Location, political and cultural history
Bosnia is a country in the Balkans. For practical purposes it functions as two states, the Bosniac-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska. Nominally there is a national administration located in Sarajevo, but it is relatively weak.
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The left-hand map shows Bosnia-Herzegovina in relation to other fragments of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. To identify the other fragments, please visit our Yugoslavia index page.
The right-hand map shows not only the current boundaries of Bosnia-Herzegovina but also the “Inter-Entity Boundary Line” between the Bosniac-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska. |
To say that Bosnia represents a failed experiment in multiculturalism is to over-simplify the history of this troubled land. The key dates are as follows:
- 1463 - 1878 - The Ottoman Era
- 1878 - 1918 - The Austro-Hungarian Era
- 1918 - 1941 - The Kingdom of Yugoslavia
- 1941 - 1945 - The Second World War
- 1945 - 1992 - Socialist Yugoslavia
- 1992 - 1995 - The Bosnian War
The Dayton Accord negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, in November 1995 and formally signed in Paris on 14th December 1995 brought a halt to the fighting and roughly established the basic structure of the present-day state. The signatories were the presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Alija Izetbegović), Croatia (Franjo Tuđman) and the post-1992 rump of Yugoslavia (Slobodan Milošević). [At this time, “Yugoslavia” comprised central Serbia, Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro, correctly termed “The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”].
The Bosnian War left between 95,000 and 100,000 people killed and more than 2 million - nearly half the pre-war population - displaced.
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© 2007, James Kemp |
The iconic old bridge at Mostar was demolished during the Bosnian War and has since been rebuilt
The Inter-Entity Boundary Line (IEBL) that distinguishes Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two “entities” (The Bosniac-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska) essentially runs along the military front lines as they existed at the end of the Bosnian War, with adjustments (most importantly in the western part of the country and around Sarajevo), as defined by the Dayton Agreement. The total length of the IEBL is approximately 1,080 km. The IEBL is an administrative demarcation and not controlled by the military or police and there is free movement across it.
Elections that took place on 3rd October 2010 offered the possibility of reunification. However, the result has left the country as divided as it was at the cessation of hostilities. The Muslim and Croat factions elected representatives supporting greater unity, but the Serbs continue to favour partition. Thus the stalemate appears destined to continue.
Circumcision in Bosnia-Herzegovina
The muslims circumcise and the rest do not - if it can possibly be avoided. It really is as simple as that. Bosnia-Herzegovina provides us with an unfortunate example of the way in which attitudes to circumcision can become entrenched along religious and consequent cultural lines. There appears to be scant prospect of the procedure’s medical and public health benefits being recognised by the non-muslim population whilst anti-Islamic prejudice exists in consequence of the country’s many socio-political divisions.
Bosniac-Croat Federation: The Bosnian War saw the proportion of the population that are muslim rise from an estimated 52.3% (1991) to 72.5% (1996), mainly in consequence of Serbs fleeing to areas closer to the border with Serbia.
Republika Srpska: The corresponding figures for the Serbian areas suggest 28.1% muslim in 1991, falling to 2.2% in 1996.
Acknowledgements
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