president]; Party for Bosnia [Haris SILAJDZIC]; Joint List of Social
Democrats; Democratic Patriotic Front/Union for Peace and Progress;
Civic Democratic Party or GDS [Ibrahim SPAHIC]; Croatian Peasants'
Party of BiH or HSS [Stanko STISKOVIC]; Independent Serbian Democratic
Party or NSDS [Milorad DODIK]; Liberal Bosniak Organization or LBO
[Muhamed FILIPOVIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Rasim KADIC, president];
Muslim-Bosniac Organization or MBO [Adil ZULFIKARPASIC]; Republican
Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina [Stjepan KLJUIC]; Serb Civic Council
or SGV [Mirko PEJANOVIC]; Serb Consultative Council [Ljubomir
BERBEROVIC]; Social Democratic Party or SDP (formerly the Democratic
Party of Socialists or DSS) [Zlatko LAGUMOZIJA, president]; Socialist
Party of Republika Srpska [Zivko RADISIC]; Union of Social Democrats
or SSDB [Selim BESLAGIC]; United Left of the Bosnian Serb Republic or
ULRS [Mile IVOSEVIC]; Yugoslav United Left or JUL [CAREVIC]; Social
Liberal Party [Miodrag ZIVANOVIC]; Serb Radical Party [Miodrag RAKIC];
Serb Patriotic Party [Slavko ZUPLJANIN]; Serb Homeland Party; Party of
Serbian Unity; Republik Srpska Independent Social Democrats [Branko
DOKIC, president]; Serb Party of Posavina and Krajina [Predrag
LAZAREVIC]; National Democratic Union [Fikret ABDIC]
note : 82 parties are registered for the September 1997 municipal
elections
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: CE (guest), CEI, ECE, FAO,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol,
IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), OIC (observer), OSCE, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Sven ALKALAJ chancery: Suite 760, 1707 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 833–3612, 3613, 3615 FAX: [1] (202) 833–2061 consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Robert BEECROFT embassy: 43 Ul. Djure Djakovica, Sarajevo mailing address: American Embassy Sarajevo, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521–7130 telephone: [387] (71) 445–700 FAX: [387] (71) 659–722
Flag description: white with a large blue shield; the shield contains white fleurs-de-lis with a white diagonal band running from the upper hoist corner to the lower outer side
Government - note: Until declaring independence in spring 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina existed as a republic in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Bosnia was partitioned by fighting during 1992–95 and governed by competing ethnic factions. Bosnia's current governing structures were created by the Dayton Accords, the 1995 peace agreement which was officially signed in Paris on 14 December 1995 by Bosnian President IZETBEGOVIC, Croatian President TUDJMAN, and Serbian President MILOSEVIC. This agreement retained Bosnia'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 Accords also recognized a second tier of government, comprised of two entities - a joint Muslim-Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska (RS) - each presiding over roughly one-half the territory. These Federation and RS governments are charged with overseeing internal functions. As mandated by the Dayton Accords, the Bosnians on 14 September 1996 participated in the first post-war elections of national, entity, and cantonal leaders. The Bosnians have been slow to form and install new joint institutions. A new Federation cabinet was sworn in 18 December 1996 and the new Bosnian central government cabinet was confirmed on 3 January 1997.
Economy
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 has been almost all in private hands, farms have been small and inefficient, and the republic traditionally has been a net importer of food. Industry has been greatly overstaffed, one reflection of the rigidities of communist central planning and management. 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 perhaps 90% since 1990, unemployment to soar, and human misery to multiply. No reliable economic statistics for 1992–96 are available, although output almost certainly is well below $1,000 per head. In the Federation, unemployment remains in the 40%-50% range and inflation is low. By contrast, growth in the Republika Srpska in 1996 was flat and inflation surpassed 30%. The country receives substantial amounts of humanitarian aid from the international community. Wide regional differences in war damage and access to the outside world have resulted in substantial variations in living conditions among local areas.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.9 billion (1995 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $600 (1995 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%
Inflation rate - consumer price index: NA%
Labor force: total: 1,026,254 by occupation: NA%
Unemployment rate: officially about 70% but probably much lower, perhaps 40%-50% (1996 est.)
Budget: revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries: steel, coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, vehicle assembly, textiles, tobacco products, wooden furniture, tank and aircraft assembly, domestic appliances, oil refining; much of capacity damaged or shut down (1995)
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - capacity: 3.991 million kW (1991)
Electricity - production: 1.87 billion kWh (1994)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 475 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Exports: total value: $152 million (1995 est.) commodities: NA partners: NA
Imports: total value : $1.1 billion (1995 est.) commodities: NA partners: NA
Debt - external: $3.5 billion (yearend 1995 est.)
Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $600 million (1996 est.)
Currency: 1 dinar = 100 para; Croatian kuna used in Croat-held area; old and new Serbian dinars used in Serb-held area; the deutsche mark (DM) has supplanted local currencies throughout Bosnia
Exchange rates: NA
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Bosnia and Herzegovina:Communications
Telephones: 727,000
Telephone system: telephone and telegraph network is in need of modernization and expansion; many urban areas are below average when compared with services in other former Yugoslav republics domestic: NA international : no satellite earth stations
Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 2, shortwave 0
Radios: 840,000
Television broadcast stations: 6
Televisions: 1,012,094
@Bosnia and Herzegovina:Transportation
Railways: