Portal:Bosnia and Herzegovina
Welcome to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Portal
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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 -
The Split Agreement or Split Declaration (Serbo-Croatian: Splitski sporazum or Splitska deklaracija) was a mutual defence agreement between Croatia, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in Split, Croatia on 22 July 1995. It called on the Croatian Army (HV) to intervene militarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily in relieving the siege of Bihać.
The Split Agreement was a turning point in the Bosnian War as well as an important factor in the Croatian War of Independence. It led to a large-scale deployment of the HV in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the capture of strategic positions in Operation Summer '95. This in turn allowed the quick capture of Knin, the capital of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), and the lifting of the siege of Bihać soon thereafter, during Operation Storm. Subsequent HV offensives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), as well as NATO air campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina, shifted the military balance in the Bosnian War, contributing to the start of peace talks, leading to the Dayton Agreement. (Full article...)General images
More did you know
- ... that despite being a Serb, Tatjana Ljujić-Mijatović stayed in Serb-besieged Sarajevo and became the only woman member of the wartime Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina?
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 -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Mladen_Lorkovi%C4%87.jpg/220px-Mladen_Lorkovi%C4%87.jpg)
Mladen Lorković (Croatian pronunciation: [mlâden lǒːrkoʋit͡ɕ]; 1 March 1909 – April 1945) was a Croatian politician and lawyer who became a senior member of the Ustaše and served as the Foreign Minister and Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. Lorković led the Lorković-Vokić plot, an attempt to establish a coalition government between the Ustaše and the Croatian Peasant Party and align the Independent State of Croatia with the Allies.
As a student, he joined the Croatian Party of Rights but, viewed as a dissident in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, he fled the country to avoid arrest and eventually settled in Germany where he obtained a doctorate in law at the University of Berlin. In 1934, he joined the Ustaše and became a close associate of Ante Pavelić. Although he was initially commander of all Ustaše in Germany, where he sought support in creating and protecting a Croatian state, he later became leader of all Ustaše outside Italy. Soon after the establishment of the NDH, he was appointed as Foreign Minister and strongly opposed Italian influence on the state. After his cabinet chief, Ivo Kolak, was executed in 1943 for smuggling gold, Lorković was removed from office but later named Minister of Interior. As Minister of Interior, he negotiated with the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) in the hopes of establishing a coalition government. He also held secret negotiations with HSS representatives to propose having the NDH join the Allies against Germany. Although he apparently had the support of Pavelić, he and his cohorts were soon arrested as conspirators against the state and after a period in detention was executed at the end of April 1945 alongside Ante Vokić. (Full article...)List of selected biographies
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Did you know (auto-generated)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg/47px-Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg.png)
- ... that Ivan Ančić was the first Bosnian Franciscan to use the Latin script to write in his native language?
- ... that a Socialist Youth League candidate in the 1990 Bosnian general election registered his ethnicity as 'Eskimo' as an apparent protest against ethnic registry requirements for candidates?
Subcategories
Related portals
Religions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ex-Yugoslav countries
Other countries
Topics
Recognized content
Things you can do
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- 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
- Stubs needing expansion:
- Featured Portals:
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- Articles with Featured Article Candidate's status within reach:
- Current Featured Candidates:
- Featured Articles: (Don't be too bold!)
- 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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