conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Bosnia and Herzegovina
local long form: none
local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina

BK

emerging democracy

Sarajevo

there are two first-order administrative
divisions - the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika
Srpska; note - Brcko in northeastern Bosnia is a self-governing
administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
it is not part of either the Federation or Republika Srpska

NA April 1992 (from Yugoslavia)

Bosnia and Herzegovina - BiH National Day, 25
November

the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included
a new constitution now in force

based on civil law system

16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal

chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Alija IZETBEGOVIC (chairman
since 14 February 2000, presidency member since 14 March 1996 -
Bosniak); other members of the three-member rotating (every 8 months)
presidency: Zivko RADISIC (since 13 October 1998 - Serb) and Ante
JELAVIC (since NA September 1998 - Croat)
head of government: vacant; note - in February 2000, the Supreme Court
ruled that the structure of the Council of Ministers was
unconstitutional; a new structure is being negotiated
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairmen
note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Ejup
GANIC (since 28 December 1999; Vice President Ivo ANDRIC-LUZANIC
(since 28 December 1999); note - president and vice president rotate
every year; President of the Republika Srpska: vacant since Nikola
POPLASEN was removed by the Office of the High Representative on 5
March 1999 (see Government note)
elections: the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one
Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote for a four-year term; the
member with the most votes becomes the chairman unless he or she was
the incumbent chairman at the time of the election; election last held
12-13 September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2002); the
cochairmen of the Council of Ministers are appointed by the presidency
election results: percent of vote - Zivko RADISIC with 52% of the Serb
vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the first 8
months; Ante JELAVIC with 52% of the Croat vote followed RADISIC in
the rotation; Alija IZETBEGOVIC with 87% of the Bosniak vote won the
highest number of votes in the election but was ineligible to serve a
second term until RADISIC and JELAVIC had each served a first term as
Chairman of the Presidency

bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina
consists of the National House of Representatives or Vijece Opcina (42
seats - 14 Serb, 14 Croat, and 14 Bosniak; members elected by popular
vote to serve two-year terms) and the House of Peoples or Vijece
Gradanstvo (15 seats - 5 Bosniak, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by
the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives and the
Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve two-year terms)
elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held
12-13 September 1998 (next to be held in fall 2000); House of Peoples
- last constituted 4 December 1998 (next to be constituted in fall
2000)
election results: National House of Representatives - percent of vote
by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - KCD 17, HDZ-BiH 6,
SDP-BiH 6, Sloga 4, SDS 4, SRS-RS 2, DNZ 1, NHI 1, RSRS 1; House of
Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by
party/coalition - NA
note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that
consists of a House of Representatives (140 seats; members elected by
popular vote to serve 4-year terms); elections last held fall 1998
(next to be held fall 2000); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party/coalition - KCD 68, HDZ-BiH 28, SDP-BiH 25, NHI 4, DNZ 3, DSP 2,
BPS 2, HSP 2, SPRS 2, BSP 1, KC 1, BOSS 1, HSS 1; and a House of
Peoples (72 seats - 30 Bosniak, 30 Croat, and 12 others); last
constituted November 1998; the Republika Srpska has a National
Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve 4-year
terms); elections last held fall 1998 (next to be held fall 2000);
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/coalition - SDS 19, KCD
15, SNS 12, SRS-RS 11, SPRS 10, SNSD 6, RSRS 3, SKRS 2, SDP 2, KKO 1,
HDZ-BiH 1, NHI 1; as of January 1999, Bosnia and Herzegovina does not
have a permanent election law; a draft law specifies four-year terms
for the state and first-order administrative division entity
legislatures

Constitutional Court, consists of nine members: four
members are selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of
Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska's National
Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of the
European Court of Human Rights

Bosnian Party of Rights or BSP [leader
NA]; Bosnian Party or BOSS ; Bosnian Patriotic Party
or BPS ; Center Coalition or KC (includes LBO, RS)
; Civic Democratic Party or GDS ; Coalition
for King and Fatherland or KKO (Dubravko Prstojevic]; Coalition for a
United and Democratic BIH or KCD [Alija IZETBEGOVIC; includes SDA and
SBH]; Croatian Democratic Union of BiH or HDZ-BiH ;
Croatian Party of Rights or HSP ; Croatian Peasants
Party of BiH or HSS-BiH ; Democratic Party for Banja Luka
and Krajina ; Democratic Party of Pensioners or DSP
; Democratic Peoples Union or DNZ ;
Liberal Bosniak Organization or LBO ; Liberal Party
or LS ; Muslim-Bosnia Organization or MBO
; New Croatian Initiative or NHI ;
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBH ; Party for
Democratic Action or SDA ; Party of Democratic
Progress of the Republika Srpska ; Party of Independent
Social Democrats or SNSD ; Radical Party Republika
Srpska of RSRS ; Republican Party or RS [Stjepan
KLJUIC]; Serb Coalition for Republika Srpska or SKRS [Predrag
LAZAREVIC]; Serb Democratic Party or Serb Lands or SDS [Dragan
KALINIC]; Serb National Alliance or SNS ; Serb
Radical Party-Republika Srpska or SRS-RS  (banned by
the Office of the High Representative - see Government note - from
participation in the April elections); Sloga or Unity 
(includes SNS, SPRS, SNSD); Social Democratic Party BIH or SDP-BiH
; Socialist Party of Republika Srpska or SPRS
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

CE (guest), CEI, EBRD, ECE,
FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), OAS
(observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

chief of mission: Ambassador Sven ALKALAJ; note - Igor DAVIDOVIC
should become ambassador in early 2000
chancery: 2109 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone:  (202) 337-1500
FAX:  (202) 337-1502
consulate(s) general: New York

chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas J. MILLER
embassy: Alipasina 43, 71000 Sarajevo
mailing address: use street address
telephone:  (71) 445-700
FAX:  (71) 659-722

a wide medium 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 medium blue with seven full
five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the
hypotenuse of the triangle

The Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris on 14
December 1995, retained Bosnia's exterior border and created a joint
multi-ethnic and democratic government. This national government -
based on proportional representation similar to that which existed in
the former socialist regime - is charged with conducting foreign,
economic, and fiscal policy. The Dayton Agreement also recognized a
second tier of government, comprised of two entities - a joint
Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian
Serb Republika Srpska (RS) - each presiding over roughly one-half the
territory. The Federation and RS governments are charged with
overseeing internal functions. The Dayton Agreement established the
Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation
of the civilian aspects of the agreement. About 250 international and
450 local staff members are employed by the OHR.