Bosnia and Herzegovina

Lore & Background

The area has been inhabited since at least the Upper Palaeolithic, 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 civilisations. 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 under Austro-Hungarian rule. 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.

In Their Own Story

The morning mist clung to the Miljacka River as the first light hit the golden dome of the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque. An old man sat on the stone steps of the Latin Bridge, watching the water flow beneath the arch that had once witnessed history turn. He remembered the sound of boots and sirens from decades past, but today, only the laughter of schoolchildren echoed off the cobblestones of Baščaršija. A tourist asked for directions to the war museum; the man pointed with a weathered hand, then offered a cup of coffee instead. 'The past is heavy,' he said softly in three languages, 'but the river keeps moving forward.'

Reader's Guide

Bosnia and Herzegovina has around 3.4 million inhabitants, composed chiefly of three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks, who form one half of the population, followed by Serbs at one-third and Croats at one-sixth; 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 (directorial system). The central government's power is minimal, as the country is largely decentralised; it consists of two highly autonomous 'entities'—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska—and a third unit, the Brčko District, nominally under joint control, albeit governed by its own local government. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a developing country and an upper-middle income economy, 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, while primary and secondary education is free. It is a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe, OSCE, CEFTA, and is also a founding member of the SEECP. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been an EU candidate country since 2022, and a NATO membership candidate since 2010.

Did You Know?

• The name 'Bosnia' is first mentioned in the mid-10th century in a Byzantine handbook, derived from the river Bosna.
• The name 'Herzegovina' comes from the German word 'Herzog' (duke), after a 15th-century Bosnian magnate's title.
• The country's official name changed from Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the 1995 Dayton Agreement.