 Country name:
conventional long form: none conventional short form:Bosnia and Herzegovina local long form:none local short form:Bosna i Hercegovina former:People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Government type:
emerging federal democratic republic
Capital:
name:Sarajevogeographic coordinates:43 52 N, 18 25 E time difference:UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time:+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
2 first-order administrative divisions and 1 internationally supervised district* - the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine), the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska, Brcko District (Brcko Distrikt)*; note - Brcko District is in northeastern Bosnia and is a self-governing administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and formally held in condominium between the two entities
Independence:
1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence completed on 1 March 1992; independence declared on 3 March 1992)
National holiday:
National Day (Statehood Day), 25 November (1943); note - observed only in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity
Constitution:
14 December 1995 (constitution included as part of the Dayton Peace Accords); amended several times, last in 2003; note - each of the entities has its own constitution (2011)
Legal system:
civil law system; Constitutional Court review of legislative acts
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age, 16 if employed; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:Chairman of the Presidency Bakir IZETBEGOVIC (chairman since 10 March 2014; presidency member since 10 November 2010 - Bosniak) ; other members of the three-member presidency rotate every eight months: Zeljko KOMSIC (presidency member since 6 November 2006 - Croat); Nebojsa RADMANOVIC (presidency member since 6 November 2006 - Serb)head of government:Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vjekoslav BEVANDA (since 12 January 2012) cabinet:Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved by the state-level House of Representatives elections:the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term, but then ineligible for four years) by constituencies referring to the three ethnic groups; the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is elected; the chairmanship rotates every eight months and resumes where it left off following each general election; election last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); the chairman of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives election results:percent of vote - Nebojsa RADMANOVIC with 48.9% of the votes for the Serb seat; Zeljko KOMSIC with 60.6% of the votes for the Croat seat; Bakir IZETBEGOVIC with 34.9% of the votes for the Bosniak seat note:President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zivko BUDIMIR (since 17 March 2011); Vice Presidents Svetozar PUDARIC (since 17 March 2011) and Mirsad KEBO (since 17 March 2007); President of the Republika Srpska Milorad DODIK (since 15 November 2010); Vice Presidents Enes SULJKANOVIC (since 15 November 2010) and Emil VLAJKI (since 15 November 2010)
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats, 5 Bosniak, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members designated by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Peoples and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve four-year terms); and the state-level House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats, 28 seats allocated for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats for the Republika Srpska; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatureselections:House of Peoples - last constituted in 9 June 2011 (next likely to be constituted in 2015); state-level House of Representatives - election last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014) election results:House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - NA; state-level House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - Federation votes: SDP BiH 26.1%, SDA 19.4%, SBB BiH 12.2%, HDZ BiH 11%, SBIH 7.3%, HDZ-1990/HSP BiH 4.9%, NSRzB 4.8%, DNZ 1.5%; Republika Srpska votes: SNSD 43.3%, SDS 22.2%, PDP 6.5%, DNS 4.6%; seats by party/coalition - SDP BiH 8, SNSD 8, SDA 7, SDS 4, SBB BiH 4, HDZ-BiH 3, SBiH 2, HDZ-1990/HSP BiH 2, NSRzB 1, DNZ 1, PDP 1, DNS 1 note:the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that consists of a House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 17 Serb, 7 other); last constituted May 2011 (next likely to be constituted in 2015); and a House of Representatives (98 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); percent of vote by party - SDP BiH 24.5%, SDA 20.2%, SBB BiH 11.9%, HDZ BiH 10.6%, SBiH 7.6%, NSRzB 4.7%, HDZ 1990/HSP BiH 4.7%, A-SDA 1.9%, DNZ 1.5%, SNSD .9%; seats by party/coalition - SDP BiH 28, SDA 23, SBB BiH 13, HDZ-BiH 12, SBiH 9, NSRzB 5, HDZ-1990/HSP BiH 5, DNZ 1, A-SDA 1, SNSD 1; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); percent of vote by party - SNSD 38%, SDS 19%, PDP 7.6%, DNS 6%, SPRS 4.2%, DP 3.4%, SDP BiH 3%, SDA 2.7%, SRS RS 2.4%, NDS 2.1%; seats by party/coalition - SNSD 37, SDS 18, PDP 7, DNS 6, SPRS 4, DP 3, SDP BiH 3, SDA 2, NDS 2, SRS-RS 1; as a result of the 2002 constitutional reform process, a 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples (COP) was established in the Republika Srpska National Assembly including 8 Croats, 8 Bosniaks, 8 Serbs, and 4 members of the smaller communities
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):BiH Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); Court of BiH (consists of 44 national judges and 7 international judges organized into three divisions - Administrative, Appellate, and Criminal, which includes a War Crimes Chamber)judge selection and term of office:BiH Constitutional Court judges - 4 selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives, 2 selected by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and 3 non-Bosnian judges selected by the president of the European Court of Human Rights; Court of BiH president and national judges appointed by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council; Court of BiH president appointed for renewable 6-year term; other national judges appointed to serve until age 70; international judges recommended by the president of the Court of BiH and appointed by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina; international judges appointed to serve until age 70 subordinate courts:the Federation has 10 cantonal courts plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has a supreme court, 5 district courts, and a number of municipal courts
Political parties and leaders:
Activist Democratic Party or A-SDAAlliance for a Better Future of BiH or SBB BiH [Fahrudin RADONCIC] Alliance of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad DODIK] Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes AJANOVIC] Bosnian Patriotic Party or BPS [Sefer HALILOVIC] Civic Democratic Party or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC] Croat Peasants' Party-New Croat Initiative or HSS-NHI [Ante COLAK] Croatian Christian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HKDU [Ivan MUSA] Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ-BiH [Dragan COVIC] Croatian Democratic Union 1990 or HDZ-1990 [Martin RAGUZ] Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HSP BiH [Zvonko JURISIC] Democratic National Union or DNZ [Rifat DOLIC] Democratic Peoples' Alliance or DNS [Marko PAVIC] Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Amir HUSARIC] Nasa Stranka or NS [Denis GRATZ] National Democratic Party or NDS New Socialist Party or NSP [Zdravko KRSMANOVIC] Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBiH [Amer JERLAGIC] Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC] Party of Democratic Progress or PDP [Mladen IVANIC] Party of Justice and Trust or SPP [Zivko BUDIMIR] People's Democratic Movement or NDP [Dragan CAVIC and Krsto JANDRIC] (unification of the Democratic Party or DP and the People's Democratic Party or NDS) 'People's' Party of Work for Progress or NSRzB [Mladen IVANKOVIC-LIJANOVIC] Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Mladen BOSIC] Serb Radical Party of the Republika Srpska or SRS-RS [Milanko MIHAJLICA] Serb Radical Party-Dr. Vojislav Seselj or SRS-VS [Dejan SANTIC] Social Democratic Party of BiH or SDP BiH [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA] Social Democratic Union or SDU [Miro LAZOVIC] Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS [Petar DJOKIC]
| | Political pressure groups and leaders:
Activist Democratic Party or A-SDAAlliance for a Better Future of BiH or SBB BiH [Fahrudin RADONCIC] Alliance of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad DODIK] Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes AJANOVIC] Bosnian Patriotic Party or BPS [Sefer HALILOVIC] Civic Democratic Party or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC] Croat Peasants' Party-New Croat Initiative or HSS-NHI [Ante COLAK] Croatian Christian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HKDU [Ivan MUSA] Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ-BiH [Dragan COVIC] Croatian Democratic Union 1990 or HDZ-1990 [Martin RAGUZ] Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HSP BiH [Zvonko JURISIC] Democratic National Union or DNZ [Rifat DOLIC] Democratic Peoples' Alliance or DNS [Marko PAVIC] Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Amir HUSARIC] Nasa Stranka or NS [Denis GRATZ] National Democratic Party or NDS New Socialist Party or NSP [Zdravko KRSMANOVIC] Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBiH [Amer JERLAGIC] Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC] Party of Democratic Progress or PDP [Mladen IVANIC] Party of Justice and Trust or SPP [Zivko BUDIMIR] People's Democratic Movement or NDP [Dragan CAVIC and Krsto JANDRIC] (unification of the Democratic Party or DP and the People's Democratic Party or NDS) 'People's' Party of Work for Progress or NSRzB [Mladen IVANKOVIC-LIJANOVIC] Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Mladen BOSIC] Serb Radical Party of the Republika Srpska or SRS-RS [Milanko MIHAJLICA] Serb Radical Party-Dr. Vojislav Seselj or SRS-VS [Dejan SANTIC] Social Democratic Party of BiH or SDP BiH [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA] Social Democratic Union or SDU [Miro LAZOVIC] Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS [Petar DJOKIC]
International organization participation:
BIS, CD, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:Ambassador Jadranka NEGODIC (since 19 July 2012)chancery:2109 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone:[1] (202) 337-1500 FAX:[1] (202) 337-1502 consulate(s) general:Chicago, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Nicholas M. HILL (since 24 August 2013)embassy:1 Robert C. Frasure Street, 71000 Sarajevo mailing address:use embassy street address telephone:[387] (33) 704-000 FAX:[387] (33) 659-722 branch office(s):Banja Luka, Mostar
Flag description:
a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow isosceles triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag; the remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle; the triangle approximates the shape of the country and its three points stand for the constituent peoples - Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs; the stars represent Europe and are meant to be continuous (thus the half stars at top and bottom); the colors (white, blue, and yellow) are often associated with neutrality and peace, and traditionally are linked with Bosnia
National symbol(s):
golden lily
National anthem:
name:'Drzavna himna Bosne i Hercegovine' (The National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
lyrics/music:Dusan SESTIC and Benjamin ISOVIC/Dusan SESTIC note:music adopted 1999; lyrics adopted 2009 |