| Geography and Climate |
Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in the Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia. Area comparatively slightly smaller than West Virginia. Total land boundary is
1,459 km, border countries are Croatia 932 km, Serbia and Montenegro 527 km (312 km with Serbia, 215 km with Montenegro). Climate is hot summer and cold winter; areas of high elevation have short, cool summers and long, severe winters; mild, rainy winters along coast. Terrain consists of mountains and valleys. The elevation extreme has lowest point in Adriatic Sea 0 m and highest point in Maglic 2,386 m. Natural resources are coal, iron, bauxite, manganese, forests, copper, chromium, lead, zinc. Land use: arable land: 14%, permanent crops: 5%, permanent pastures: 20%, forests and woodland: 39%, other: 22% (1993 est.). Natural hazards are frequent and destructive earthquakes.
Environment—current issues: air pollution from metallurgical plants; sites for disposing of urban waste are limited; widespread casualties, water shortages, and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992-95 civil strife.
Geography—note: within Bosnia and Herzegovina's recognized borders, the country is divided into a joint Muslim/Croat Federation (about 51% of the territory) and a Serb Republic, The Republika Srpska [RS] (about 49% of the territory); the region called Herzegovina is contiguous to Croatia and traditionally has been settled by an ethnic Croat majority.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |