Shaped like a jagged arrowhead, Bosnia-Hercegovina - for all its dominating of recent news reports - occupies an area of south-central Europe only slightly larger than that of Slovakia or the US state of Tennessee. Just east of the Adriatic Sea, it shares borders with Croatia to the north, south and west and with Serbia and Montenegro to the east. A skinny finger of Bosnia pokes through southern Croatia to wet itself in the Adriatic and give the country a full 20km (13mi) of coastline.
Within the country's post-Dayton Accord borders, Bosnia is almost evenly divided into a joint Muslim-Croat Federation (about 51% of the territory) and a Serb state, the Republika Srpska (about 49% of the territory), which fit together like a psychedelic two-piece jigsaw puzzle.
The central and southern landscape is dominated by the Dinaric Alps, which mark the convergence of three distinct ecological zones: Mediterranean, Balkan and Central European. Plains and plateaux in the north flank the Sava River. The nation's highest point is Maglic in Hercegovina, which measures in at 2385m (7825ft) above its lowest elevation, the Adriatic Sea shoreline. All of Bosnia-Hercegovina is subject to powerful earthquakes.
Typical to the region, Bosnia has hot summers and chilly winters. Sarajevo's average daily high is 1°C (34°F) in January, 21°C (70°F) in July. Springtime (April and May) is the best time to come to get a glimpse of the country's rich flora and fauna, though upland areas may still be under snow.
Population
3,989,018 (July 2003 est.)
Area
51,129 sq km
Ethnicity/ Race
Serb 37.1%, Bosniak 48%, Croat 14.3%, other 0.6% (2000) note: Bosniak has replaced Muslim
Major Languages
Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian
Religion
Muslim 40%, Orthodox 31%, Roman Catholic 15%, Protestant 4%, other 10%
