Background:

Geographic coordinates: 44 00 N 18 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 51,197 km²
Land: 51,187 km²
Water: 10 km²
Rank: 129
Comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries
Total: 1543 km
Border countries: (3) Croatia 956 km; Montenegro 242 km; Serbia 345 km

Coastline: 20 km

Maritime claims: NA

Climate: hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short cool summers and long severe winters; mild rainy winters along coast

Terrain: mountains and valleys

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Maglic 2,386 m

Natural resources: coal iron ore bauxite copper lead zinc chromite cobalt manganese nickel clay gypsum salt sand timber hydropower

Land use
Agricultural land: 42.2%
Forest: 42.8%
Other: 15%

Irrigated land: 30 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 37.5 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes

Geography
Note: within Bosnia and Herzegovina's recognized borders the country is divided into a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation (about 51% of the territory) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska or RS (about 49% of the territory); the region called Herzegovina is contiguous to Croatia and Montenegro and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority in the west and an ethnic Serb majority in the east

Population: 3,867,055 (July 2015 est.)
Rank: 129
Growth rate: -0.13% (2015 est.)
Growth rate rank: 207
Below poverty line: 17.2% (2011 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bosnian Herzegovinian
Adjective: Bosnian Herzegovinian

Ethnic groups: Bosniak 48.4% Serb 32.7% Croat 14.6% other 4.3%
Note: final 2013 census results are pending; Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term Muslim - an adherent of Islam

Languages: Bosnian (official) Croatian (official) Serbian (official)

Religions: Muslim 40% Orthodox 31% Roman Catholic 15% other 14%

Age structure
0-14 years: 13.48%
15-24 years: 12.36%
25-54 years: 46.48%
55-64 years: 14.01%
65 years and over: 13.67% (2015 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 40.7%
Youth dependency ratio: 19%
Elderly dependency ratio: 21.7%
Potential support ratio: 4.6%

Median age
Total: 41.2 years
Male: 39.8 years
Female: 42.6 years

Population growth rate: -0.13% (2015 est.)
Rank: 207

Birth rate: 8.87 births/1000 population (2015 est.)
Rank: 212

Death rate: 9.75 deaths/1000 population (2015 est.)
Rank: 48

Net migration rate: -0.38 migrant(s)/1000 population (2015 est.)
Rank: 131

Urbanization
Urban population: 39.8% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.14% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: SARAJEVO (capital) 318,000 (2015)

Environment
Current issues: air pollution from metallurgical plants; sites for disposing of urban waste are limited; water shortages and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992-95 civil strife; deforestation
International agreements party to: Air Pollution Biodiversity Climate Change Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea Marine Life Conservation Ozone Layer Protection Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.07 male/female
0-14 years: 1.07 male/female
15-24 years: 1.07 male/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male/female
55-64 years: 0.92 male/female
65 years and over: 0.64 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female

Infant mortality rate
Total: 5.72 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 5.79 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 5.64 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 169

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.55 years
Male: 73.54 years
Female: 79.77 years
Rank: 85

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (2015 est.)
Rank: 218

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 45.8% (2011/12)

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 1.93 physicians/1000 population (2013)

Hospital bed density: 3.5 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 19.2% (2014)
Rank: 47

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 1.5% (2012)
Rank: 127

Education expenditures: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 98.5%
Male: 99.5%
Female: 97.5%

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
Abbreviation: BiH

Government type: federal democratic republic

Capital
Name: Sarajevo
Geographic coordinates: 43 52 N 18 25 E
Time difference: UTC+1
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 Dragan COVIC ; other members of the three-member presidency rotate every eight months
Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Denis ZVIZDIC
Cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman approved by the state-level House of Representatives
Electionsappointments: 3-member presidency directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term but then ineligible for 4 years) by constituencies of the 3 ethnic groups; the chairmanship rotates every 8 months and resumes where it left off following each general election; election last held on 12 October 2014 (next to be held in October 2018); 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 - Mladen IVANIC 48.7% - Serb seat; Dragan COVIC 52.2% - Croat seat; Bakir IZETBEGOVIC 32.9% - Bosniak seat
Note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marinko CAVARA ; Vice Presidents Melika MAHMUTBEGOVIC (since 11 February 2015) Milan DUNOVIC (since 11 February 2015); President of the Republika Srpska Milorad DODIK (since 15 November 2010); Vice Presidents Ramiz SALKIC (since 24 November 2014) Josip JERKOVIC (since 24 November 2014)

Legislative branch
Description: bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda and the state-level House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats to include 28 seats allocated to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 to the Republika Srpska; members directly elected by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms); note - the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that consists of the House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak 17 Croat 17 Serb 7 other) and the House of Representatives (98 seats; members directly elected by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms); Republika Srpska's unicameral legislature is the National Assembly (83 directly elected delegates serve four-year terms)
Elections: House of Peoples - last constituted in 11 February 2015 ; state-level House of Representatives - election last held on 12 October 2014 (next to be held in October 2018)
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: SDA 27.9% DF 15.3% SBB BiH 14.4% HDZ BiH-HSSS-NHI-HKDU-HSP-dr. Ante Starcevic-HSP Herceg-Bosne 12.2% SDP BiH 9.5% HDZ-1990 4.1% BPS-Sefer Halilovic 3.7% A-SDA 2.3% other 10.6%; Republika Srpska votes: SNSD 38.5% SDS 32.6% PDP-NDP 7.8% DNS 5.7% SDA 4.9% other 10.5%; seats by party/coalition - SDA 10 SNSD 6 SDS 5 DF 5 SBB BiH 4 HDZ BiH-HSS-NHI-HKDU-HSP-Dr. Ante Starcevic-HSP Herceg-Bosne 4 SDP BiH 3 PDP-NDP 1 HDZ-1990 1 BPS-Sefer Halilovic 1 DNS 1 A-SDA 1

Judicial branch
Highest court: BiH Constitutional Court ; Court of BiH (consists of 44 national judges and 7 international judges organized into 3 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: Social Democratic Party of BiH or SDP BiH [Nermin NIKSIC]

International organization participation: BIS CD CE CEI EAPC EBRD FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (NGOs) ICCt ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) MIGA MINUSMA 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
In the us chancery: 2,109 E Street NW Washington DC 20,037
In the us telephone: [1] 337-1500
In the us FAX: [1] 337-1502
In the us consulate general: Chicago New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Maureen CORMACK
From the us embassy: 1 Robert C. Frasure Street 71,000 Sarajevo
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [387] 704-000
From the us FAX: [387] 659-722
From the us branch office: 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 symbols: golden lily; national colors: blue yellow white

National anthem
Name: 'Drzavna himna Bosne i Hercegovine'
Lyrics and music: none officially; Dusan SESTIC and Benjamin ISOVIC/Dusan SESTIC
Note: music adopted 1999; lyrics accepted 2009 but not yet approved

Economy overview: Bosnia has a transitional economy with limited market reforms. The economy relies heavily on the export of metals energy textiles and furniture as well as on remittances and foreign aid. A highly decentralized government hampers economic policy coordination and reform while excessive bureaucracy and a segmented market discourage foreign investment. Interethnic warfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina caused production to plummet by 80% from 1992 to 1995 and unemployment to soar but the economy made progress until 2009 when the global economic crisis caused a downturn. Foreign banks primarily from Austria and Italy now control most of the banking sector. The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM) - the national currency introduced in 1998 - is pegged to the euro and confidence in the currency and the banking sector has remained stable. Bosnia's private sector is growing slowly but foreign investment has dropped sharply since 2007. Government spending - including transfer payments - remains high at roughly 40% of GDP because of redundant government offices at the national sub-national and municipal level. High unemployment remains the most serious macroeconomic problem. Successful implementation of a value-added tax in 2006 provided a steady source of revenue for the government and helped rein in gray-market activity. National-level statistics have also improved over time but a large share of economic activity remains unofficial and unrecorded. Bosnia and Herzegovina became a full member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement in September 2007. Bosnia and Herzegovina's top economic priorities are: acceleration of integration into the EU; strengthening the fiscal system; public administration reform; World Trade Organization (WTO) membership; and securing economic growth by fostering a dynamic competitive private sector. Flooding caused significant damage in the spring of 2014 and Bosnia will struggle to recover from it in 2015.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2014 US dollars
Rank: 114

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 182

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2014 US dollars
Rank: 134

Gross national saving:
Rank: 150

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 82.1%
Government consumption: 22.1%
Investment in fixed capital: 17.7%
Investment in inventories: 1.5%
Exports of goods and services: 29%
Imports of goods and services: -52.4%: (2012 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 8%
Industry: 26.3%
Services: 65.7%

Agriculture products: wheat corn fruits vegetables; livestock

Industries: steel coal iron ore lead zinc manganese bauxite aluminum motor vehicle assembly textiles tobacco products wooden furniture ammunition domestic appliances oil refining

Industrial production growth rate: 0% (2014 est.)
Rank: 147

Labor force: 1.281 million (2014 est.)
Rank: 133
By occupation agriculture: 19%
By occupation industry: 30%
By occupation services: 51%

Unemployment rate:
Note: official rate; actual rate is lower as many technically unemployed persons work in the gray economy
Rank: 193

Population below poverty line: 17.2% (2011 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.7%
Highest 10: 27.3%

Distribution of family income gini index: 36.2 (2007)
Rank: 86

Budget
Revenues: $8.672 billion
Expenditures: $9.363 billion
Surplus or deficit: -3.5% of GDP (2014 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 132

Taxes and other revenues: 44.4% of GDP (2014 est.)
Rank: 22

Public debt:
Note: data cover general government debt and includes debt instruments issued by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds such as for retirement medical care and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions.
Rank: 81

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:
Rank: 9

Commercial bank prime lending rate:
Rank: 123

Stock of narrow money:
Rank: 104

Stock of broad money:
Rank: 103

Stock of domestic credit:
Rank: 103

Market value of publicly traded shares: $N/A

Current account balance:
Rank: 131

Exports:
Rank: 123
Commodities: metals clothing wood products
Partners: Slovenia 16.4% Italy 16.1% Germany 12.8% Austria 12.3% Croatia 12% (2014)

Imports:
Rank: 105
Commodities: machinery and equipment chemicals fuels foodstuffs
Partners: Croatia 20.2% Germany 12.6% Slovenia 12.2% Italy 9.8% Russia 6.8% Austria 5.7% Hungary 5% (2014)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
Rank: 98

Debt external:
Rank: 101

Stock of direct foreign investment at home:
Rank: 92

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $0 (2014)

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 16.3 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Production rank: 89
Consumption: 12.56 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Consumption rank: 84
Exports: 5.097 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Exports rank: 49
Imports: 1.353 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Imports rank: 63
Installed generating capacity: 4.3 million kW (2013 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 78
Generation sources fossil fuels: 54.8% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 164
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 51
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 43.6% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 43
Generation sources other renewable sources: 1.5% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 63

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2014 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 156
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 84
Crude oil imports: 22,140 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 69
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2014 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 110

Refined petroleum
Products production: 22,430 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 92
Products consumption: 36,000 bbl/day (2013 est.)
Products consumption rank: 110
Products exports: 10,460 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 84
Products imports: 16,330 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 113

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2014 est.)
Production rank: 107
Consumption: 275 million m³ (2014 est.)
Consumption rank: 102
Exports: 0 m³ (2014 est.)
Exports rank: 64
Imports: 275 million m³ (2014 est.)
Imports rank: 69
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2014 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 115

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 26 million Mt (2012 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 79

Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 850,000
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 22
Fixed lines rank: 84
Mobile cellular total: 3.5 million
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 90
Mobile cellular rank: 129

Telephone system
General assessment: post-war reconstruction of the telecommunications network aided by an internationally sponsored program resulting in sharp increases in fixed-line telephone availability
Domestic: fixed-line teledensity roughly 25 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has been increasing rapidly and stands at roughly 80 telephones per 100 persons
International: country code - 387; no satellite earth stations

Broadcast media: 3 public TV broadcasters: Radio and TV of Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation TV (operating 2 networks) and Republika Srpska Radio-TV; a local commercial network of 5 TV stations; 3 private near-national TV stations and dozens of small independent TV stations broadcasting; 3 large public radio broadcasters and many private radio stations (2010)

Internet
Country code: .ba
Users total: 2.6 million
Users percent of population: 67.5%
Users rank: 89

Military expenditures:
Rank: 75

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; mandatory retirement at age 35 or after 15 years of service for E-1 through E-4 mandatory retirement at age 50 and 30 years of service for E-5 through E-9 mandatory retirement at age 55 and 30 years of service for all officers (2014)

Airports: 24 (2013)
Rank: 130
With paved runways total: 7
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 2
With unpaved runways total: 17
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways: 11 (2013)

Heliports: 6 (2013)

Pipelines: gas 147 km; oil 9 km (2013)

Railways
Total: 965 km
Standard gauge: 965 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)
Rank: 108

Roadways
Total: 22,926 km
Paved: 19,426 km
Unpaved: 3,500 km
Rank: 102

Waterways: (Sava River on northern border; open to shipping but use limited) (2011)

Ports and terminals
River port: Bosanska Gradiska Bosanski Brod Bosanski Samac Brcko Orasje

Disputes international: Serbia delimited about half of the boundary with Bosnia and Herzegovina but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees: 6,703 (Croatia) (2014)
IDPs: 100,400 (2014)
Stateless persons: 101

Illicit drugs: increasingly a transit point for heroin being trafficked to Western Europe; minor transit point for marijuana; remains highly vulnerable to money-laundering activity given a primarily cash-based and unregulated economy weak law enforcement and instances of corruption