Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991 was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on March 3, 1992, after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs.

The Bosnian Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro - responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas to form a "Greater Serbia."

In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Nov. 21, 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties initialed a peace agreement that brought to a halt three years of interethnic civil strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on Dec. 14, 1995).

The Dayton Peace Accords retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government charged with conducting foreign, diplomatic, and fiscal policy. Also recognized was a second tier of government comprised of two entities roughly equal in size: the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska (RS). The Federation and RS governments were charged with overseeing most government functions.

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was established to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. In 1995-96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia to implement and monitor the military aspects of the agreement.

IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) whose mission was to deter renewed hostilities. European Union peacekeeping troops (EUFOR) replaced SFOR in December 2004; their mission is to maintain peace and stability throughout the country. EUFOR plans to phase out its mission beginning in 2007.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 4,552,198 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 15% (male 353,163/female 331,133) 15-64 years: 70.4% (male 1,615,011/female 1,587,956) 65 years and over: 14.6% (male 273,240/female 391,695) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 38.9 years male: 37.7 years female: 40.1 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.003% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 8.8 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 8.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 9.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.067 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.017 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.698 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 9.58 deaths/1,000 live births male: 10.98 deaths/1,000 live births female: 8.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.17 years male: 74.57 years female: 82.03 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.23 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 900 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 100 (2001 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Bosnian(s), Herzegovinian(s) adjective: Bosnian, Herzegovinian

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Ethnic groups: Bosniak 48%, Serb 37.1%, Croat 14.3%, other 0.6% (2000) note: Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term Muslim - an adherent of Islam

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Religions: Muslim 40%, Orthodox 31%, Roman Catholic 15%, other 14%

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Languages: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96.7% male: 99% female: 94.4% (2000 est.)

Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked next to 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. The private sector is growing and foreign investment is slowly increasing, but government spending, at nearly 40% of adjusted GDP, remains unreasonably high. The interethnic warfare in Bosnia caused production to plummet by 80% from 1992 to 1995 and unemployment to soar. With an uneasy peace in place, output recovered in 1996-99 at high percentage rates from a low base; but output growth slowed in 2000-02. Part of the lag in output was made up in 2003-06 when GDP growth exceeded 5% per year. National-level statistics are limited and do not capture the large share of black market activity. The konvertibilna marka (convertible mark or BAM)- the national currency introduced in 1998 - is pegged to the euro, and confidence in the currency and the banking sector has increased. Implementing privatization, however, has been slow, particularly in the Federation, although it is increasing in the Republika Srpska. Banking reform accelerated in 2001 as all the Communist-era payments bureaus were shut down; foreign banks, primarily from Western Europe, now control most of the banking sector. A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain the two most serious economic problems. On 1 January 2006 a new value-added tax (VAT) went into effect. The VAT has been successful in capturing much of the gray market economy and has developed into a significant and predictable source of revenues for all layers of government. The question of how to allocate revenue from VAT receipts is not completely resolved. Bosnia and Herzegovina became a member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement in December 2006. The country receives substantial reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $25.28 billion note: Bosnia has a large informal sector that could also be as much as 50% of official GDP (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $9.217 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $5,600 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14.2% industry: 30.8% services: 55% (2002)

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Labor force: 1.026 million (2001)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

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Unemployment rate: 45.5% official rate; grey economy may reduce actual unemployment to 25-30% (31 December 2004 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 25% (2004 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 26.2 (2001)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.2% (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $5.643 billion expenditures: $5.677 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 24.5% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock

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Industries: steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining

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Industrial production growth rate: 5.5% (2003 est.)

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Electricity - production: 12.98 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 11.03 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 3.05 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 2 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - consumption: 23,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 300 million cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 300 million cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: -$1.73 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $3.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: metals, clothing, wood products

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Exports - partners: Croatia 19.1%, Slovenia 17%, Italy 15.6%, Germany 12.5%, Austria 8.8%, Hungary 5.3%, China 4% (2006)

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Imports: $8.25 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Croatia 25.1%, Germany 14.3%, Slovenia 13%, Italy 9.9%, Austria 5.9%, Hungary 5.1% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.7 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $3.927 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $650 million (2001 est.)

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Currency (code): konvertibilna marka (convertible mark) (BAM)

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Exchange rates: konvertibilna maraka per US dollar - 1.5576 (2006), 1.5727 (2005), 1.5752 (2004), 1.7329 (2003), 2.0782 (2002) note: the convertible mark is pegged to the euro

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Fiscal year: calendar year