472,082
edits
Difference between revisions of "Bosnia Herzegovina"
no edit summary
| (10 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
<!--- google head start ---> | |||
<html> | |||
<center> | |||
<script async="" src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8301339234603383" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> | |||
<!-- 728x90, wikiheader 6/24/10 --> | |||
<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-8301339234603383" data-ad-slot="0064050268"></ins> | |||
<script> | |||
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); | |||
</script> | |||
</center> | |||
</html> | |||
<!--- google head end ---> | |||
{{Bosnia Herzegovina cities}} | |||
{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; border: 0px;" | |||
|- | |||
|style="border: 0px solid blue;"| | |||
{|border=7 | |||
|- | |||
|style="border: 1px solid red;"|[[:category:Bosnia Herzegovina Photo Gallery|<font size="3">'''''Bosnia Herzegovina Photo Gallery'''''</font>]] | |||
|} | |||
|style="border: 0px solid blue;"| | |||
{| border=7 | |||
|- | |||
|style="border: 1px solid red;"|[[:Category:Bosnia Herzegovina_Realty|<font size="3" color=green>'''''Bosnia Herzegovina Realty'''''</font>]] | |||
|} | |||
|} | |||
---- | |||
---- | |||
<div style="float: right; width: 300; height: "> | |||
{| width="336" | |||
|- | |||
|align="center"|'''THE BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVIA COAT OF ARMS'''<br>[[file:Coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1998-2001.svg|336px]] | |||
|- | |||
|align="center"|[[File:Europe location BHG.png|336px]]<br>Location of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the continent of [[South America]] | |||
|- | |||
|align="center"|[[File:Map_of_bosnia-hercegovina.jpg|336px]]<br>Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||
|- | |||
|align="center"|[[file:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-2).svg|336px]]<br>Flag Description of Bosnia and Herzegovina:The Bosnia and Herzegovina flag was officially adopted in February, 1998. | |||
The blue and white colors are from the Pan-Slavic Tricolore. The prominate gold shield is taken from the arms of King Stephen Tvrtho, 1376-1391. The fleur-de-Lis is symbolic of family ties to the Anjous, the ruling Hungarian dynasty in the 14th century. | |||
|- | |||
|align="center"|{{zad00}} | |||
|} | |||
</div> | |||
'''Official name''' Bosna i Hercegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina)<br> | '''Official name''' Bosna i Hercegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina)<br> | ||
'''Form of government''' emerging republic with bicameral legislature (House of Peoples [151]; House of Representatives [42])<br> | '''Form of government''' emerging republic with bicameral legislature (House of Peoples [151]; House of Representatives [42])<br> | ||
| Line 22: | Line 70: | ||
'''GNI per capita (U.S.$)''' (2013) 4,740<br> | '''GNI per capita (U.S.$)''' (2013) 4,740<br> | ||
1All seats are nonelective. | |||
2Nominally a tripartite (Serb, Croat, Bosniak [Bosnian Muslim]) presidency with a chair that rotates every eight months. | |||
3High Representative of the international community per the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement/EU Special Representative. | |||
4The KM is pegged to the euro. | |||
5The euro also circulates as semiofficial legal tender. | |||
==Background of Bosnia Herzegovina== | ==Background of Bosnia Herzegovina== | ||
| Line 61: | Line 118: | ||
== | ==Demography of Bosnia Herzegovina== | ||
'''The People''' | |||
*Ethnic groups and religions | *Ethnic groups and religions | ||
| Line 218: | Line 277: | ||
*Ancient and medieval periods | *Ancient and medieval periods | ||
When the Romans extended their conquests into the territory of modern Bosnia during the 2nd and 1st centuries bce, the people they encountered there belonged mainly to Illyrian tribes. Most of the area of modern Bosnia was incorporated into the Roman province of Dalmatia. During the 4th and 5th centuries ce, Roman armies suffered heavy defeats in this region at the hands of invading Goths. When the Goths were eventually driven out of the Balkans by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the early 6th century, the Bosnian territory became, notionally at least, part of the Byzantine Empire.--->[[More about History of Bosnia Herzegovina|>>>>Read On.<<<<]] | When the Romans extended their conquests into the territory of modern Bosnia during the 2nd and 1st centuries bce, the people they encountered there belonged mainly to Illyrian tribes. Most of the area of modern Bosnia was incorporated into the Roman province of Dalmatia. During the 4th and 5th centuries ce, Roman armies suffered heavy defeats in this region at the hands of invading Goths. When the Goths were eventually driven out of the Balkans by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the early 6th century, the Bosnian territory became, notionally at least, part of the Byzantine Empire.--->[[More about History of Bosnia Herzegovina|>>>>Read On.<<<<]] | ||
==Bosnian conflict== | |||
''European history [1992–1995] | |||
by:John R. Lampe | |||
'''Bosnian conflict'''<br> | |||
[[File:Bosnia_Conflict.jpg]]<br> | |||
''Bosnian conflict: destruction in Sarajevo <br> | |||
''Buildings and vehicles destroyed in Grbavica, a suburb of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian conflict (1992–95).<br> | |||
'''Bosnian conflict: detention camp'''<br> | |||
[[File:Bosnian_conflict-detention_camp.jpg]]<br> | |||
''Detainees at Manjača, a detention camp operated by Bosnian Serb forces near Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, c. 1992.<br> | |||
'''Bosnia and Herzegovina: peace agreement, 1995'''<br> | |||
[[File:Bosnia_and_Herzegovina-_peace_agreement,_1995.jpg]]<br> | |||
''World leaders applauding after the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paris, December 14, 1995. Seated (from left) are Slobodan Milošević, Franjo Tudjman, and Alija Izetbegović. Standing (from left) are Felipe González, Bill Clinton, Jacques Chirac, Helmut Kohl, John Major, and Viktor Chernomyrdin.<br> | |||
Bosnian conflict, ethnically rooted war (1992–95) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a former republic of Yugoslavia with a multiethnic population comprising Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs, and Croats. After years of bitter fighting that involved the three Bosnian groups as well as the Yugoslav army, Western countries with backing by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) imposed a final cease-fire negotiated at Dayton, Ohio, U.S., in 1995. | |||
Background | |||
In 1946 the People’s Republic (from 1963, Socialist Republic) of Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the constituent republics of the Federal People’s (from 1963, Socialist Federal) Republic of Yugoslavia, and life in Bosnia and Herzegovina underwent all the social, economic, and political changes that were imposed on the whole of Yugoslavia by its new communist government. Bosnia and Herzegovina was particularly affected by the abolition of many traditional Muslim institutions, such as Qurʾānic primary schools, rich charitable foundations, and Dervish religious orders. However, a change of official policy in the 1960s led to the acceptance of “Muslim” as a term denoting a national identity: the phrase “Muslim in the ethnic sense” was used in the 1961 census, and in 1968 the Bosnian Central Committee decreed that “the Muslims are a distinct nation.” By 1971 Muslims formed the largest single component of the Bosnian population. During the next 20 years the Serb and Croat populations fell in absolute terms as many Serbs and Croats emigrated. In the 1991 census Muslims made up more than two-fifths of the Bosnian population, while Serbs made up slightly less than one-third and Croats one-sixth. From the mid-1990s the term Bosniak replaced Muslim as the name Bosnian Muslims use for themselves. | |||
In the 1980s the rapid decline of the Yugoslav economy led to widespread public dissatisfaction with the political system. That attitude, together with the manipulation of nationalist feelings by politicians, destabilized Yugoslav politics. Independent political parties appeared by 1989. In early 1990, multiparty elections were held in Slovenia and Croatia. When elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina in December, new parties representing the three national communities gained seats in rough proportion to their populations. A tripartite coalition government was formed, with the Bosniak politician Alija Izetbegović leading a joint presidency. Growing tensions both inside and outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, made cooperation with the Serbian Democratic Party, led by Radovan Karadžić, increasingly difficult. | |||
In 1991 several self-styled “Serb Autonomous Regions” were declared in areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina with large Serb populations. Evidence emerged that the Yugoslav People’s Army was being used to send secret arms deliveries to the Bosnian Serbs from Belgrade (Serbia). In August the Serbian Democratic Party began boycotting the Bosnian presidency meetings, and in October it removed its deputies from the Bosnian assembly and set up a “Serb National Assembly” in Banja Luka. By then full-scale war had broken out in Croatia, and the breakup of Yugoslavia was under way. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s position became highly vulnerable. The possibility of partitioning Bosnia and Herzegovina had been discussed during talks between the Croatian president, Franjo Tudjman, and the Serbian president, Slobodan Milošević, earlier in the year, and two Croat “communities” in northern and southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, similar in some ways to the “Serb Autonomous Regions,” were proclaimed in November 1991. | |||
When the European Community (EC; later succeeded by the European Union) recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia in December, it invited Bosnia and Herzegovina to apply for recognition also. A referendum on independence was held during February 29–March 1, 1992, although Karadžić’s party obstructed voting in most Serb-populated areas and almost no Bosnian Serbs voted. Of the nearly two-thirds of the electorate that did cast a vote, almost all voted for independence, which President Izetbegović officially proclaimed on March 3, 1992. | |||
Independence and war | |||
Attempts by EC negotiators to promote a new division of Bosnia and Herzegovina into ethnic “cantons” during February and March 1992 failed: different versions of those plans were rejected by each of the three main ethnic parties. When Bosnia and Herzegovina’s independence was recognized by the United States and the EC on April 7, Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces immediately began firing on Sarajevo, and the artillery bombardment of the city by Bosnian Serb units of the Yugoslav army began soon thereafter. During April many of the towns in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina with large Bosniak populations, such as Zvornik, Foča, and Višegrad, were attacked by a combination of paramilitary forces and Yugoslav army units. Most of the local Bosniak population was expelled from these areas, the first victims in the country of a process described as ethnic cleansing. Although Bosniaks were the primary victims and Serbs the primary perpetrators, Croats were also among the victims and perpetrators. Within six weeks a coordinated offensive by the Yugoslav army, paramilitary groups, and local Bosnian Serb forces brought roughly two-thirds of Bosnian territory under Serb control. In May the army units and equipment in Bosnia and Herzegovina were placed under the command of a Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladić. | |||
From the summer of 1992, the military situation remained fairly static. A hastily assembled Bosnian government army, together with some better-prepared Bosnian Croat forces, held the front lines for the rest of that year, though its power was gradually eroded in parts of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian government was weakened militarily by an international arms embargo and by a conflict in 1993–94 with Croat forces. But later in 1994, Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks agreed to form a joint federation. The United Nations (UN) refused to intervene in the Bosnian conflict, but UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) troops did facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The organization later extended its role to the protection of a number of UN-declared “safe areas.” However, the UN failed to protect the safe area of Srebrenica in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces perpetrated the massacre of more than 7,000 Bosniak men (see Srebrenica massacre). | |||
Several peace proposals during the war failed, largely because the Bosnian Serbs—who controlled about 70 percent of the land by 1994—refused to concede any territory. In February 1994, in NATO’s first-ever use of force, its fighters shot down four Bosnian Serb aircraft that were violating the UN-imposed no-fly zone over the country. Later that year, at the UN’s request, NATO launched isolated and ineffective air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets. Following the Srebrenica massacre and another Bosnian Serb attack on a Sarajevo marketplace, NATO undertook more concentrated air strikes late in 1995. Combined with a large-scale Bosniak-Croat land offensive, this action led Bosnian Serb forces to agree to U.S.-sponsored peace talks in Dayton in November. Serbian Pres. Slobodan Milošević represented the Bosnian Serbs. The resulting Dayton Accords called for a federalized Bosnia and Herzegovina in which 51 percent of the land would constitute a Croat-Bosniak federation and 49 percent a Serb republic. To enforce the agreement, formally signed in December 1995, a 60,000-member international force was deployed. | |||
It was originally estimated that at least 200,000 people were killed and more than 2,000,000 displaced during the 1992–95 war. Subsequent studies, however, concluded that the death toll was actually about 100,000. | |||
==Bosnian crisis of 1908-''Balkan history''== | |||
Bosnian crisis of 1908, state of severe international tension caused by the annexation by Austria-Hungary of the Balkan provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Congress of Berlin (1878) had given Austria-Hungary the right to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily, but the provinces officially remained possessions of the Ottoman Empire. Still, the Austrian administration tried mightily and at great expense to improve the strategically valuable region economically and to link it closely with Austria-Hungary. When in July 1908 the Young Turks staged a revolution in Constantinople (now Istanbul), established a constitutional government, and inaugurated a reform program, the Austrian foreign minister Graf (count) Lexa von Aehrenthal resolved to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina before the new Turkish regime could regain control over them. | |||
To that end Aehrenthal met the Russian foreign minister, Aleksandr P. Izvolsky, at Buchlau, in Moravia; and, on Sept. 16, 1908, Izvolsky agreed that Russia would not object to the annexation. Aehrenthal pledged that in return Austria would not object to opening the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships, an advantage that had been denied to Russia since 1841. By a rescript of Oct. 7, 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. | |||
Izvolsky, unprepared for such immediate action, could not control the strong popular opposition to the annexation that developed in Russia. Furthermore, Serbia, which was closely related to Bosnia and Herzegovina geographically and ethnically, was outraged by the annexation. It demanded that Austria cede a portion of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia, and Izvolsky, pressed by anti-Austrian opinion in Russia, was forced to support the Serbian claims. Austria, however, firmly supported by its ally Germany, threatened to invade Serbia if that country persisted in its demands. Russia, having failed to secure equally strong support from its ally France, could not risk a war against both Austria-Hungary and Germany for Serbia’s sake, and in March 1909 Izvolsky notified Germany that Russia accepted Austria’s annexation. Although the crisis was resolved without immediate warfare, the resulting embittered relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary and Russia’s resentment at having been deceived and humiliated contributed to the outbreak of World War I. | |||
==[[Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004]]== | |||
Bosnia and Herzegovina Area: 51,209 sq km (19,772 sq mi) Population (2004 est.): 3,870,000 Capital: Sarajevo Heads of state: Nominally a tripartite presidency chaired by Dragan Covic, Sulejman Tihic ...[[Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004|>>>read on<<<]] | |||
==Disclaimer== | ==Disclaimer== | ||
{{disclaimer countries}} | {{disclaimer countries}} | ||
[[category:countries]] | [[category:countries]] | ||