Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina or Босна и Херцеговина)
is a Balkan country in Southern Europe that was formerly part of Yugoslavia. It borders Croatia to the north, west and southwest, Serbia to the east and Montenegro to the southeast. Mostly mountainous, it has access to a tiny portion of the Adriatic Sea coastline in the south.
Within Bosnia and Herzegovina's internationally recognized borders, the country is divided into the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina with a Muslim/Croat majority population (about 51% of the territory) and the Republika Srpska / Serb Republic or RS with a Serb majority population (about 49% of the territory); the region called Herzegovina is contiguous to Montenegro and Croatia and Serbia, and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority in the west and an ethnic Serb majority in the east.
Inland waterway ports on the Sava:
Until recently, the idea of a Bosnian nationality was exclusive only to the nation's muslims or the Bosniaks. Bosnia's Croatians and Serbs looked to Serbia and Croatia for guidance and as the mother country and both had aspiratons for political union with either Serbia or Croatia once the Yugoslav state began to fall apart in the early 1990's. This of course spelled disaster for the state of Bosnia and as a result a bloody civil war was fought between all three groups. In the end the Croatian-Muslim alliance fought the Serbian forces to a stalemate and all three groups were forced to sue for peace with a heavy handled role of the U.S. Clinton Administration helping seal the deal. Things have rapidly improved since then but the two regions of Bosnia still have a long way to go towards complete political and social union. As of now, it could be said Bosnia functions as one country with two or even three different parts. However, the central government lies in Sarajevo and there is one common currency, the Mark. The Serbian region or Serb Republic/Republika Srbska is most notably autonomous both culturally and politically.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991, was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs.
The Bosnian Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro -responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas together to form a "greater Serbia." In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 21 November 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties signed a peace agreement that brought to a halt the three bloody years of ethno-religious civil strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995).
The Dayton Agreement retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government. This national government was charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy. Also recognized was a second tier of government comprised of two entities roughly equal in size: the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska (RS). The Federation and RS governments were charged with overseeing internal functions.
