The 2005 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

conventional short form: Bosnia and Herzegovina

       local long form: none

       local short form: Bosna i Hercegovina

       former: People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist

       Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

      Government type:

       emerging federal democratic republic

      Capital:

       Sarajevo

      Administrative divisions:

       2 first-order administrative divisions and 1 internationally

       supervised district* - Brcko district (Brcko Distrikt)*, the

       Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosna

       i Hercegovina) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska; note -

       Brcko district is in northeastern Bosnia and is an administrative

       unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the district

       remains under international supervision

      Independence:

       1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence was

       completed 1 March 1992; independence was declared 3 March 1992)

      National holiday:

       National Day, 25 November (1943)

      Constitution:

       the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new

       constitution now in force; note - each of the entities also has its

       own constitution

      Legal system:

       based on civil law system

      Suffrage:

       18 years of age, universal

      Executive branch:

       chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Ivo Miro JOVIC (since 28

       June 2005; presidency member since 9 May 2005 - Croat; note - Dragan

       COVIC was sacked by High Representative Paddy ASHDOWN on 29 Mar

       2005); other members of the three-member rotating (every eight

       months) presidency: Borislav PARAVAC (since 10 April 2003 - Serb);

       and Sulejman TIHIC (since 5 October 2002 - Bosniak)

       head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Adnan

       TERZIC (since 20 December 2002)

       cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman;

       approved by the National House of Representatives

       elections: the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one

       Croat, one Serb) are elected by popular vote for a four-year term;

       the member with the most votes becomes the chairman unless he or she

       was the incumbent chairman at the time of the election, but the

       chairmanship rotates every eight months; election last held 5

       October 2002 (next to be held NA 2006); the chairman of the Council

       of Ministers is appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the

       National House of Representatives

       election results: percent of vote - Mirko SAROVIC with 35.5% of the

       Serb vote was elected chairman of the collective presidency for the

       first eight months; Dragan COVIC received 61.5% of the Croat vote;

       Sulejman TIHIC received 37% of the Bosniak vote

       note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Niko

       LOZANCIC (since 27 January 2003); Vice Presidents Sahbaz DZIHANOVIC

       (since NA 2003) and Desnica RADIVOJEVIC (since NA 2003); President

       of the Republika Srpska: Dragan CAVIC (since 28 November 2002)

      Legislative branch:

       bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the

       National House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats -

       elected by proportional representation, 28 seats allocated from the

       Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats from the Republika

       Srpska; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms);

       and the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats - 5 Bosniak, 5

       Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's

       House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska's National

       Assembly to serve four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election law

       specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order

       administrative division entity legislatures

       elections: National House of Representatives - elections last held 5

       October 2002 (next to be held in NA 2006); House of Peoples - last

       constituted NA January 2003 (next to be constituted in 2007)

       election results: National House of Representatives - percent of

       vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP

       10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%; seats by

       party/coalition - SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP

       2, others 7; House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition -

       NA%; seats by party/coalition - NA

       note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that

       consists of a House of Representatives (98 seats; members elected by

       popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held 5

       October 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006); percent of vote by

       party - NA%; seats by party/coalition - SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15,

       SBiH 15, other 20; and a House of Peoples (60 seats - 30 Bosniak, 30

       Croat); last constituted December 2002; the Republika Srpska has a

       National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to

       serve four-year terms); elections last held 5 October 2002 (next to

       be held in the fall of 2006); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats

       by party/coalition - SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3,

       DNZ 3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6; as a result of the 2002

       constitutional reform process, a 28-member Republika Srpska Council

       of Peoples (COP) was established in the Republika Srpska National

       Assembly including 8 Croats, 8 Bosniaks, 8 Serbs, and 4 members of

       the smaller communities

      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); BiH State Court (consists of nine

       judges and three divisions - Administrative, Appellate and Criminal

       - having jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and

       appellate