conventional short form: Bosnia and Herzegovina
local long form: none
local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina
former: People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Government type:
emerging federal democratic republic
Capital:
Sarajevo
Administrative divisions:
2 first-order administrative divisions and 1 internationally
supervised district* - Brcko district (Brcko Distrikt)*, the
Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosna
i Hercegovina) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska; note -
Brcko district is in northeastern Bosnia and is an administrative
unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the district
remains under international supervision
Independence:
1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence was
completed 1 March 1992; independence was declared 3 March 1992)
National holiday:
National Day, 25 November (1943)
Constitution:
the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new
constitution now in force; note - each of the entities also has its
own constitution
Legal system:
based on civil law system
Suffrage:
18 years of age, universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Ivo Miro JOVIC (since 28
June 2005; presidency member since 9 May 2005 - Croat; note - Dragan
COVIC was sacked by High Representative Paddy ASHDOWN on 29 Mar
2005); other members of the three-member rotating (every eight
months) presidency: Borislav PARAVAC (since 10 April 2003 - Serb);
and Sulejman TIHIC (since 5 October 2002 - Bosniak)
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Adnan
TERZIC (since 20 December 2002)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman;
approved by the National House of Representatives
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, but the
chairmanship rotates every eight months; election last held 5
October 2002 (next to be held NA 2006); the chairman of the Council
of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the
National House of Representatives
election results: percent of vote - Mirko SAROVIC with 35.5% of the
Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the
first eight months; Dragan COVIC received 61.5% of the Croat vote;
Sulejman TIHIC received 37% of the Bosniak vote
note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Niko
LOZANCIC (since 27 January 2003); Vice Presidents Sahbaz DZIHANOVIC
(since NA 2003) and Desnica RADIVOJEVIC (since NA 2003); President
of the Republika Srpska: Dragan CAVIC (since 28 November 2002)
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the
National House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats -
elected by proportional representation, 28 seats allocated from the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats from the Republika
Srpska; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms);
and the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (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 four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election law
specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order
administrative division entity legislatures
elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held 5
October 2002 (next to be held in NA 2006); House of Peoples - last
constituted NA January 2003 (next to be constituted in 2007)
election results: National House of Representatives - percent of
vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP
10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%; seats by
party/coalition - SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP
2, others 7; 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 (98 seats; members elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 5
October 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006); percent of vote by
party - NA%; seats by party/coalition - SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15,
SBiH 15, other 20; and a House of Peoples (60 seats - 30 Bosniak, 30
Croat); last constituted December 2002; the Republika Srpska has a
National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to
serve four-year terms); elections last held 5 October 2002 (next to
be held in the fall of 2006); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
by party/coalition - SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3,
DNZ 3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6; as a result of the 2002
constitutional reform process, a 28-member Republika Srpska Council
of Peoples (COP) was established in the Republika Srpska National
Assembly including 8 Croats, 8 Bosniaks, 8 Serbs, and 4 members of
the smaller communities
Judicial branch:
BiH 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); BiH State Court (consists of nine
judges and three divisions - Administrative, Appellate and Criminal
- having jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and
appellate