etc.), black and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical and forestry industries.
In agriculture, there is pasture livestock farming (sheep, cattle), crop farming (mainly in the north and river valleys - corn, wheat, sugar beets, tobacco), horticulture (plums, apples, walnuts), and viticulture. Over the years of war, the economy and social sphere of BiH were almost completely destroyed. The total material damage is estimated by various sources to be between 20 and 80 billion dollars.
The level of industrial production fell to 15% of the pre-war level.
Currently, mainly due to international donor assistance, infrastructure has been restored, and GDP has reached 70% of the pre-war level.
Economic reforms have been launched in the country, with 65% of small enterprises privatized and 40% of large enterprises, and foreign capital is actively operating.
In the Federation of BiH, the most widely circulated daily newspapers are: "Dnevni Avaz," "Večernje Novine," "Oslobođenje"; in the Republika Srpska - "Glas Srpske" and "Nezavisne Novine." Information agencies include ONASA, FENA, and SRNA. Radio and television stations are also operational.