Bosnia and Herzegovina
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Bosnia and Herzegovina can be reached from Italy mainly by land via Croatia. The most popular route from Italy starts from Trieste or Venice, crosses Slovenia and Croatia along the Croatian motorway (Autocesta Zagreb-Split), and reaches the Bosnian border at Livno or Mostar; a more northerly variant enters Bosnia from Slavonski Brod. From Zagreb, the distance to Sarajevo is about 400 km on national roads; the Bosnian motorway network is still developing and of limited extent, with the [A1] motorway connecting Sarajevo with the northern and southern corridors of the country. State roads are generally passable, but require longer transit times than motorways due to the many mountainous sections. The country's main airport is Sarajevo International Airport (SJJ), with flights to major European destinations; secondary airports are in Banja Luka and Mostar. The railway network is modest and partially operational after the 1992-95 war damage; trains connect Sarajevo with Mostar, Banja Luka and the international line to Zagreb. In the mountainous areas of the interior - including the Sutjeska National Park and the Maglić massif - access is exclusively by road, often unpaved, with routes to be planned in advance as signposting is not uniform. In some parts of the country, there remain areas subject to clearance from landmines inherited from the conflict; it is advisable not to leave the marked routes.
Introduction
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state in south-eastern Europe, located in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. The territory, divided between the two historical regions of Bosnia in the north and Herzegovina in the south, is predominantly mountainous: the Dinaric Alps cross the country in a north-west-south-east direction, with peaks exceeding 2,000 m and with Maglić (2,386 m) as the highest point, located on the border with Montenegro. The only outlet to the Adriatic Sea is a coastal corridor of about 20 km around the town of Neum. The country borders Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Montenegro and Croatia along the Dalmatian portion of the coast. The country consists of two separate entities - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Serbian Republic (Republika Srpska) - and an autonomous district (Brčko), with a parallel system of governance that reflects the tripartite ethnic composition: Bosniaks of the Islamic faith, Serbs of the Orthodox faith and Croats of the Catholic faith. The country is a candidate for European Union membership.
.Description
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian territory covers an area of 51,201 km² and has a high average altitude: the Dinaric Alps, a karstic system of limestone rocks, occupy almost the entire mountainous surface, with plateaus, polje (karstic depressions at the valley floor), deep gorges and narrow valleys. The north - the historical Posavina region - is flat and fertile, drained by the Sava, which marks the border with Croatia. The main river system is tributary to the Danube: the Drina marks the border with Serbia, the Bosnia flows through the heart of the country, and the Vrbas and Una complete the northern hydrographic network. To the south, the Neretva river basin drains Herzegovina towards the Adriatic. Natural lakes are rare; the largest, Blidinje, varies in size and surface area. Forests, predominantly beech (Fagus sylvatica) and fir (Picea abies), cover about 43% of the land area.
The history of the region is marked by centuries-old cultural stratifications. The territory was inhabited by Illyrian peoples and later Romanised as the province of Dalmatia et Pannonia. In the Middle Ages, the kingdom of Bosnia (12th-15th centuries) developed its own identity, with an autocephalous church - the Bosnian Church - and a cultural tradition expressed in the monolithic funerary stelae known as stećci, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016. The Ottoman conquest between 1463 and 1482 introduced Islam as the prevailing confession among the local elites, resulting in the tripartite confessional structure that still exists today. The Austro-Hungarian occupation (1878-1918) brought administrative modernisation, railway infrastructure and Central European-style architecture, still visible in Sarajevo today. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 triggered the First World War. After 1945, Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the six federal republics of Tito's Yugoslavia, with Sarajevo starring in the 1984 Winter Olympics. The break-up of Yugoslavia opened a war of aggression and ethnic cleansing in 1992 that caused around 100,000 deaths and almost 2 million refugees, with the atrocities of the Srebrenica massacre (1995) recognised as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The economy, severely compromised by the war, has slowly recovered thanks to international aid, EU funds and the development of sectors such as timber, tourism and light manufacturing. GDP per capita remains among the lowest in Europe, with a structurally high unemployment rate. Traditional handicrafts - copper work, kilim carpets, filigree and woodworking - are an identity component of local production, particularly in the Ottoman Bazaar in Sarajevo (Baščaršija). The gastronomy mixes Ottoman and Central European influences: ćevapi (grilled strips of minced meat served with somun bread and onion), burek (pastry filled with meat or cheese) and šiš ćevap are emblematic dishes.
The protected area system includes five national parks. The Sutjeska National Park (1962), the oldest in the country, in the southeastern sector on the border with Montenegro, is home to the Maglić and Perućica Forest - one of the last primeval forests in Europe, with centuries-old beech (Fagus sylvatica) and fir (Picea abies) trees and the Skakavac waterfall (75 m). Mount Zelengora, in the same park, has seven glacial lakes. The Kozara National Park in the northwest is characterised by hilly forests. The UNESCO site of Stećci bears witness to a medieval monumental funerary production spread throughout the area.
Trekking in Bosnia and Herzegovina is mainly in the Sutjeska National Park and in the Dinaric mountains. The trek from Tjentište to Maglić (approx. 26 km round trip, 1,800 m D+) is the most demanding and well-known trail in the country. The Dinaric White Trail also crosses Bosnian territory in its Alpine variants, connecting Slovenia to Kosovo through the Dinaric Alps. The mountains of Bjelašnica and Jahorina, site of the 1984 Olympic ski competitions and now converted to mountain tourism, offer summer trails and ski lifts that are still in operation. Rafting on the Tara River on the border with Montenegro in the Sutjeska National Park is one of the most popular outdoor activities.
The mountaineering tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina is linked to the Dinaric peaks. Maglić (2,386 m) is the highest peak and mountaineering destination par excellence: the ascent from the Prijevor saddle (approximately 4 hours) is a semi-technical route with equipped sections on karst rock; the peak, located right on the border with Montenegro, can be reached from Tjentište. Mount Prenj, with its rocky ridge above Mostar, is one of the most severe rock faces in the western Balkans and offers mountaineering routes on high quality limestone. The via ferrata on the Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi in the North Velebit National Park (Croatia) is often combined with trekking in northern Bosnia.
Trail running in Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the rise, with a rich terrain of altitude differences and technical terrain. The Bosnia Herzegovina Ultra Trail (BHUT) and some local races in the mountains around Sarajevo are the national benchmark events. The Bjelašnica Trail, in the Olympic mountains a few kilometres from the capital, is one of the most popular trails. Trail conditions can be variable due to incomplete signposting and areas still subject to mine clearance.
Information
General Data
Capital: Sarajevo
Area: 51.201 km²
Minimum elevation: 0m (Adriatic coast at Neum)
Maximum elevation: 2,386m - Maglić
Number of inhabitants: 3,390.000 (estimated 2026)
Official name: Bosna i Hercegovina
Name of inhabitants: Bosnians
Entity: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Republic of Serbia (Republika Srpska) - Brčko District
Border countries: Croatia - Montenegro - Serbia
Institutional website: https://www.fbihvlada.gov.ba