Sarajevo

Sarajevo, also Sarayevo, city and capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated on the Miljacka River, in the east-central part of the country. Sarajevo was until recently an important commercial and cultural centre. Industries here produced carpets, silk fabrics, jewellery, tobacco goods, and machine tools. It was the site of several educational and cultural institutions, including the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Country Museum (1888) and the University of Sarajevo (1946).

The site of Sarajevo was settled in the 14th century. From 1429 to 1878 it was part of the Ottoman Empire, and numerous examples of Turkish architecture still remain in the city. It then came under the rule of Austria-Hungary. Sarajevo was the scene of the assassination, on June 28, 1914, of Francis Ferdinand, archduke of Austria; the assassination was one of the precipitating factors of World War I. After the war, the city became part of Yugoslavia. In 1984 Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics.

In 1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia. War erupted shortly afterwards between Bosnian Serbs, who wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia, and Bosnian Croats and Muslims. Sarajevo became the site of many battles among Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims. As a result of the fighting and a siege of the city by the Serbs, who established their seat of government in the nearby town of Pale, much of Sarajevo was destroyed. More than 10,000 residents were killed and 150,000 fled the city. Under the Dayton Peace Accord, signed in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995, a NATO force was stationed in the country and all three groupings (Muslim, Serb, and Croat) agreed that Sarajevo was to remain united as the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Population 401,696 (2003 estimate).