Portal:Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest, with a 20-kilometre-long (12-mile) coast on the Adriatic Sea in the south. Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Its geography is largely mountainous, particularly in the central and eastern regions, which are dominated by the Dinaric Alps. Herzegovina, the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city.

The area has been inhabited since at least the Upper Paleolithic, with permanent human settlement traced to the Neolithic cultures of Butmir, Kakanj, and Vučedol. After the arrival of the first Indo-Europeans, the area was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Most of modern Bosnia was incorporated into the Roman province of Dalmatia by the mid first century BCE. The ancestors of the modern South Slavic peoples arrived between the sixth and ninth centuries. In the 12th century, the Banate of Bosnia was established as the first independent Bosnian polity. It gradually evolved and expanded into the Kingdom of Bosnia, which became the most powerful state in the western Balkans by the 14th century. The Ottoman Empire annexed the region in 1463 and introduced Islam. From the late 19th century until World War I, the country was annexed into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In the interwar period, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, it was granted full republic status in the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1992, following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republic proclaimed independence. This was followed by the Bosnian War, which lasted until late 1995 and ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement.

Bosnia has roughly 3.4 million inhabitants, comprised mostly of three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks, who form approximately two-fifths of the population, followed by Serbs at one-third and Croats at one-fifth; minorities include Jews, Roma, Albanians, Montenegrins, Ukrainians and Turks, who are among 17 recognized "national minorities". Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a presidency made up of one member from each of the three major ethnic groups. The central government's power is highly limited, as the country is largely decentralized; it comprises two autonomous entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska—and a third unit, the Brčko District, governed by its own local government.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a developing country. Its economy is dominated by industry and agriculture, followed by tourism and services; tourism has increased significantly in recent years. The country has a social security and universal healthcare system, and primary and secondary education is free. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate country and has also been a candidate for NATO membership since April 2010. (Full article...)

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On 23 September 1997, Irish rock band U2 performed at Koševo Stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the group's PopMart Tour. They were the first major artist to hold a concert in the city since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995. Approximately 45,000 fans attended the show.

The band first became involved with Sarajevo in 1993 on their Zoo TV Tour; after being approached by aid worker Bill Carter about bringing attention to the Siege of Sarajevo, the band conducted nightly satellite transmissions with Bosnians during their shows. These link-ups were the subject of criticism from journalists for mixing entertainment with human tragedy. Although the war made it impractical for U2 to visit Sarajevo at the time, they vowed to eventually play a concert in the city. After the conflict ended in November 1995, they made arrangements to visit Sarajevo, and with help from United Nations ambassadors and peacekeeping troops, they scheduled and played the concert in 1997. (Full article...)

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Selected biography -

Princip in his prison cell on 4 July 1914

Gavrilo Princip (Serbian Cyrillic: Гаврило Принцип, pronounced [ɡǎʋrilo prǐntsip]; 25 July 1894 – 28 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie, Duchess von Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The assassination of the Archduke and his wife set off the July Crisis, a series of events that within one month led to the outbreak of World War I.

Princip was born in western Bosnia to a poor Serb family. At the age of 13, he was sent to Sarajevo, the capital of Austrian-occupied Bosnia, to study at the Merchants' School. He later transferred to the gymnasium, where he became politically aware. In 1911, he joined Young Bosnia, a secret local society aiming to free Bosnia from Austrian rule and achieve the unification of the South Slavs. After attending anti-Austrian demonstrations in Sarajevo, he was expelled from school and walked to Belgrade, Serbia, to continue his education. During the First Balkan War, Princip traveled to Southern Serbia to volunteer with the Serbian army's irregular forces fighting against the Ottoman Empire but was rejected for being too small and weak. (Full article...)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina
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  • Cirsium eriophorum (Kozara National Park, Republika Srpska)

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Web resources

Other links:

  • Bosnian National Monument - Muslibegovica House
  • "Bosnia and Herzegovina". The World Factbook (2025 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina Economy
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina Map
  • Bosnia News
  • rjecnik.ba English-Bosnian and German-Bosnian On-line Dictionary (in Bosnian, English, and German)
  • The State of Media Freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Public Service Broadcasting Report by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

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