londoner
08-05-06, 12:09
Facts
Population: 4.2 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Sarajevo
Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq miles)
Major languages: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Life expectancy: 71 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 convertible marka = 100 convertible pfenniga
Main exports: Wood and paper, metal products
GNI per capita: US $2,040 (World Bank, 2005)
Internet domain: .ba
International dialling code: +387
The Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina is climbing back from three years of bloody inter-ethnic war during 1992-95 between Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs - part of the break-up of Yugoslavia.
The war left Bosnia's infrastructure and economy in tatters. Around two million people - about half the population - were displaced and unable to return to their homes in safety.
Overview
Just under a decade after the conflict ended, the United Nations announced that over a million of them had done so. Further progress has since been reported.
The NATO forces brought in to keep the peace were replaced in 2004 by a much smaller European Union-led peacekeeping force.
International administration has helped the country consolidate stability. Much of the war damage has been repaired and GDP has shown a steady rise. On the other hand, crime and corruption have continued to flourish. Unemployment remains very high and investment is slow.
The 1995 Dayton peace accord, which ended the Bosnian war, established the Office of the High Representative. The representative currently has wide-ranging powers to impose decisions in cases where the authorities are unable to agree, or where political and economic interests are considered to be at stake. Former German minister Christian Schwarz-Schilling took over the role from UK politician Paddy Ashdown in early 2006.
Dayton set up two separate entities, a Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Bosnian Serb Republic, Republika Srpska, each with its own president, government, parliament, police and other bodies. Overarching these entities is a central Bosnian government and rotating presidency.
Critics of Dayton voiced fears that the two entities came too close to being states in their own right and that the arrangement reinforced separatism and nationalism at the expense of integration.
But the stability it brought enabled the country gradually to strengthen the role of central government and increase integration. There is now a single defence structure and intelligence service as well as a central judicial system and a single customs service.
A key breakthrough was achieved in late 2005 when agreement was reached on creating a unified multi-ethnic national police force which will replace the separate forces operated by the entities.
Underlining how far the country has come since Dayton, EU foreign ministers gave the go-ahead in late 2005 for talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the start of Bosnia's long journey towards possible membership.
The prospect of talks with the EU is likely to increase still further pressure for the capture of two key Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Although some of those wanted by the Hague tribunal have been captured, the fact that these two key figures remain at large has given rise to widespread international condemnation.
Leaders
President: The presidency of the republic currently rotates between a Serb, a Bosnian Muslim and a Croat: Borislav Paravac (Serb Democratic Party), Sulejman Tihic (Muslim Party of Democratic Action) and Ivo Miro Jovic (Croatian Democratic Union)
The responsibilities of the presidency lie largely in international affairs.
Ten years on from Dayton, the Muslim, Serb and Croatian leaders voiced commitment to constitutional reform aimed at streamlining the three-member presidency and parliament ahead of elections which are due in autumn 2006. Bosnia's main parties went on to agree the constitutional reform plan but hopes of progress were frustrated when it failed to gain the two-thirds majority it needed in parliament.
Prime minister: Adnan Terzic
Parliamentary elections in October 2002 saw nationalist parties put up a strong showing. Many voters expressed disillusionment with what they saw as the failure of politicians to improve their economic lot and turnout was low.
The Bosnia-Hercegovina parliament approved a government dominated by nationalists with backing from moderate parties.
Prime Minister Terzic of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action pledged to introduce economic and social reforms intended to steer Bosnia towards integration with Europe. He listed growth and investment and fighting crime and corruption as his government's priorities and promised to work with the international community to achieve these goals.
Mr Terzic will be the first prime minister since the end of the war in 1995 to serve a full four-year term.
Previously the post was rotated between representatives of the three main ethnic communities.
Finance minister: Ljerka Maric
Foreign minister: Mladen Ivanic
Defence minister: Nikola Radovanovic
Media
The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina turned most media into propaganda tools in the hands of authorities, armies and factions. Since the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord efforts have been made - with limited success - to develop media which bridge inter-entity boundaries.
The most influential broadcasters in Bosnia are the public radio and TV stations operated by the Bosnian Muslim-Croat and Serb entities. The Office of the High Representative (OHR), the leading international civilian agency in Bosnia, is overseeing the development of a national public broadcasting service.
The OHR and other international organisations have encouraged the development of media which support a civic rather than a nationalist approach.
The media are partially free, but outlets and journalists come under pressure from state bodies and political party structures in both the Bosnian Muslim-Croat and Serb entities.
More than 200 commercial radio and TV stations are on the air, but their development has been hampered by the weak state of the advertising market.
Source: BBC Website
Population: 4.2 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Sarajevo
Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq miles)
Major languages: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Life expectancy: 71 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 convertible marka = 100 convertible pfenniga
Main exports: Wood and paper, metal products
GNI per capita: US $2,040 (World Bank, 2005)
Internet domain: .ba
International dialling code: +387
The Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina is climbing back from three years of bloody inter-ethnic war during 1992-95 between Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs - part of the break-up of Yugoslavia.
The war left Bosnia's infrastructure and economy in tatters. Around two million people - about half the population - were displaced and unable to return to their homes in safety.
Overview
Just under a decade after the conflict ended, the United Nations announced that over a million of them had done so. Further progress has since been reported.
The NATO forces brought in to keep the peace were replaced in 2004 by a much smaller European Union-led peacekeeping force.
International administration has helped the country consolidate stability. Much of the war damage has been repaired and GDP has shown a steady rise. On the other hand, crime and corruption have continued to flourish. Unemployment remains very high and investment is slow.
The 1995 Dayton peace accord, which ended the Bosnian war, established the Office of the High Representative. The representative currently has wide-ranging powers to impose decisions in cases where the authorities are unable to agree, or where political and economic interests are considered to be at stake. Former German minister Christian Schwarz-Schilling took over the role from UK politician Paddy Ashdown in early 2006.
Dayton set up two separate entities, a Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Bosnian Serb Republic, Republika Srpska, each with its own president, government, parliament, police and other bodies. Overarching these entities is a central Bosnian government and rotating presidency.
Critics of Dayton voiced fears that the two entities came too close to being states in their own right and that the arrangement reinforced separatism and nationalism at the expense of integration.
But the stability it brought enabled the country gradually to strengthen the role of central government and increase integration. There is now a single defence structure and intelligence service as well as a central judicial system and a single customs service.
A key breakthrough was achieved in late 2005 when agreement was reached on creating a unified multi-ethnic national police force which will replace the separate forces operated by the entities.
Underlining how far the country has come since Dayton, EU foreign ministers gave the go-ahead in late 2005 for talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the start of Bosnia's long journey towards possible membership.
The prospect of talks with the EU is likely to increase still further pressure for the capture of two key Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Although some of those wanted by the Hague tribunal have been captured, the fact that these two key figures remain at large has given rise to widespread international condemnation.
Leaders
President: The presidency of the republic currently rotates between a Serb, a Bosnian Muslim and a Croat: Borislav Paravac (Serb Democratic Party), Sulejman Tihic (Muslim Party of Democratic Action) and Ivo Miro Jovic (Croatian Democratic Union)
The responsibilities of the presidency lie largely in international affairs.
Ten years on from Dayton, the Muslim, Serb and Croatian leaders voiced commitment to constitutional reform aimed at streamlining the three-member presidency and parliament ahead of elections which are due in autumn 2006. Bosnia's main parties went on to agree the constitutional reform plan but hopes of progress were frustrated when it failed to gain the two-thirds majority it needed in parliament.
Prime minister: Adnan Terzic
Parliamentary elections in October 2002 saw nationalist parties put up a strong showing. Many voters expressed disillusionment with what they saw as the failure of politicians to improve their economic lot and turnout was low.
The Bosnia-Hercegovina parliament approved a government dominated by nationalists with backing from moderate parties.
Prime Minister Terzic of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action pledged to introduce economic and social reforms intended to steer Bosnia towards integration with Europe. He listed growth and investment and fighting crime and corruption as his government's priorities and promised to work with the international community to achieve these goals.
Mr Terzic will be the first prime minister since the end of the war in 1995 to serve a full four-year term.
Previously the post was rotated between representatives of the three main ethnic communities.
Finance minister: Ljerka Maric
Foreign minister: Mladen Ivanic
Defence minister: Nikola Radovanovic
Media
The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina turned most media into propaganda tools in the hands of authorities, armies and factions. Since the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord efforts have been made - with limited success - to develop media which bridge inter-entity boundaries.
The most influential broadcasters in Bosnia are the public radio and TV stations operated by the Bosnian Muslim-Croat and Serb entities. The Office of the High Representative (OHR), the leading international civilian agency in Bosnia, is overseeing the development of a national public broadcasting service.
The OHR and other international organisations have encouraged the development of media which support a civic rather than a nationalist approach.
The media are partially free, but outlets and journalists come under pressure from state bodies and political party structures in both the Bosnian Muslim-Croat and Serb entities.
More than 200 commercial radio and TV stations are on the air, but their development has been hampered by the weak state of the advertising market.
Source: BBC Website