About Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina (orig: Bosna i Hercegovina) is located in south-eastern Europe, bordering Croatia to the north and west and Serbia and Montenegro to the south and east. The country has a tiny stretch of Adriatic coastline (20km) in the southeast, but no ports. Bosnia is the central and northern region of the country, and Herzegovina is the entire southern region. The land is diverse, dominated by mountainous and hilly terrain through central and southern region, and flatlands along river Sava in the north.
River Miljacka at night, Sarajevo; photo: Baris Bakir
While the name evokes memories of a war-torn past, today's Bosnia and Herzegovina remains stable, welcoming tourists once again. In 2004 Paddy Ashdown, a former British Member of Parliament and the country's then High Representative even toured Europe touting Bosnia-Herzegovina as the continent's last great undiscovered tourism destination.
Bosnia and Herzegovina covers a land area of 51,129 square kilometres and has a population of about 4 million people (48,3% Bosniaks, 34,0% Serbs, 15,4% Croats, 2,3% others). The main population centres are Sarajevo, the capital (with a population of just over 400,000), Tuzla, Zenica, Banja Luka and Mostar. The official languages are Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.
The Federation uses the Latin script, whereas the Serbs use the Cyrillic. The climate is continental with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Areas high up in the mountains have shorter, cooler summers and long, severe winters. Those near the coast have mild, rainy winters.