Southeast Europe
Bridges · Mountains · Resilient
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its capital city is Sarajevo, with other major cities including Banja Luka and Mostar. With a population of approximately 3.2M, the main languages spoken are Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian. The country covers an area of 51,209 km². The official currency is the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark (KM). Traffic drives on the right side.
Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and is one of the few cities to have been besieged in modern Europe — the Siege of Sarajevo (1992–96) was the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.
Sarajevo serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina, positioned in Southeast Europe. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Banja Luka, Mostar, Tuzla — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Sarajevo was besieged for 1,425 days between 1992 and 1996 — the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare — and the city today contains a dedicated Tunnel of Hope Museum beneath a private house through which food and weapons were smuggled under the airport runway during the encirclement.
With a population of approximately 3.2M, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The principal languages spoken are Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, which reflect the country's cultural heritage and open doors to a wide international community. Internationally, Bosnia and Herzegovina is reached via the dialling code +387. Sarajevo's Baščaršija quarter — the 15th-century Ottoman bazaar district — contains a Catholic cathedral, Orthodox church, mosque and synagogue within 500 metres of each other, a proximity that has been called the Jerusalem of Europe and that represents both the city's historic coexistence and the specific reason it became the target of forces who found that coexistence intolerable.
Bosnia and Herzegovina spans 51,209 km², in the Southeast Europe subregion of Europe. Geographically centred around 44.0°N, 18.0°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the right-hand rule, in line with surrounding Europe convention.
The official currency is the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark (KM), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+01:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.
Football holds a special place in the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina's national identity. Bosnia and Herzegovina's 2014 World Cup qualification — the country's first since independence in 1992 — was achieved with Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanić leading a squad that became a vehicle for post-war national cohesion, and their opening tournament win over Argentina in Group F produced celebrations in Sarajevo that the city compared to liberation.
The highest point in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Maglić, rising to 2,386 metres above sea level. The Sutjeska National Park in southeastern Bosnia contains Perućica, one of Europe's last two remaining primeval rainforests — a relict Holocene forest of 3,000-year-old beech and fir trees covering 1,434 hectares in a river canyon so remote that it was not systematically surveyed until the 1950s.