3 GeoFroggy

Country Name

Conventional long form: none

Conventional short form: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Local long form: none

Local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina

Administrative Divisions

there are two first-order administrative divisions and one internationally supervised district* - Brcko district (Brcko Distrikt)*, the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska; note - Brcko district is in northeastern Bosnia and is an administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the district remains under international supervision

Independence

1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence was completed 1 March 1992; independence was declared 3 March 1992)

National Holiday

National Day, 25 November (1943)

Constitution

The Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new constitution now in force; note - each of the entities also has its own constitution

Legal System

based on civil law system

International Law Organization Participation

Citizenship

Suffrage

16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal

Executive Branch

Chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Dragan COVIC (chairman since 27 June 2003; presidency member since 5 October 2002 - Croat) other members of the three-member rotating (every eight months) presidency

Elections: the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote for a four-year term; the member with the most votes becomes the chairman unless he or she was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election, but the chairmanship rotates every eight months; election last held 5 October 2002 (next to be held NA 2006); the chairman of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the National House of Representatives

Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Adnan TERZIC (since 20 December 2002),

Cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved by the National House of Representatives

Election results: percent of vote - Mirko SAROVIC with 35.5% of the Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first eight months; Dragan COVIC received 61.5% of the Croat vote; Sulejman TIHIC received 37% of the Bosniak vote

Note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Legislative Branch

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the National House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats - elected by proportional representation, 28 seats allocated from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats from the Republika Srpska; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats - 5 Bosniak, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures

Election results: National House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP 10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%; seats by party/coalition - SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP 2, others 7; House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA%; seats by party/coalition - NA

Elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held 5 October 2002 (next to be held in NA 2006); House of Peoples - last constituted NA January 2003 (next to be constituted in 2007)

Judicial Branch

BiH Constitutional Court (consists of nine members: four members are selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of the European Court of Human Rights); BiH State Court (consists of nine judges and three divisions - Administrative, Appellate and Criminal - having jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities; note - a War Crimes Chamber may be added at a future date)

Note: the entities each have a Supreme Court; each entity also has a number of lower courts; there are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has five municipal courts

Political Parties and Leaders

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad DODIK]; Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes AJANOVIC]; Civic Democratic Party or GDS [Ilija SIMIC]; Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ [Barisa COLAK (acting)]; Croat Christian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HKDU [Mijo IVANIC-LONIC]; Croat Party of Rights or HSP [Zdravko HRISTIC]; Croat Peasants Party or HSS [Ilija SIMIC]; Democratic National Union or DNZ [Fikret ABDIC]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Rasim KADIC]; New Croat Initiative or NHI [Kresimir ZUBAK]; Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBiH [Safet HALILOVIC]; Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC]; Party of Democratic Progress or PDP [Mladen IVANIC]; Pro-European People's Party or PROENS [Jadranko PRLIC]; Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Dragan KALINIC]; Serb Radical Party of the Republika Srpska or SRS-RS [Radislav KANJERIC]; Social Democratic Party of BIH or SDP [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS [Petar DJOKIC]

Political Pressure Groups and Leaders

NA

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

National Anthem

Year

Government Type

  • Emerging federal democratic republic

Capital

    Sarajevo

Diplomatic Representation in the US

  • Chief Of Mission
    Ambassador Igor DAVIDOVIC
  • Chancery
    2109 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
  • Telephone
    [1] (202) 337-1500
  • Consulate(s) General
    New York
  • FAX
    [1] (202) 337-1502

Diplomatic Representation from the US

  • Chief Of Mission
    Ambassador Clifford G. BOND
  • Embassy
    Alipasina 43, 71000 Sarajevo
  • Mailing Address
    use street address
  • Telephone
    [387] (33) 445-700
  • FAX
    [387] (33) 659-722
  • Branch Office(s)
    Banja Luka, Mostar

International Organization Participation

  • BIS
  • CE
  • CEI
  • EBRD
  • ECE
  • FAO
  • G-77
  • IAEA
  • IBRD
  • ICAO
  • ICCt
  • IDA
  • IFAD
  • IFC
  • IFRCS
  • ILO
  • IMF
  • IMO
  • Interpol
  • IOC
  • IOM (observer)
  • ISO
  • ITU
  • NAM (guest)
  • OAS (observer)
  • OIC (observer)
  • OPCW
  • OSCE
  • UN
  • UNCTAD
  • UNESCO
  • UNIDO
  • UNMEE
  • UPU
  • WHO
  • WIPO
  • WMO
  • WToO
  • WTrO (observer)