Welcome to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Portal
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: Bosna i Hercegovina, Босна и Херцеговина), 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. In the south it has a 20 kilometres (12 miles) long coast on the Adriatic Sea, with the town of Neum being its only access to the sea. Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat. 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, but evidence suggests that during the Neolithic age, permanent human settlements were established, including those that belonged to the Butmir, Kakanj, and Vučedol cultures. After the arrival of the first Indo-Europeans, the area was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. The ancestors of the South Slavic peoples that populate the area today arrived during the 6th through the 9th century. In the 12th century, the Banate of Bosnia was established; by the 14th century, this had evolved into the Kingdom of Bosnia. In the mid-15th century, it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule it remained until the late 19th century; the Ottomans brought Islam to the region. 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.
The country is home to three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks are the largest group, Serbs the second-largest, and Croats the third-largest. Minorities include Jews, Roma, Albanians, Montenegrins, Ukrainians and Turks. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member presidency made up of one member from each of the three major ethnic groups. However, 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, which is governed by its own local government.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a developing country and ranks 74th in the Human Development Index. Its economy is dominated by industry and agriculture, followed by tourism and the service sector. Tourism has increased significantly in recent years. The country has a social-security and universal-healthcare system, and primary and secondary level education is free. It is a member of the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the Partnership for Peace, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement; it is also a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean, established in July 2008. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate country and has also been a candidate for NATO membership since April 2010. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Igman Olympic Jumps, also known as Malo Polje, is a defunct ski jumping hill on the mountain of Igman in Ilidža, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of a large hill with a construction point (K-point) of 112 meters (367 ft) and a normal hill with a K-point of 90 meters (295 ft). Construction started in 1980 and the venue opened in 1982 to host ski jumping and Nordic combined at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The large hill event saw Finland's Matti Nykänen set the hill record of 116.0 meters (381 ft) in front of 90,000 spectators. No other International Ski Federation (FIS) sanctioned competitions have taken place at the hills. During the Siege of Sarajevo, the hills became a battleground and have since not been used. However, there are plans to rebuild the in-run, expand the large hill and build new spectator stands and visitor facilities. (Full article...)
General images
More did you know
- ...that NATO pilots flew more than 100,000 sorties over Bosnia during Operation Deny Flight?
Cities
- Banja Luka
- Bihać
- Berkovići
- Bijeljina
- Bosanska Krupa
- Bosanski Petrovac
- Brčko
- Brod
- Bugojno
- Cajnice
- Cazin
- Derventa
- Doboj
- Donji Vakuf
- Dubica
- Foča
- Goražde
- Gornji Vakuf
- Gračanica
- Gradačac
- Gradiška
- Ilidža
- Istočno Sarajevo
- Jajce
- Jablanica
- Kakanj
- Kalesija
- Konjic
- Kotor Varoš
- Laktaši
- Livno
- Ljubuški
- Lukavac
- Modriča
- Mostar
- Nevesinje
- Neum
- Novi Grad
- Novi Travnik
- Olovo
- Petrovo
- Prijedor
- Prnjavor
- Sanski Most
- Sarajevo
- Srebrenik
- Srebrenica
- Teslić
- Tešanj
- Travnik
- Trebinje
- Tuzla
- Velika Kladuša
- Visoko
- Vitez
- Zavidovići
- Zenica
- Zvornik
- Živinice
- Žepče
Selected biography -
Ivo Andrić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иво Андрић, pronounced [ǐːʋo ǎːndritɕ]; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule.
Born in Travnik in Austria-Hungary, modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andrić attended high school in Sarajevo, where he became an active member of several South Slav national youth organizations. Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, Andrić was arrested and imprisoned by the Austro-Hungarian police, who suspected his involvement in the plot. As the authorities were unable to build a strong case against him, he spent much of the war under house arrest, only being released following a general amnesty for such cases in July 1917. After the war, he studied South Slavic history and literature at universities in Zagreb and Graz, eventually attaining his PhD. in Graz in 1924. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1924 to 1941. In 1939, he became Yugoslavia's ambassador to Germany, but his tenure ended in April 1941 with the German-led invasion of his country. Shortly after the invasion, Andrić returned to German-occupied Belgrade. He lived quietly in a friend's apartment for the duration of World War II, in conditions likened by some biographers to house arrest, and wrote some of his most important works, including Na Drini ćuprija (The Bridge on the Drina). (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Ivan Ančić was the first Bosnian Franciscan to use the Latin script to write in his native language?
Subcategories
Related portals
Religions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ex-Yugoslav countries
Other countries
Topics
Recognized content
Things you can do
- Request images:
- Request maps:
- Sarajevo city location map
- Articles wanted:
- Clinical Center University of Sarajevo (Koševo hospital);
- Articles needing major work, Be Bold!: **
- Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Health in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- List of universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Foreign relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Cinema of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Subpages of List of settlements in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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- Featured Portals:
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- Articles with Featured Article Candidate's status within reach:
- Current Featured Candidates:
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- Current Good Article Candidates:
- Good Articles:
- Former Good Articles:
Web resources
- B&H Tourism - Official Web Site
- Tourism Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Official Web Site
- Tourism Association of Republika Srpska - Official Web Site
- Duga-Tehna
Other links:
- Bosnian National Monument - Muslibegovica House
- "Bosnia and Herzegovina". The World Factbook (2024 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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