Bosnia-Herzegovina
War Strikes All
The Genocidal Wars of Bosnia & Herzegovina caused nationwide change. The civil wars
of the nation managed to change all aspects of the country, ranging from religious beliefs to
drops in migration. Bosnia’s geography was affected both agriculturally and industrially through
the destruction of national landmarks and already scarce farmland. The nation’s population
dropped drastically after thousands of Bosnians fled the country for refuge in fear of death
(Census Shows Bosnia's Population down 13 Percent after War | Avaz | Online Izdanje). With
the loss of Muslim hegemony over cultural influence on Bosnia, the nation’s dominant folk
culture, popular culture, religions, languages and ethnicities were all altered. With these
factors being vital to a country’s overall image, Bosnia & Herzegovina faced national changes
when struck with its genocidal civil war.
Geography
Bosnia & Herzegovina is found on the Balkan Peninsula at the absolute location of
44.0000° N, 18.0000° E where low mountains to high plateaus fill the nation (Geography of
Bosnia and Herzegovina). Despite Bosnia having a coast on the Adriatic Sea of only 13 miles,
physical attributes of the country include being almost entirely landlocked (Geography of
Bosnia and Herzegovina). The situation of the nation is how it borders the Adriatic Sea on the
south, Croatia on the north, west and south, Serbia on the east and Montenegro on the southeast
(Land and Water Conditions in Bosnia & Herzegovina). With a relative location of being a bit
smaller than the state of West Virginia and a third of the size of England, Bosnia’s geography
was affected drastically when the Bosnian genocidal wars managed to destroy not only historical
landmarks such as the Old Bridge of Mostar from the 16th century but also partially eliminated
sections of the 10% of arable land found throughout the nation (Encyclopedia of the Nations).
With only 10% of the land being arable, 50% is shown to be forested as the final 40% is either
urbanized or mountainous (Encyclopedia of the Nations). Bosnia & Herzegovina have three
primary geographic regions including the soaring high plains and plateaus along the nation's
border with Croatia, its low-set mountains near the central area of the country and it’s greater
Dinaric Alps that cover the rest of the nation proving to be a pull factor for tourists (Discover
Bosnia - Travel Guide for Bosnia & Herzegovina). With Bosnia & Herzegovina’s economy built
off of the cultivation of crops such as corn, wheat, tobacco and fruit, its economy took a downfall
when hit with the Bosnian wars that managed to contaminate high quality agricultural land
(Bosnia and Herzegovina). Due to the Dayton Agreement after the Bosnian war, the nation is
now divided into two states: the Federation of BIH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) on the western,
southern and central areas of the country and the Republic of Srpska on the northern, eastern, and
southern areas (Bosnia-Hercegovina Timeline).
Population & Migration
Bosnia’s population decreased by 13% due to the deaths and refugees after the Bosnian
war demonstrating the massive effect the genocide had on both the population and migration
(Encyclopedia of the Nations). The demography of Bosnia & Herzegovina shows that before the
war, in 1991, Bosnia had a population of 4,364,574 as opposed to 3,879,296, where the country
is at now (Census Shows Bosnia's Population down 13 Percent after War | Avaz | Online
Izdanje). Bosnia & Herzegovina lost approximately ¼ of its population by 1998 due to both
casualties and refugees (Census Shows Bosnia's Population down 13 Percent after War | Avaz |
Online Izdanje). During this time, over 100,000 people were killed and roughly two million fled
the nation (Census Shows Bosnia's Population down 13 Percent after War | Avaz | Online
Izdanje).
Bosnia & Herzegovina is currently in the fifth stage of the demographic transition due
to its graying population due to its negative growth rate of -0.3 (International Programs).
Consequently, Bosnia & Herzegovina may face future issues of not having enough children to
pay for national pensions and social security of the nation’s older residents. Bosnia has a crude
birth rate of 9/1,000 population and a crude death rate of 10/1,000 population with its
concentration being focused around such as Sarajevo and Mostar (International Programs).
With the civil war of Bosnia & Herzegovina causing massive amounts of emigration, the
country currently holds a net migration rate of zero (International Programs).
Culture
The civil war of Bosnia & Herzegovina affected the nation’s religion, folk culture,
popular culture and ethnicities. Bosnia & Herzegovina includes three primary religions,
languages and ethnicities (Bosnians Cultural Profile). For religions, forty percent of the
population is Muslim, 31% is Eastern Orthodox and 15% is Roman Catholic (Religion in
Bosnia). Although the religions differ, they all share common cultural characteristics such as
daily prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and reconciliation (Religion in Bosnia). Religions significantly
tie to ethnicities in Bosnia through how the majority of Croatians are predominantly Catholic and
Muslim and Serbians are typically Eastern Orthodox (Religion in Bosnia). Likewise, the
distributions of religions in Bosnia are dependent on the concentrated areas of specific
ethnicities. During the war, many Muslims who could not seek refuge chose to convert causing a
different influence of religion on Bosnia (Bosnians Cultural Profile). The country has three
official languages that include Bosnian, Croats and Serbian (Encyclopedia of the Nations).
Unlike many other countries, Bosnia does not have many isolated tribes or ethnic groups causing
there to be no isolated languages (Bosnians Cultural Profile). Bosnia’s popular culture is found
through its film industry and alternative music genres as opposed to the traditional folk music
found in the folk culture of rural areas of the country (Bosnians Cultural Profile). Due to the
emigration of Bosnia & Herzegovina during its civil wars, Bosnian culture is now being
distributed through major cities where Bosnians tend to migrate to through hierarchical
diffusion.
In conclusion, the civil wars of Bosnia & Herzegovina during the 1990’s managed to
affect all aspects that are responsible for creating the specific image of a country. Whether it be
the nation’s population or simply the popular culture, the national conflict proved heavy in
magnitude.
Works Cited
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"Bosnians Cultural Profile." Fp6migratoryflows. Institute for Anthropological
Research, July-Aug. 2006. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
"Bosnia Population Down 13 Percent after War." VOA. N.p., 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
"Census Shows Bosnia's Population down 13 Percent after War | Avaz | Online Izdanje."Avaz.ba.
N.p., 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
"Countries and Their Cultures." Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. J Rank, n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2013.
"Discover Bosnia - Travel Guide for Bosnia & Herzegovina." Discover Bosnia - Travel Guide
for Bosnia & Herzegovina. N.p., 2007. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
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"Geography and Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina." Geography and Map of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
"Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
"International Programs." - Information Gateway. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
"Land and Water Conditions in Bosnia & Herzegovina."Eusoils.jrc.ec.europa. N.p., n.d. Web. 8
Dec. 2013.
"Religion in Bosnia." Religion in Bosnia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.