Judicial branch: BiH Constitutional Court (consists of nine members: four members are selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of the European Court of Human Rights) note: cases related to state-level law and appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities; the entities each have a Supreme Court; each entity also has a number of lower courts; there are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has five municipal courts
Political parties and leaders: Bosnian Party or BOSS [Mirnes AJANOVIC];
Bosnian Patriotic Party or BPS [Sefer HALILOVIC]; Civic Democratic
Party of BiH or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC]; Croat Christian Democratic Union
or HKDU BiH [Ante PASALIC]; Croatian Democratic Union of BiH or HDZ-BiH
[Ante JELAVIC; note - not recognized by the international community];
Croatian Party of Rights of BiH or HSP-BiH [Zdravko HRSTIC]; Croatian
Peasants Party of BiH or HSS-BiH [Ilija SIMIC]; Democratic National
Alliance or DNS [Dragan KOSTIC]; Democratic Party of Pensioners or DPS
[Alojz KNEZOVIC]; Democratic Party of RS or DSRS [Dragomir DUMIC];
Democratic Peoples Union or DNZ [Fikret ABDIC]; Democratic Socialist
Party or DSP [Nebojsa RADMANOVIC]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDS
[Rasim KADIC]; New Croatian Initiative or NHI [Kresimir ZUBAK]; Party
for Bosnia and Herzegovina or SBH [Safet HALILOVIC]; Party of Democratic
Action or SDA [Sulejman TIHIC]; Party of Democratic Progress or PDP
[Mladen IVANIC]; Party of Independent Social Democrats or SNSD [Milorad
DODIK]; Pensioners' Party of FBiH [Husein VOJNIKOVIC]; Pensioners' Party
of SR [Stojan BOGOSAVAC]; People's Party-Working for Progress or NS-RZB
[Mladen IVANKOVIC]; Republican Party of BiH or RP [Stjepan KLJUIC];
Serb Democratic Party or SDS [Dragan KALINIC]; Serb National Alliance
(Serb People's Alliance) or SNS [Branislav LULIC]; Social Democratic
Party of BIH or SDP-BiH [Zlatko LAGUMDZIJA]; Socialist Party of Republika
Srpska or SPRS [Zivko RADISIC]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: BIS, CE (guest), CEI, EBRD,
ECE, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), OAS (observer),
OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Igor DAVIDOVIC chancery: 2109 E Street NW, [1] (202) 337-1500 consulate(s) general: Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Clifford J. BOND embassy: Alipasina 43, 71000 Sarajevo mailing address: use street address telephone: [387] (33) 445-700 FAX: [387] (33) 659-722 branch office(s): Banja Luka, Mostar
Flag description: a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow isosceles triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag; the remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle
Government - note: The Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995, retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's exterior border and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government. This national government - based on proportional representation similar to that which existed in the former socialist regime - is charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy. The Dayton Agreement also recognized a second tier of government, comprised of two entities - a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska (RS) - each presiding over roughly one-half the territory. The Federation and RS governments are charged with overseeing internal functions. The Bosniak/Croat Federation is further divided into 10 cantons. The Dayton Agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. About 250 international and 450 local staff members are employed by the OHR.
Economy Bosnia and Herzegovina
Economy - overview: Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked next to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as the poorest republic in the old Yugoslav federation. Although agriculture is almost all in private hands, farms are small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally is a net importer of food. Industry has been greatly overstaffed, one reflection of the socialist economic structure of Yugoslavia. TITO had pushed the development of military industries in the republic with the result that Bosnia hosted a large share of Yugoslavia's defense plants. The bitter interethnic warfare in Bosnia caused production to plummet by 80% from 1990 to 1995, unemployment to soar, and human misery to multiply. With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in 1996-99 at high percentage rates from a low base; but output growth slowed in 2000 and 2001. GDP remains far below the 1990 level. Economic data are of limited use because, although both entities issue figures, national-level statistics are limited. Moreover, official data do not capture the large share of activity that occurs on the black market. The marka - the national currency introduced in 1998 - is now pegged to the euro, and the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina has dramatically increased its reserve holdings. Implementation of privatization, however, has been slow, and local entities only reluctantly support national-level institutions. Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all the communist-era payments bureaus were shut down. The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $7 billion (2001 est.)