20 Facts About Bosnia And Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the Balkan Peninsular, was previously part of Yugoslavia however, gained independence in 1992. This fascinating country has a deep history of being ruled and overcome by other countries and cultures. The country is most captivating for its East-meets-West surroundings, which has been blended with Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian pasts. With an abundance of medieval ruins, unique towns and cities, stunning mountains, waterfalls and rivers, Bosnia and Herzegovina has plenty of major drawcards for all travellers.  It’s only in recent times that wanderers have truly realised how amazing this country is.

Here are 20 facts about Bosnia and Herzegovina:

1. Stari Most in Mostar is one of the country’s most identifiable landmarks. It is a 16th-century Ottoman bridge that stood for 427 years, until it was ruined in 1993 during the war. The bridge was reconstructed and opened in 2004

Stari Most in Mostar Bosnia And Herzegovina

2. Bosnia is said to have been occupied since the New Stone Age

3. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been nicknamed the “Heart Shaped Land” because of the country’s slight heart shape

Bosnia and Herzegovina

4. In 2010, Sarajevo was nominated as one of the top ten cities to visit in Lonely Planet’s “Best In Travel”

5. The currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the Marka, which can’t be bought or exchanged anywhere else in the world

6. They love coffee! The country has the tenth highest coffee consumption per capita in the world

7. It has the last remaining jungle in Europe at Perućica. The Perućica forest is not massive but it has many trees that are more than 300 years old and in many parts is inaccessible to humans due to the density of the flora and fauna

8. The Sarajevo tram network is one of Europe’s oldest, having firstly served as the test line for Vienna’s trams. It was opened on New Year’s Day in 1885

The Sarajevo tram network

9. There are still around 200,000 mines to clear due to the war and as a result Bosnia and Herzegovina has one of the most severe land mine problems in the world

10. The difference between a Bosnian and a Herzegovinian is upheld as a regional, not an ethic distinction

11. In 1984 Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics. It was the first time that a socialist country had hosted the Olympics

12. Much of the landscape in Bosnia and Herzegovina is mountainous

landscape in Bosnia

13. Bosniaks are generally associated with Islam with around 50% of the population Muslim. Orthodox Christianity who are generally the Serbs make up around 30% of the population, whilst Catholics who are primarily the Croats, make up about 15% of the population

14. There are three official languages; Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian. They’re all extremely similar

15. The Sarajevo Sahat Tower is a historic timepiece which said to be is the only clock in the world that keeps lunar time

16. The small town of Medjugorje is extremely popular with Catholic pilgrims. Millions of pilgrims have visited the site since 1981. This is due to reports of supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary to six local children

The small town of Medjugorje

17. Stecak is a medieval tombstone that can be seen dispersed all over the rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina

18. The Sarajevo Film Festival was created in 1995 during the Bosnian War. It has now become the biggest and most well-known film festival in the Balkans and South-East Europe

19. There are over one million people that visit Bosnia every year. According to the World Tourism Organisation, the country will have the third highest tourism growth rate worldwide from 1995 to 2020

20. The name Bosnia comes from the Indo-European word which means water as the country is full of waterfalls, rivers and lakes

So, you’re interested in visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina? New for 2018, Travel Talk is offering tours to the Balkans, which range from 4-days to 23-days. You can find out more about these tours here. Balkan Tours

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