Formerly a federated republic within the Yugoslav Federation, it proclaimed its independence in 1992, an act that is at the origin of the clash between the three ethnic groups present on the territory for the control of the state, degenerated into one of the bloodiest wars that took place in European territory in the sec. XX. With the Dayton Agreement (1995) the country enshrined its integrity in a new and original form of political-territorial unity: a single state divided into two entities, each with its own parliament and government, one Croatian-Muslim (Croatian-Muslim Federation, 51% of the territory), the other Serbian (Republika Srpska, approx. 48% of the territory), as well as the district of Brčko in northeastern Bosnia, already assigned to the Serbian Republic and became autonomous in 1999 following an international arbitration. The Croatian-Muslim Federation is led by an alternately Croatian and Muslim president and vice-president; Legislative power rests with the Parliament, made up of the House of Representatives (140 members) and the People’s Chamber (74 members). The Serbian Republic is also headed by a president and a vice president, and National Assembly consists of 140 members. The central presidency of the republic is made up of 3 members, elected a Universal suffrage for two years, representing the three ethnic groups (a Muslim, a Serb, a Croatian); the one who has obtained the majority of votes first presides, then in rotation every 8 months. The central Parliament is made up of two chambers: the House of Representatives (42 deputies elected by direct suffrage, two thirds Croatian-Muslim and one third Serbs), based in Sarajevo, and the House of the People (5 delegates for each ethnic group), which meets in Lukavica. The central executive is made up of a Council of Ministers, appointed by the presidency; it is led by two co-prime ministers (Muslim and Serbian), flanked by a deputy prime minister (Croatian). In December 1997, following pressure from the International Council to comply with the Dayton Accords, the representatives of the three ethnic groups signed an agreement on the common Bosnian passport, on citizenship and on the functioning of the Council of Ministers.
The territory of the Federation is divided into ten cantons, each with its own constitution and administrative organization, divided in turn into 85 municipalities: Unsko-Sanski (1), Tuzlanski (3), Zeničko-Dobojski (4), Bosansko-Podrinjski (5) and Sarajevo (9) who are Bosniaks, Posavski (2), Zapadno-Hercegovački (8) and Herceg-Bosanski (10) Croatians, Srednjobosanski (6) and Hercegovačko-Neretvanski (7) who are mixed Bosniaks and Croats. The Serbian republic consists of 7 regions, divided into 64 municipalities: each with its own constitution and administrative organization, divided in turn into 85 municipalities: Unsko-Sanski (1), Tuzlanski (3), Zeničko-Dobojski (4), Bosansko-Podrinjski (5) and Sarajevo (9) who are Bosniaks, Posavski (2), Zapadno-Hercegovački (8) and Herceg-Bosanski (10) Croatians, Srednjobosanski (6) and Hercegovačko-Neretvanski (7) who are mixed Bosniaks and Croats. The Serbian republic consists of 7 regions, divided into 64 municipalities: each with its own constitution and administrative organization, divided in turn into 85 municipalities: Unsko-Sanski (1), Tuzlanski (3), Zeničko-Dobojski (4), Bosansko-Podrinjski (5) and Sarajevo (9) who are Bosniaks, Posavski (2), Zapadno-Hercegovački (8) and Herceg-Bosanski (10) Croatians, Srednjobosanski (6) and Hercegovačko-Neretvanski (7) who are mixed Bosniaks and Croats. The Serbian republic consists of 7 regions, divided into 64 municipalities: Banja Luka, Doboj, Bijeljina, Vlasenica, Sokolac, Srbinje (ex Foča), Trebinje.
The judicial system, in the process of adapting to European parameters, is not yet definitively structured. The only armed force present is the army, organized independently by each of the two entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina, initially under NATO military control, has been manned since 2 December 2004 by EU contingents (EUFOR – European Stabilization Force) and by a High Representative of the international community. Compulsory school lasts 11 years, divided into the elementary (8 years) and middle cycle. According to andyeducation, the illiteracy rate in 2008 was 2.4%.
GEOGRAPHY
The territory, which extends into the south-eastern sector of Europe, is mainly mountainous, characterized not so much by the altitude of the individual reliefs as by their extreme harshness and great extension; slopes N towards the Sava valley; it includes to the west extensive karst plateaus and the Dinaric Alps, while the central part is occupied by massifs and chains of the Dinaric system, whose peaks often exceed 2000 m (Ploča, 2228 m; Vranica, 2107 m). AS the relief consists of karst plateaus, furrowed by numerous and vast polja (flat depressions of karst genesis) oriented from SW to NE. The Bosnian region is characterized by the presence of numerous watercourses that drain the reliefs-central area of the country and flow to N. The main (Drina, Bosna – its catchment area is very extensive, corresponds to the central part of the country and gives its name to the whole region -, Vrbas, Una) are all right-hand tributaries of the Sava (a tributary of the Danube whose path delimits much of the northern border of the country). The territory of Herzegovina, on the other hand, feeds the waters of collectors that flow into the Adriatic Sea, the largest of which is the Neretva river (Narenta) which, before reaching the sea, after having crossed Mostar, forms a small alluvial plain located mostly in Croatian territory. A little further S of the mouth of the river is the only coastal strip of Bosnia. The climate, continental with Mediterranean influences, is characterized by high excursions annual temperature and abundant rainfall, ranging from 1000 to 2500 mm per annum. Winters are harsh and long, summers are relat. short but warm enough. The strong differences in altitude of the country, the presence of closed depressions and slopes with different exposure determine notable climatic differences between one place and another and confine human activities in the depressions of karst origin.