Country name: conventional long form: none
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:
name: Sarajevo
geographic coordinates: 43 52 N, 18 25 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

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 Bosne i Hercegovine) and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska; note - Brcko District is in northeastern Bosnia and is a self-governing administrative unit under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and formally held in condominium between the two entities

Independence:
1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia; referendum for independence completed on 1 March 1992; independence declared on 3 March 1992)

National holiday:
National Day (Statehood Day), 25 November (1943); note - observed only in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity

Constitution:
14 December 1995 (constitution included as part of the Dayton Peace Accords); amended several times, last in 2003; note - each of the entities has its own constitution (2011)

Legal system:
civil law system; Constitutional Court review of legislative acts

International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage:
18 years of age, 16 if employed; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: Chairman of the Presidency Zeljko KOMSIC (chairman since 10 July 2013; presidency member since 6 November 2006 - Croat); other members of the three-member presidency rotate every eight months: Bakir IZETBEGOVIC (presidency member since 10 November 2010 - Bosniak); Nebojsa RADMANOVIC (presidency member since 6 November 2006 - Serb)
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vjekoslav BEVANDA (since 12 January 2012)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman; approved by the state-level House of Representatives
elections: the three members of the presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term, but then ineligible for four years) by constituencies referring to the three ethnic groups; the candidate with the most votes in a constituency is elected; the chairmanship rotates every eight months and resumes where it left off following each general election; election last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); the chairman of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives
election results: percent of vote - Nebojsa RADMANOVIC with 48.9% of the votes for the Serb seat; Zeljko KOMSIC with 60.6% of the votes for the Croat seat; Bakir IZETBEGOVIC with 34.9% of the votes for the Bosniak seat
note: President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Zivko BUDIMIR (since 17 March 2011); Vice Presidents Svetozar PUDARIC (since 17 March 2011) and Mirsad KEBO (since 17 March 2007); President of the Republika Srpska: Milorad DODIK (since 15 November 2010)

Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina consists of the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats, 5 Bosniak, 5 Croat, 5 Serb; members designated by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Peoples and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to serve four-year terms); and the state-level House of Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats, 28 seats allocated for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats for the Republika Srpska; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation 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: House of Peoples - last constituted in 9 June 2011 (next likely to be constituted in 2015); state-level House of Representatives - elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014)
election results: House of Peoples - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - NA; state-level House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - SDP BiH 8, SNSD 8, SDA 7, SDS 4, SBB BiH 4, HDZ-BiH 3, SBiH 2, HDZ-1990/HSP BiH 2, other 4
note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that consists of a House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 17 Serb, 7 other); last constituted May 2011 (next likely to be constituted in 2015); and a House of Representatives (98 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/coalition - SDP BiH 28, SDA 23, SBB BiH 13, HDZ-BiH 12, SBiH 9, NSRzB 5, HDZ-1990 3, HSP 3, DNZ 1, PDP, 1; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/coalition - SNSD 37, SDS 18, PDP 7, DNS 6, SPRS 4, DP 3, SDP BiH 3, SDA 2, NDS 2 SRS-RS 1; 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:
highest court(s): BiH Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); Court of BiH (consists of 44 national judges and 7 international judges organized into three divisions - Administrative, Appellate, and Criminal, which includes a War Crimes Chamber)
judge selection and term of office: BiH Constitutional Court judges - 4 selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's House of Representatives, 2 selected by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and 3 non-Bosnian judges selected by the president of the European Court of Human Rights; Court of BiH president and national judges appointed by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council; Court of BiH president appointed for renewable 6-year term; other national judges appointed to serve until age 70; international judges recommended by the president of the Court of BiH and appointed by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina; international judges appointed to serve until age 70
subordinate courts: the Federation has 10 cantonal courts plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has a supreme court, 5 district courts, and a number of municipal courts

Political parties and leaders:
Alliance for a Better Future of BiH or SBB BiH [Fahrudin RADONCIC]