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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

Administrative Divisions

3 first-order administrative divisions - Brcko District (Brcko Distrikt) (ethnically mixed), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine) (predominantly Bosniak-Croat), Republika Srpska (predominantly Serb)

Independence

1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia); note - referendum for independence completed on 1 March 1992; independence declared on 3 March 1992

National Holiday

Independence Day, 1 March (1992) and Statehood Day, 25 November (1943) - both observed in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity; Victory Day, 9 May (1945) and Dayton Agreement Day, 21 November (1995) - both observed in the Republika Srpska entity

Constitution

history: 14 December 1995 (constitution included as part of the Dayton Peace Accords); note - each of the political entities has its own constitution

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

Citizenship

Citizenship by birth: no

Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dual citizenship recognized: yes, provided there is a bilateral agreement with the other state

Residency requirement for naturalization: 8 years

Suffrage

18 years of age, 16 if employed; universal

Executive Branch

Chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (chairman since 16 November 2022; presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Serb seat); Zeljko KOMSIC (presidency member since 20 November 2018 - Croat seat); Denis BECIROVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Bosniak seat)

Head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Zoran TEGELTIJA (since 5 December 2019)

Cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman, approved by the state-level House of Representatives

Elections appointments: 3-member presidency (1 Bosniak and 1 Croat elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 Serb elected from the Republika Srpska) directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term, but then ineligible for 4 years); the presidency chairpersonship rotates every 8 months with the new member of the presidency elected with the highest number of votes starting the new mandate as chair; election last held on 2 October 2022 (next to be held in October 2026); the chairman of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives

Election results: 2022

2018: percent of vote - Milorad DODIK (SNSD) 53.9% - Serb seat; Zeljko KOMSIC (DF) 52.6% - Croat seat; Sefik DZAFEROVIC (SDA) 36.6% - Bosniak seat

2014: percent of vote - Mladen IVANIC (PDP) 48.7% - Serb seat; Dragan COVIC (HDZ-BiH) 52.2% - Croat seat; Bakir IZETBEGOVIC (SDA) 32.9% - Bosniak seat

Note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marinko CAVARA (since 9 February 2015); Vice Presidents Melika MAHMUTBEGOVIC (since 9 February 2015), Milan DUNOVIC (since 9 February 2015); President of the Republika Srpska Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (since 18 November 2018); Vice Presidents Ramiz SALKIC (since 24 November 2014), Josip JERKOVIC (since 24 November 2014)

Legislative Branch

Description: bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of

Elections: House of Peoples - last held on 2 October 2022 (next to be held in 2026)House of Representatives - last held on 2 October 2022 (next to be held in 2026)

Election results: House of Peoples - percent of vote by coalition/party - NA; seats by coalition/party - NA; composition - men 12, women 3, percent of women 20%House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - SDA 17.2%, SNSD 16.3%, HDZ BiH 8.8%, SDP 8.2%, SDS 7.1%, DF-GS 6.4%, NiP 5%, PDP 4.6%, NS/HC 3.1%, NES 3%, For Justice and Order 2.1%, DEMOS 1.9%, US 1.6%, BHI KF 1.3%, other 13.4%; seats by party/coalition - SDA 9, SNSD 6, SDP 5, HDZ BiH 4, DF-GS 3, NiP 3, SDS 2, PDP 2, NS/HC 2, NES 2, For Justice and Order 1, DEMOS 1, US 1, BHI KF 1; composition - men 31, women 11, percent of women 26.2%; note - total Parliamentary Assembly percent of women 24.6%

Judicial Branch

Highest courts: Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); 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 Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 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

Alliance for a Better Future of BiH or SBB BiH [Fahrudin RADONCIC]Alliance of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad DODIK]Alternative Party for Democratic Activity or A-SDA [Nermin OGRESEVIC] (merged with Independent Bosnian Herzegovinian List to form NES)Bosnian-Herzegovinian Initiative or BHI KF [Fuad KASUMOVIC]Civic Alliance or GS [Reuf BAJROVIC]Croat Peasants' Party or HSS [Mario KARAMATIC]Croatian Christian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HKDU [Ivanka BARIC]Croatian Democratic Union or HDU [Miro GRABOVAC-TITAN]Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or HDZ-BiH [Dragan COVIC]Croatian Democratic Union 1990 or HDZ-1990 [Ilija CVITANOVIC]Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starcevic or HSP-AS Bih [Stanko PRIMORAC]Democratic Alliance or DEMOS [Nedeljko CUBRILOVIC]Democratic Front of DF [Zeljko KOMSIC]Democratic Peoples' Alliance or DNS [Nenad NESIC]For Justice and Order [Nebojsa VUKANOVIC]Independent Bloc or NB [Senad SEPIC]Movement for Democratic Action or PDA [Elzina PIRIC]National Democratic Movement or NDP [Dragan CAVIC]Our Party or NS/HC [Edin FORTO]Party for Democratic Action or SDA [Bakir IZETBEGOVIC]Party of Democratic Progress or PDP [Branislav BORENOVIC]People and Justice Party or NiP [Elmedin KONAKOVIC]People's European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina or NES [Nermin OGRESEVIC]Progressive Srpska or NS [Goran DORDIC]Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Mirko SAROVIC]Serb Radical Party-Dr. Vojislav Seselj or SRS-VS [Vojislav SESELJ] (merged with PDP)Social Democratic Party or SDP [Nermin NIKSIC]Socialist Party or SP [Petar DOKIC]United Srpska or US [Nenad STEVANDIC]

Flag Description

A wide 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 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

National Anthem

Lyrics music: none officially/Dusan SESTIC

Note: music adopted 1999; lyrics proposed in 2008 and others in 2016 were not approved

National Heritage