Subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina Politička podjela Bosne i Hercegovine Политичка подјела Босне и Херцеговине
Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska entity (1), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity (2), Brčko District condominium (3)
Category	Federated state
Location	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Created	14 December 1995
Number	2 entities and 1 condominium
Populations	85,000 (Brčko District) – 2,243,000 (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Areas	493 km² (Brčko District) – 26,110.5 km² (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

The political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were created by the Dayton Agreement. The Agreement divides the country into two federal entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS) and one condominium named the Brčko District.

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) is composed of mostly Bosniaks and Croats, while the Republika Srpska (RS) is composed of mostly Serbs.

Each entity governs roughly one half of the state's territory. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina itself has a federal structure and consists of 10 autonomous cantons.

Overview

The Federation and the Republika Srpska governments are charged with overseeing internal functions. Each has its own government, flag and coat of arms, president, legislature, police force, customs, and postal system. The police sectors are overseen by the state-level ministry of safety affairs. Since 2005, Bosnia and Herzegovina has had one set of Armed forces.

The Inter-Entity Boundary Line is not determined by natural geographical features of the country. It rather follows the military front-lines as they were at the end of the Bosnian War. On the ground, there is no active border between RS and FBiH, and one would generally not know the difference when crossing from one entity into another.

The city of Brčko in northeastern Bosnia is a seat of the Brčko District, a self-governing administrative unit; it is part of both the Federation and Republika Srpska. The district remains under international supervision.

The Federation is further divided into ten cantons, which are then subdivided into municipalities. The Republika Srpska is divided directly into municipalities.

List

Name	Area (km2)	Pop.	Ethnic groups	Munic.	Status	Map
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine Федерација Босне и Херцеговине	26,110.5	2,243,000	Bosniaks (70.40%) Croats (22.44%) Serbs (2.55%)	79 (including 22 cities)	Entity
Republika Srpska Република Српска Republika Srpska	24,532.8	1,209,000	Serbs (82.95%) Bosniaks (12.69%) Croats (2.27%)	64 (including 10 cities)	Entity
Brčko District Brčko Distrikt Брчко Дистрикт	493	85,000	Bosniaks (42.36%) Serbs (34.58%) Croats (20.66%)	—	Self-governing district

See also

• Proposed Croat federal unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

Further reading

• Bahtić-Kunrath, Birgit (2011). "Of veto players and entity-voting: institutional gridlock in the Bosnian reform process". Nationalities Papers. 39 (6): 899–923. doi:10.1080/00905992.2011.614224. ISSN 0090-5992. S2CID 153850550.
• Belloni, Roberto (2009). "Bosnia: Dayton is Dead! Long Live Dayton!". Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. 15 (3–4): 355–375. doi:10.1080/13537110903372367. hdl:11572/76874. ISSN 1353-7113. S2CID 143858915.
• Bose, Sumantra (2005). "The Bosnian State a decade after Dayton". International Peacekeeping. 12 (3): 322–335. doi:10.1080/13533310500074028. ISSN 1353-3312. S2CID 145810090.
• Cooley, Laurence (2013). "The European Union's approach to conflict resolution: Insights from the constitutional reform process in Bosnia and Herzegovina". Comparative European Politics. 11 (2): 172–200. doi:10.1057/cep.2012.21. ISSN 1472-4790. S2CID 144140751.
• Hayden, Robert M. (2005). ""Democracy" without a Demos? The Bosnian Constitutional Experiment and the Intentional Construction of Nonfunctioning States". East European Politics and Societies and Cultures. 19 (2): 226–259. doi:10.1177/0888325404272679. ISSN 0888-3254. S2CID 145709568.
• Keil, Soeren; Kudlenko, Anastasiia (2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina 20 Years after Dayton: Complexity Born of Paradoxes" (PDF). International Peacekeeping. 22 (5): 471–489. doi:10.1080/13533312.2015.1103651. ISSN 1353-3312. S2CID 146390988.
• Perry, Valery (2015). "Constitutional Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Does the Road to Confederation go through the EU?". International Peacekeeping. 22 (5): 490–510. doi:10.1080/13533312.2015.1100082. ISSN 1353-3312. S2CID 151456221.
• Sebastian, Sofia (2009). "The Role of the EU in the Reform of Dayton in Bosnia-Herzegovina". Ethnopolitics. 8 (3–4): 341–354. doi:10.1080/17449050903086948. ISSN 1744-9057. S2CID 143308393.
• Touquet, Heleen; Vermeersch, Peter (2008). "Bosnia and Herzegovina: Thinking Beyond Institution-Building". Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. 14 (2): 266–288. doi:10.1080/13537110801985120. ISSN 1353-7113. S2CID 144848639.

External links

• A precarious peace, The Economist, 22 January 1998
• The EU's pseudosuccess in Bosnia, Centre for Eastern Studies 2011
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Ongoing erosion of the State, Centre for Eastern Studies 2011