Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Country summary

Capital

Sarajevo

Borders

Croatia 932 km, Montenegro 249 km, Serbia 357 km

Government type

emerging federal democratic republic

Population

4,613,414 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

0.339% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

78.5 years[1]

Unemployment

40% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

110 [2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

99[3]

Doing Business ranking

116[4]


Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991 was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro - responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas to form a "Greater Serbia." In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 21 November 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties initialed a peace agreement that brought to a halt three years of interethnic civil strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995). The Dayton Peace Accords retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a multi-ethnic and democratic government charged with conducting foreign, diplomatic, and fiscal policy. Also recognized was a second tier of government composed of two entities roughly equal in size: the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska (RS). The Federation and RS governments were charged with overseeing most government functions. The Dayton Accords also established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. The Peace Implementation Council (PIC) at its conference in Bonn in 1997 also gave the High Representative the authority to impose legislation and remove officials, the so-called "Bonn Powers." In 1995-96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia to implement and monitor the military aspects of the agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) whose mission was to deter renewed hostilities. European Union peacekeeping troops (EUFOR) replaced SFOR in December 2004; their mission is to maintain peace and stability throughout the country. EUFOR's mission changed from peacekeeping to civil policing in October 2007, with its presence reduced from nearly 7,000 to less than 2,500 troops. Troop strength at the end of 2009 stood at roughly 2,000. In January 2010, Bosnia and Herzegovina assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2010-11 term.[1]

See also: Yugoslavia

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Convertible Mark (ISO code: BAM)
  • Central bank discount rate: [1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 6.98% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $4.49 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $5.614 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 4 686 5 338 5 653 6 611 8 370 10 023 10 765 12 255 15 227 18 512
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 37.140 35.656 37.026 39.909 40.033 39.109
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 35.637 33.484 34.009 35.686 37.288 38.873
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Bosnia and Herzegovina", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Bosnia and Herzegovina", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Bosnia and Herzegovina", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Bosnia and Herzegovina", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 353. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. ↑ World Bank. "Bosnia and Herzegovina: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Bosnia and Herzegovina: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Bosnia and Herzegovina: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Bosnia and Herzegovina: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.

Links

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