Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Profile

Bosnia and Herzegovina General Information

Capital: Sarajevo

Language: Bosnian (official) 52.9%, Serbian (official) 30.8%, Croatian (official) 14.6%, other 1.6%, unspecified 0.2% (2013 est.)

Religion: Muslim 50.7%, Orthodox 30.7%, Roman Catholic 15.2%, atheist 0.8%, agnostic 0.3%, other 1.2%, undeclared 1.1% (2013 est.)

Currency: Bosnia and Herzegovina Konvertibilna Marka (BAM; symbol KM).

The Euro and US Dollar are the preferred foreign currencies. The Pound Sterling is rarely used.

Credit cards are generally accepted in top hotels and restaurants, and some gift shops. ATMs are becoming increasingly common in cities like Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka, and even smaller towns. However, an emergency supply of cash is still advisable. Bosnia and Herzegovina is mostly a cash-only economy and traveller’s cheques are exchanged only at select banks.

Cryptocurrency: The strongest factor for Bosnia and Herzegovina is the legality of Bitcoin. There are currently 2 ICOs based here, however 21 ICOs have forbidden residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina from participating in their crowdfunding projects.

GMT: (+) 1

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared sovereignty in October 1991 and independence from the former Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992. A devastating three-year war ensued, the consequences of which Bosnia-Herzegovina is still recovering from. It is now an independent state but remains partially under international oversight under the terms of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords.

About Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Bosnia and Herzegovina, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in South-eastern Europe, located within the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are almost a landlocked country. It is bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south; Serbia to the east and Montenegro to the southeast. The current president is Milorad Dodik from the Bosnian Serb nationalist party.

The languages spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina are Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian and the religions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are Christianity and Islam.

Bosnia and Herzegovina have a population of 3,501,774 and is ranked 135th as the most populated country. Bosnia and Herzegovina rank 89th on the Transparency International Corruption index and 86th on the Fragile States index.

After World War II Bosnia and Herzegovina became a member of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the early 1990s  war broke out in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia collapsing  the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which comprised of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Majority of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1992 referendum. Much of the country’s Serb population, opposed the independence and boycotted the referendum. 

On 6th April 1992 the European Union recognised Bosnia and Herzegovina independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This resulted in a war breaking out in 1992.

In 1993 Bosnia and Herzegovina peace efforts failed and the war continued. In 1995 the Presidents of Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia signed the Dayton Accords which bought an end to the war and outlined the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The General Framework Agreement made Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single state made up of two parts, the Bosnia-Croat federation and the Bosnian Serb Republic, with Sarajevo remaining as the undivided capital city.

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