 GEOGRAPHY |
Celebration in a Bosnian village with traditional costumes
Bosnia and Herzegovina is situated in Southeast Europe between the Adriatic Sea, Croatia and Yugoslavia. Its territory covers 51,129 km2. The country borders are 1,459 km long: Croatia 932 km, Yugoslavia 527 km and the Coastline is 20km. The country is very rich in various landscapes from mountains (the culminating point is Maglic 2,386 m), to green valleys, passing by the Adriatic Sea.
Travnik - the centre of Central Bosnia; native city of Ivo Andric, the Nobel
Bosnia and Herzegovina's is divided into a Bosnian and Croat Federation (the Federation of BiH: 51% of the territory) and the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska (RS: 49% of the territory). The region called Herzegovina is close to Croatia and has an ethnic majority of Croats.
|  Religion |
| Ethnicity |
see graphic
Before the war, the population counted 44% of ethnic Bosnian people (mostly Muslim), 31% of Serbian people, 17% of Croat people, while 8% of the population described themselves as Yugoslav or from another ethnicity. Mixed marriages were common and ethnic violence conflicts seldom occur. The society was largely secular and materialistic. However, the civil war and the "ethnic cleansing" dispersed some 60% of the population. Only a small proportion has now returned to their former homes. |
