Facts about Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Official name: Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Population: 3.8 million (UN, 2009) Capital: Sarajevo Area: 51,129 sq km (19,741 sq miles) Administrative organisation: two entities (Federation of BiH ‐ FBiH and Republika Srpska ‐ RS), and Brčko District of BiH Official languages: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian (B/C/S) Religions: Muslim, Serb Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and other Ethnic groups: Bosniak, Serb, Croat, and others Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 78 years (women) (UN) Currency: 1 convertible mark = 100 convertible pfennig (BAM ‐ official; KM ‐ konvertibilna marka ‐ common use) Exchange rate: 1 EUR = 1.95 K M |
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is located in South Eastern Europe, in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula near the Adriatic Sea, bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast. It has a diverse ethnic population of an estimated 3.8 million. The country is rich in natural resources, such as coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, timber and hydropower, and also benefits from a favourable climate for agriculture and tourism. BiH is also rich in biodiversity and is home to 1,800 endemic species of Balkan flora and numerous threatened species.
Throughout its history, BiH has been affected and influenced by numerous empires and rulers, from the Roman and Byzantine empires, through the Middle Age Kingdom of Bosnia and Ottoman rule, to the Austro‐Hungarian annexation at the close of the 19th Century.
After the First World War BiH became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and soon after was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After the Second World War the country became one of the six republics of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Following the referendum of 1 March 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence on 3 March 1992, and became a member of the United Nations on 22 May, 1992 (GA Resolution 757).
