BOSNIA(Nasra)

Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in South-eastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia. Its terrain is mountainous. The country has hot summers and cold winters; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters; mild, rainy winters along coast
It geographic location has placed the region squarely in the midst of European political power struggles for hundreds of years. Racial divisions, made worse by ever-changing borders and religious rivalries: Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodoxy. While Yugoslavia kept the peace under Marshall Tito (and for a time after his death, as well) the fall of Communism signaled the beginning of the end for the tenuous unity of the area. In 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for independence, but the military (of Yugoslavia and mostly Serb) refused to recognize this move and began the siege of Sarajevo. Horrific episodes of so-called "ethnic cleansing" began as the Serbs attempted to clear Bosnia of Muslims and Croats. In 1995, a peace accord was finally signed dividing the region into a Serb republic and a Muslim-Croat federation, which would be governed under the same president and legislature. UN peacekeeping has been in the area since 1995.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was a multi-ethnic society. Before the civil war the Serbs made up 40% of the country, the Muslims 38% and the Croats 22%. During the war ethnic cleansing occurred in the country and the current composition of the country is not known. Population (July 2002 est.): 3,964,388 (note: all data dealing with population are subject to considerable error because of the dislocations caused by military action and ethnic cleansing).
Population growth rate (2002 est.): 0.76%.
Ethnic groups: Bosniak 48.3%, Serb 34.0%, Croat 15.4%, others 2.3%. (Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2002--Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Religions: Muslim (40%); Orthodox (31%); Catholic (15%); Protestant (4%); other (10%).
Languages: Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian (formerly "Serbo-Croatian").
Education: Mandatory 8 years of primary school, 4 years in secondary school, and 4 years in universities and academies. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are 407 primary schools with 250,000 students, 171 secondary schools with 80,000 students, 6 universities in the major cities (Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka, Tuzla, and Bihac) and 6 academies (4 pedagogic and 2 art academies).
Education: Adult literacy rate--male 94.1%, female 78.0%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--23.53 deaths/1,000. Life expectancy--male 71.0, female 75.0.