The Belt and Road Initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosna i Hercegovina, referred to as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

【Area】 51,200 square kilometers.

[Population] 3.53 million (2013). The main ethnic groups are: Bosniaks, who account for about 50.1 per cent of the total population, Serbs, who account for about 30.8 per cent of the total population, and Croats, who account for about 15.4 per cent of the total population. The three ethnic groups are Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic. The official languages are Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian.

Sarajevo has a population of 270,000 (2013).

[Head of State] The Presidium, which exercises the functions of Head of State, is composed of 1 representative of each of the three communities of Bosniak, Serb and Croatia for a term of 4 years. The Chairman of the Bureau is rotated on a rotational basis and rotates every 8 months by representatives of the three communities. The current Bureau was formed in October 2018. The presidium consisted of: Milorad Dodik (Serb), Željko KomŠić (Croat) and Šefik DŽaferović (Bosniak).

【Profile】Located in the central and western part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by Croatia to the south, west and north, and Serbia and Montenegro to the east. Most of the area is located on the Dinara Plateau and the Sava River Basin. A very small part of the southern part is bordered by the Adriatic Sea, and the coastline is about 21.2 km long. The southern climate is Mediterranean, while the northern part is temperate continental. The average temperature in January is 6.3 °C in the south, 27.4 °C in July, -0.2 °C in January in the north, and 22.7 °C in July. The average annual temperature is 11.2 °C.

At the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century, some Slavs moved south to the Balkan Peninsula and settled in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other places. At the end of the 12th century, the Slavs established an independent Principality of Bosnia. At the end of the 14th century, Bosnia entered its heyday. It became a Turkish dependency of the Ottoman Empire after 1463 and was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1908. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Petinan, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by local youth in Sarajevo, triggering World War I. After the end of World War I in 1918, the Southern Slavic peoples established the Kingdom of Serbs-Croats-Slovenes, which in 1929 was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, of which Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of it and was divided into several administrative provinces. In 1945, the Yugoslav people won the victory in the anti-fascist war and established the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963), and Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the republics. In March 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina held a referendum on whether the country should be independent, with Bosnians and Croats in favour of independence and Serbs boycotting the vote. Since then, a three-and-a-half-year war broke out between the three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the United Nations on 22 May 1992. On 21 November 1995, under the auspices of the United States, president Of the Republic of Serbia of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Milosevic, president tudyman of the Republic of Croatia, and President Isetbegović of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, ending the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since the signing of the Don Agreement in 1995, ethnic relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been increasingly relaxed, and the political situation has been basically stable.

In November 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina formulated a constitution in accordance with the Dayton Accords. The Constitution stipulates that bosnia and Herzegovina is officially named "Bosnia and Herzegovina"; the three ethnic groups of Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats are the dominant ethnic groups; Bosnia and Herzegovina is composed of two entities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and republika Srpska; and Bosnia and Herzegovina has a 3-member presidium composed of 1 representative of the 3 main ethnic groups, and the members of the presidency are directly elected by 2 entities.

The Parliament shall be composed of the House of Representatives and the House of Nationalities for a term of 4 years. In October 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina held a national election. The new Parliamentary House of Representatives was established in December 2018 and the House of Nationalities in February 2019. The House of Representatives is composed of 42 representatives of 3 nationalities, of whom 28 are from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 from the Republika Srpska. The members of the House of Representatives shall be elected on a proportional basis, with 1 chairman and 2 vice-chairmen, belonging to 3 ethnic groups. The chairmanship is rotated by three members of the Presidium of the Court and rotates every 8 months. The current presidency was composed of Bakir IZETBEGOVIĆ (Bosnian), Dragan ČOVIĆ (Croat) and Nikola Špirić (Serb). The Ethno-Ahnical Institute has 15 seats and consists of 10 representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (5 each for Bosnia and 5 croats) and 5 representatives of the Republika Srpska. The members of the Ethno-Ethno-Senate are elected by the Ethno-NH Of the Congress of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the People's Assembly of the Republika Srpska on the basis of the ethnic proportion of the majority and the results of the general elections. The rotation of the Chairman and Vice-Presidents is the same as that of the Representatives' House. The current presidency was composed of Borjana KRIŠTO (Croat), Denis ZVIZDIĆ (Bosnia) and Nebojša Radmanović (Serb).

The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is called the Council of Ministers, which is composed of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and ministers for a term of 4 years. The President of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the Presidium and approved by the House of Representatives of Parliament. Ministers are appointed by the President of the Council of Ministers. In December 2019, a new ministerial council was established, chaired by Zoran Tegeltija (Serb). The members of the Council of Ministers are: Bisera TURKOVIĆ, Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs,000,000," Vice-President and Minister of Finance, Vjekoslav BEVANDA, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Staša Košarac,Minister of Civil Affairs, Ankica Gudeljević, female, Croats, Minister of Civil Affairs, Minister of Transport and Communications Vojin MITOLOVIĆ (Serb), Minister of Security Fahrudin RadonČić (Bosnian), Minister of Justice Josip Grubeša (Croat), Minister of Defence Sifet POĐIĆ (Bosniac), Minister of Human Rights and Refugees Miloš LUČić (Serb).

【Main WEBSITE】

Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency website: www.predsjednistvobih.ba

Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina: www.vijeceministara.gov.ba

Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina: www.mfa.gov.ba.

【Administrative divisions】Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 states: Una-Sana, Posavina, Tuzla-Podriné, Zenica-Doboy, Bosnia-Podriñe, Central Bosnia, Herzegovina-Neretva, West Segovia, Sarajevo and West Bosnia. Republika Srpska consists of 8 municipalities (Banja Luka, Sarajevo East, Belina, Doboj, Prijedor, Zvornik, Trebinje, Gradiška) and 56 districts. In 1999, the Brcko Special Administrative Region was established, directly under the State.

【Judiciary】According to the Constitution, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a Constitutional Court and a State Court. The Constitutional Court is the only legally empowered body to adjudicate disputes between entities and between agencies within entities, and has the power to decide on the final judgment. The Constitutional Court is composed of 9 judges for a term of 5 years, of whom 4 are elected by the Representative Assembly of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2 by the Parliament of the Republika Srpska and the remaining 3 by the President of the European Court of Human Rights, but cannot be citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina or a neighbouring country. The President of the Constitutional Court, Zlatko KNEŽEVIĆ. Ranko DEBEVEC, President of the National Court. Gordana Tadić, Attorney General of the National Prosecutor's Office. 2 Entities are divided into the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Supreme Court of the Republika Srpska.

Šefik DŽaferović: Bosnian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Born in 1957 in Zavidovicz. Vice-Chairman of the Dappo. Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Sarajevo. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina and twice served as the head of parliament. In November 2018, he was elected a Bosnian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Milorad DODIK: Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Born in Banja Luka in 1959. Chairman of the Party of the Union of Independent Social Democrats. Graduated from the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Belgrade. He has served as a member of the People's Assembly of the Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In November 2018, he was elected a Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Željko KOMŠIĆ: Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Born in Sarajevo in 1964. Chairman of the Democratic Front Party. Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Sarajevo. He has served as Chairman of the Sarajevo City Council, Deputy Mayor of Sarajevo City, and District Governor of New Sarajevo. He was a Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina twice in 2006 and 2010. In November 2018, he was elected a Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The War in Bosnia and Herzegovina wreaked havoc on the economy and nearly collapsed. In recent years, with the assistance of the international community, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made some progress in its economic recovery. The main economic data for 2018 are as follows:

GDP: $18.65 billion

GDP per capita: $5771

GDP growth rate: 3.7%.

Currency name: Convertible Mark (BAM), or BiH Mark.

Exchange rate: 1 euro ≈ 1.95 convertible marks (fixed exchange rate).

Inflation rate: 1.4%.

Unemployment rate: 34.7%.

(Source: National Statistical Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same below)

【Resources】Rich in mineral resources, mainly including iron ore, lignite, bauxite, lead and zinc ore, asbestos, rock salt, barite, etc., of which coal reserves reach 3.8 billion tons. The Tuzla region has the largest reserves of edible salt in Europe. Bosnia and Herzegovina is rich in water resources with potential hydroelectric power generation of 17 gigawatts. Forest cover covers 46.6 per cent of the total territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of which 65 per cent are deciduous and 35 per cent are coniferous.

The main economic sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina are agriculture and food processing, energy, tourism, forestry and wood processing, and metal processing.

The development goals of agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina are: (1) to coordinate and implement EU standards, especially in the field of food production; (2) to establish and improve the food safety quality supervision and management system and establish a management chain; (3) to use forest resources more effectively; (4) to create business opportunities through various means to promote rural development and improve rural quality of life; (5) to improve the protection and effective management of natural resources. The population engaged in agriculture is about 500,000 people, and the area of arable land is 1 million hectares. In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina's agricultural output was 1.969 billion convertible marks, accounting for 5.89% of GDP.

【Service industry】In 2018, the output value of the service industry was 21.528 billion convertible marks, accounting for about 64.37% of the GDP. Specific service categories include information and communications, finance and insurance, entertainment and leisure, and health industries.

【Tourism】In 2019, Bosnia and Herzegovina received 1640717 tourists, an increase of 12% year-on-year. Among them, the number of domestic tourists 442658, an increase of 7.3%, and the number of foreign tourists 1198059, an increase of 13.8%. The number of Chinese tourists 102758, an increase of 76.5%, ranking second among foreign tourists. Tourist facilities include hotels, baths, private hotels, car campsites, hot springs and health resorts. The main tourist spots are Sarajevo and Mostar.

【Transportation】Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in the central region of the former Yugoslavia, and some important transportation routes connecting the former Yugoslavia and Europe pass through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Transportation is dominated by railways and roads. By the end of 2018, there were 1.064 million registered motor vehicles in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including 916,000 cars, 89,000 trucks, 4,500 buses and 15,000 motorcycles.

Roads: According to the Data of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Road Company of the Republika Srpska, the total length of roads in the country is 24,796 km, of which 207 km are highways. National road transport in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018: 144 million passengers and 9.79 million tons of freight.

Railway: 2018 Bosnia and Herzegovina national railway transport: 550,000 passengers, freight volume of 13.514 million tons.

Air transport: Bosnia and Herzegovina has 4 international airports, namely Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar and Tuzla. In 2018, the four major airports carried 1.047 million passengers, 21,000 passengers, 28,000 passengers and 585,000 passengers respectively.

【Foreign trade】In 2019, Bosnia and Herzegovina's total foreign trade was 31 billion convertible marks, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6%, of which Bosnia and Herzegovina exported 11.5 billion convertible marks, a year-on-year decrease of 3.4%, imports of 19.5 billion convertible marks, an increase of 1.2% year-on-year, and a foreign trade deficit of 8.6 billion convertible marks. The main categories of export commodities are metals and their products; mechanical, electrical and electromechanical products and mineral products. The main categories of imported commodities are mineral products, machinery, electrical and electromechanical products, metals and their products, and chemical products. Important trading partners are: Germany, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, etc.

【Military Affairs】 During the Bosnian War, the three major ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbé and Croatia all had their own armed forces. After the war, in accordance with the Dayton Accords, the two entities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska established the Ministry of Defence and the Army respectively, and at the same time began to disarm significantly under the supervision of NATO. In December 2003, Bosnia and Herzegovina promulgated the first Defence Law, which decided to establish a Ministry of Defence at the national level. In October 2005, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Amendment to the Defence Law and the Military Service Law, and decided to form a unified national professional army. The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the Supreme Commander of the Polish Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the highest military leadership body in Poland. The Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina exercises supervision over the army within the scope of its mandate. As of October 2018, the total number of armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina was 9,322. The defense budget for 2019 was 289 million convertible marks, or about 0.8% of GDP. The Joint Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces is Lieutenant General Senad MAŠOVIĆ. Armed Forces Day in Bosnia and Herzegovina falls on 1 December.

【Education】The education system of Bosnia and Herzegovina meets the standards of the international education system. In the 2018/2019 school year, a total of 28,511 children in Bosnia and Herzegovina attended 359 pre-school educational institutions; 1,803 primary schools with 280018 students and 24,175 teachers; 313 secondary schools with 117475 students and 12,551 teachers; and 49 universities with 87,696 university students, including 75,952 full-time students. In 2018, 14,220 undergraduate students graduated from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main universities are the University of Sarajevo, the University of Banja Luka, the University of Mostar and the University of Tuzla.

【Press and Publication】A total of 138 kinds of newspapers and periodicals of various kinds are distributed throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main newspapers and periodicals are: The Daily Voice, Liberation, Independent, Serb Voice, Free Bosnia Weekly, etc.

There are 48 television stations in the country. Main television stations: State Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federal Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Television of Republika Srpska, etc. There are 131 radio stations in the country.