Economy
Agricultural products (Agriculture-products) [time series]
wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Budget [time series]
revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]
1 convertible marka = 100 convertible pfenniga; former currencies still used
Debt - external (Debt-external) [time series]
$3.5 billion (yearend 1995 est.)
Economic aid [time series]
recipient: $1.2 billion (1997 pledged)
Economic overview (Economy-overview) [time series]
Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked next to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as the poorest republic in the old Yugoslav federation. Although agriculture has been almost all in private hands, farms have been small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally has been a net importer of food. Industry has been greatly overstaffed, one reflection of the rigidities of communist central planning and management. TITO had pushed the development of military industries in the republic with the result that Bosnia hosted a large share of Yugoslavia's defense plants. The bitter interethnic warfare in Bosnia caused production to plummet by 80% from 1990 to 1995, unemployment to soar, and human misery to multiply. With an uneasy peace in place, output has recovered in 1996-97 at high percentage rates on a low base, but remains less than half the 1990 level. The country, especially in the Muslim-Croat area, receives substantial amounts of humanitarian aid from the international community. Wide regional differences in war damage and access to the outside world have resulted in substantial variations in living conditions among local areas and individual families.
Electricity - capacity (Electricity-capacity) [time series]
2.339 million kW (1995)
Electricity - consumption per capita (Electricity-consumption per capita) [time series]
506 kWh (1995)
Electricity - production (Electricity-production) [time series]
1.4 billion kWh (1995)
Exchange rates [time series]
NA
Exports [time series]
total value: $152 million (1995 est.) commodities: NA partners: NA
Fiscal year [time series]
calendar year Communications
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]
purchasing power parity-$4.41 billion (1997 est.)
GDP - composition, by sector of origin (GDP-composition by sector) [time series]
agriculture: 19% industry: 23% services: 58% (1996 est.)
Real GDP per capita (GDP-per capita) [time series]
purchasing power parity-$1,690 (1997 est.)
Real GDP growth rate (GDP-real growth rate) [time series]
35% (1997 est.)
Imports [time series]
total value: $1.1 billion (1995 est.) commodities: NA partners: NA
Industrial production growth rate [time series]
NA%
Industries [time series]
steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining; much of capacity damaged or shut down (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) (Inflation rate-consumer price index) [time series]
NA%
Labor force [time series]
total: 1,026,254 by occupation: NA%
Broadcast media (Radio broadcast stations) [time series]
AM 9, FM 2, shortwave 0
Radios [time series]
840,000
Telecommunication systems (Telephone system) [time series]
telephone and telegraph network is in need of modernization and expansion; many urban areas are below average when compared with services in other former Yugoslav republics domestic: NA international: no satellite earth stations
Telephones - fixed lines (Telephones) [time series]
727,000
Broadcast media (Television broadcast stations) [time series]
6
Televisions [time series]
1,012,094
Unemployment rate [time series]
40%-50% (1996 est.)
Geography
total: 51,233 sq km land: 51,233 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative (Area-comparative) [time series]
slightly smaller than West Virginia
Climate [time series]
hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters; mild, rainy winters along coast
Coastline [time series]
20 km
Elevation (Elevation extremes) [time series]
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Maglic 2,386 m
Environment - current issues (Environment-current issues) [time series]
air pollution from metallurgical plants; sites for disposing of urban waste are limited; widespread casualties, water shortages, and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992-95 civil strife
International environmental agreements (Environment-international agreements) [time series]
party to: Air Pollution, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geographic coordinates [time series]
44 00 N, 18 00 E
Geography - note (Geography-note) [time series]
within Bosnia and Herzegovina's recognized borders, the country is divided into a joint Muslim/Croat Federation (about 51% of the territory) and a Serb Republic, The Republika Srpska [RS] (about 49% of the territory); the region called Herzegovina is contiguous to Croatia and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority
Irrigated land [time series]
20 sq km (1993 est.)
Land boundaries [time series]
total: 1,459 km border countries: Croatia 932 km, Serbia and Montenegro 527 km (312 km with Serbia, 215 km with Montenegro)
Land use [time series]
arable land: 14% permanent crops: 5% permanent pastures: 20% forests and woodland: 39% other: 22% (1993 est.)
Location [time series]
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia
Map references [time series]
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe
Maritime claims [time series]
NA
Natural hazards [time series]
frequent and destructive earthquakes
Natural resources [time series]
coal, iron, bauxite, manganese, forests, copper, chromium, lead, zinc
Terrain [time series]
mountains and valleys
Government
Administrative divisions [time series]
there are two first-order administrative divisions approved by the US Government-the Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina) and Republika Srpska; it has been reported that the Muslim/Croat Federation is comprised of 10 cantons identified by either number or name - Goradzde (5), Livno (10), Middle Bosnia (6), Neretva (7), Posavina (2), Sarajevo (9), Tuzla Podrinje (3), Una Sana (1), West Herzegovina (8), Zenica Doboj (4)
Constitution [time series]
the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new constitution now in force
Country name [time series]
conventional long form: none conventional short form: Bosnia and Herzegovina local long form: none local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina
Data code [time series]
BK
Diplomatic representation from the US [time series]
chief of mission: Ambassador Richard KAUZLARICH embassy: 43 Ul. Dure Dakovica, Sarajevo mailing address: use street address telephone: [387] (71) 445-700, 667-391, 667-389, 667-743, 667-390, 659-969, 659-992
Diplomatic representation in the US [time series]
chief of mission: Ambassador Sven ALKALAJ chancery: Suite 760, 1707 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 833-3612, 3613, 3615
Executive branch [time series]
chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Alija IZETBEGOVIC (since 14 September 1996); other members of the three-member rotating presidency: Kresimir ZUBAK (since 14 September 1996-Croat) and Momcilo KRAJISNIK (since 14 September 1996 - Serb) head of government: Cochairman of the Council of Ministers Haris SILAJDZIC (since NA January 1997); Cochairman of the Council of Ministers Boro BOSIC (since NA January 1997) NA cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairmen note: president of the Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and
Diplomatic representation in the US (FAX) [time series]
[1] (202) 833-2061 consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation in the US (FAX) [time series]
[387] (71) 659-722
Flag (Flag description) [time series]
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
Government type [time series]
emerging democracy
Government - note (Government-note) [time series]
Until declaring independence in spring 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina existed as a republic in the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia was partitioned by fighting during 1992-95 and governed by competing ethnic factions. Bosnia's current governing structures were created by the Dayton Accords, the 1995 peace agreement which was officially signed in Paris on 14 December 1995 by Bosnian President IZETBEGOVIC, Croatian President TUDJMAN, and Serbian President MILOSEVIC. This agreement retained Bosnia's exterior border and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government. This national government-based on proportional representation similar to that which existed in the former socialist regime-is charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy. The Dayton Accords also recognized a second tier of government, comprised of two entities-a joint Muslim/Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska (RS)-each presiding over roughly one-half the territory. The Federation and RS governments are charged with overseeing internal functions. As mandated by the Dayton Accords, the Bosnians on 14 September 1996 participated in the first post-war elections of national, entity, and cantonal leaders. The Bosnians have been slow to form and install new joint institutions. A new Federation cabinet was sworn in 18 December 1996 and the new Bosnian central government cabinet was confirmed on 3 January 1997. The Bosnians on 13-14 September 1997 participated in municipal elections, postponed in 1996 because of voter registration irregularities.
Herzegovina [time series]
Ejup GANIC (since 1 January 1998); president of the
Independence [time series]
NA April 1992 (from Yugoslavia)
International organization participation [time series]
CE (guest), CEI, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), OIC (observer), OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Judicial branch [time series]
Supreme Court, supervised by the Ministry of Justice; Constitutional Court, supervised by the Ministry of Justice
Legal system [time series]
based on civil law system
Legislative branch [time series]
bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the National House of Representatives or Vijece Opcina (42 seats-14 Serb, 14 Croat, and 14 Muslim; members serve two-year terms) and the House of Peoples or Vijece Gradanstvo (15 seats-5 Muslim, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members serve two-year terms) elections: National House of Representatives-elections last held 14 September 1996 (next to be held NA); note-the House of Peoples is elected by the Muslim/Croat Federation's 140-seat House of Representatives (two-thirds) and the Republika Srpska's 83-seat National Assembly (one-third) election results: National House of Representatives: two-thirds chosen from the Muslim/Croat Federation: percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-SDA 16, HDZ-BiH 7, Joint List of Social Democrats 3, Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2; one-third chosen from the Bosnian Serb
Capital (National capital) [time series]
Sarajevo
National holiday [time series]
Republika Srpska-"Republic Day," 9 January; Independence Day, 1 March; Bosnia-"Republic Day," 25 November
Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]
Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Alija IZETBEGOVIC]; Croatian Democratic Union of BiH or HDZ-BiH [Bozo RAJIC]; Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Aleksa BUHA]; Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBiH [Haris SILAJDZIC]; Joint List (consists of the following parties: UBSD, RP, MBO, HSG, and SPP); Civic Democratic Party or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC]; Croatian Peasants' Party of BiH or HSS [Ivo KOMSIC]; Independent Social Democratic Party or SNSD [Milorad DODIK]; Liberal Bosniak Organization or LBO [Muhamed FILIPOVIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Rasim KADIC, president]; Muslim-Bosniac Organization or MBO [Adil ZULFIKARPASIC]; Republican Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina or RS [Stjepan KLJUIC]; Serb Civic Council or SGV [Mirko PEJANOVIC]; Social Democratic Party or SDP (formerly the Democratic Party of Socialists or DSS) [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS [Zivko RADISIC]; Social Democrats of Bosnia Herzegovina [Selim BESLAGIC]; Serb Radical Party of RS [Nikola POPLASEN]; Serb Party of Krojina and Posavina or SSKIP [Predrag LAZAREVIC]; National Democratic Union (also known as Democratic People's Union or DNZ) [Fikret ABDIC]; Serb National Alliance or SNS [Biljana PLAVSIC]; Coalition for a United and Democratic BiH (coalition of SDA, SBiH, LS, and GDS) note: 82 parties participated in the September 1997 municipal elections
Political parties (Political pressure groups and leaders) [time series]
NA
Republic [time series]
percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-SDS 9, SDA 3, Democratic Patriotic Front/Union for Peace and Progress 2 note: the Muslim/Croat Federation has a House of Representatives with 140 seats: seats by party-SDA 80, HDZ-BiH 33, Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 11, Joint List of Social Democrats 10, other 6; the
Republika Srpska [time series]
Biljana PLAVSIC (since September 1996) elections: the three presidency members (one each Muslim, Croat, Serb) are elected by direct election (first election for a two-year term, thereafter for a four-year term); the president with the most votes becomes the chairman; election last held 14 September 1996 (next to be held September 1998); the cochairmen are nominated by the presidency election results: Alija IZETBEGOVIC elected chairman of the collective presidency with the highest number of votes; percent of vote-Alija IZETBEGOVIC received 80% of the Muslim vote to Haris SILAJDZIC's 14%; Kresimir ZUBAK received 88% of the Croat vote to Ivo KOMSIC's 11%; Momcilo KRAJISNIK received 68% of the Serb vote to Mladen IVANIC's 30%
Legislative branch (Republika Srpska has a National Assembly with 83 seats) [time series]
seats by party-SDS 24, Serb Radical Party 15, Serb National Alliance 15, Socialist Party 9, Independent Social Democrats 2, Coalition for United Bosnia and Herzegovina and others 18
Suffrage [time series]
16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal
Military
Military and security forces (Military branches) [time series]
Army
Military expenditures - dollar figure (Military expenditures-dollar figure) [time series]
$NA
Military expenditures (Military expenditures-percent of GDP) [time series]
NA%
Military manpower - availability (Military manpower-availability) [time series]
males age 15-49: 912,536 (1998 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service (Military manpower-fit for military service) [time series]
males: 733,931 (1998 est.)
Military manpower - military age (Military manpower-military age) [time series]
19 years of age
Military manpower - reaching military age annually (Military manpower-reaching military age annually) [time series]
males: 26,114 (1998 est.)
People
Age structure [time series]
0-14 years: 18% (male 307,857; female 291,424) 15-64 years: 71% (male 1,177,516; female 1,195,419) 65 years and over: 11% (male 156,041; female 237,470) (July 1998 est.)
Birth rate [time series]
8.72 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate [time series]
12.32 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Ethnic groups [time series]
Serb 40%, Muslim 38%, Croat 22% (est.)
Infant mortality rate [time series]
30.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Languages [time series]
Serbo-Croatian (often called Bosnian) 99%
Life expectancy at birth [time series]
total population: 63.03 years male: 58.35 years female: 68.02 years (1998 est.)
Literacy [time series]
NA
Nationality [time series]
noun: Bosnian(s), Herzegovinian(s) adjective: Bosnian, Herzegovinian
Net migration rate [time series]
39.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Population [time series]
3,365,727 (July 1998 est.) note: all data dealing with population is subject to considerable error because of the dislocations caused by military action and ethnic cleansing
Population growth rate [time series]
3.63% (1998 est.)
Religions [time series]
Muslim 40%, Orthodox 31%, Catholic 15%, Protestant 4%, other 10%
Sex ratio [time series]
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate [time series]
1.14 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international (Disputes-international) [time series]
disputes with Serbia over Serbian populated areas
Illicit drugs [time series]
transit point for minor regional marijuana and opiate trafficking routes BOTSWANA
Transportation
Airports [time series]
26 (1997 est.)
Airports - with paved runways (Airports-with paved runways) [time series]
total: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (1997 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways (Airports-with unpaved runways) [time series]
total: 17 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 7 (1997 est.)
Heliports [time series]
2 (1997 est.)
Roadways (Highways) [time series]
total: 21,846 km paved: 11,425 km unpaved: 10,421 km (1996 est.) note: roads need maintenance and repair
Merchant marine [time series]
none
Pipelines [time series]
crude oil 174 km; natural gas 90 km (1992); note-pipelines now disrupted
Ports (Ports and harbors) [time series]
Bosanski Brod (an inland waterway port on the Sava which is not useable), Orasje (ferry)
Railways [time series]
total: 1,021 km (electrified 795 km; operating as diesel or steam until grids are repaired) standard gauge: 1,021 km 1.435-m gauge (1995); note-some segments still need repair and/or reconstruction
Waterways [time series]
NA km; Sava blocked by downed bridges