I.

Introduction

Bosnia and Herzegovina (in Bosnian, Bosna i Herzegovina), republic in south-eastern Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, bounded on the north and west by Croatia, and on the east and south by Serbia and Montenegro. Formerly a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence in March 1992. Civil war then broke out in the country as Bosnia and Herzegovina became involved in the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian War. Bosnia and Herzegovina (often referred to simply as Bosnia) has a territory of about 51,129 sq km (30,677 sq mi). After the 1995 peace accord, however, the country was formally split into a Muslim-Croat federation controlling 51 per cent of its territory, and a Bosnian-Serb statelet with 49 per cent. Sarajevo is the republic’s capital and largest city.