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Country Information on Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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 From 1945 till April 1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) had been one
of the republics of Yugoslavia. This republic had the most ethnically
mixed population of all (former) Yugoslavian republics, made up of
Serbs (33%, Chr. Orthodox), Croats (18% R.C.) and Muslims, later called
Bosniacs (40%). The Muslim element of the population is the result of
more than five centuries of Turkish rule of the Balkan. In 1992
hostilities broke out between the different people groups; the war
lasted three and a half years. At the end of the war 250,000 people had
lost their lives and there were 2.8 million refugees, 600,000 of whom
were spread over 58 nations! Industrial production was less than 10% of
pre-war levels, 35% of all roads, 40% of all bridges, 60% of all houses
and more than 50% of all elementary schools were either damaged or
totally destroyed. 75% of the population were unemployed and some 80%
needed some sort of humanitarian relief.The war ended in
November of 1995 when the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed. The
country was almost equally divided between the Serbian Republic (RS)
and the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). Ten
years after the war the political situation is relatively stable and is
slowly improving. Since 1995 many people have moved back to their
original homes which means that the ethnic groups have partially
integrated again, but in spite of many large scale efforts towards
reintegration, the situation is still far removed from the pre-war
situation.
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