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29-527: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities composing Bosnia and Herzegovina , the other being Republika Srpska . The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of ten autonomous cantons with their own governments and legislatures. The Federation was created by the 1994 Washington Agreement , which ended the Croat–Bosniak War within the Bosnian War , and established

58-583: A Croat-majority federal unit instead of several cantons. SDA and other Bosniak parties strongly oppose this. In September 2010, the International Crisis Group warned that "disputes among and between Bosniak and Croat leaders and a dysfunctional administrative system have paralyzed decision-making, put the entity on the verge of bankruptcy and triggered social unrest". In January 2017, Croatian National Assembly stated that "if Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to become self-sustainable, then it

87-614: A constituent assembly that continued its work until October 1996. The Federation has a capital , government , president, parliament, customs and police departments and two postal systems. It occupies about half of the land of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1996 until 2005 it had its own army, the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , later merged in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The capital and largest city

116-606: A significant portion of civil and political rights. They hold direct representation in state-level institutions and essentially possess veto power over all state policies. (km ) [REDACTED]   Una-Sana [REDACTED]   Central Bosnia [REDACTED]   Posavina [REDACTED]   Herzegovina-Neretva [REDACTED]   Tuzla [REDACTED]   West Herzegovina [REDACTED]   Zenica-Doboj [REDACTED]   Sarajevo [REDACTED]   Bosnian Podrinje [REDACTED]   Canton 10 SFOR The stated mission of SFOR

145-687: Is Sarajevo with 275,524 inhabitants. The basis for the creation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was laid down by the Washington Agreement of March 1994. Under the agreement, the combined territory held by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council forces was to be divided into ten autonomous cantons along the lines of the Vance-Owen plan . The cantonal system

174-461: Is necessary to have an administrative-territorial reorganization, which would include a federal unit with a Croatian majority. It remains the permanent aspiration of the Croatian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina." In 2010–14 the Federation's Government was formed by SDP without the consent of major Croat political parties, leading to a political crisis. In parallel to EU-facilitated talks on

203-410: Is supposed to ensure that the interests of Croats, Serbs and national minorities are fairly represented during government creation and in the legislative process. The Federation is also divided into ten highly autonomous cantons. They each have their own governments, assemblies and exclusive and shared competencies. In 2010, the Federation's Constitutional Court ruled that two Federation's ministries –

232-664: 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 of the two entities named the Brčko District . The vast majority of the population in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are Bosniaks and Croats , while in Republika Srpska , the vast majority are Serbs . Due to

261-775: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands . U.S. service members serving in SFOR were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the NATO Medal . SFOR operated as part of Operation Joint Guard and Operation Joint Forge. As time progressed, the numbers of troops allotted to SFOR declined. On 2 December 2004, SFOR disbanded and its functions were assumed by military units from

290-620: The Office of the High Representative (OHR) imposed amendments to the Federation's Constitution and its electoral law, in compliance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the political equality of the three constituent peoples (U-5/98). This triggered the grievances of Bosnian Croats , who claimed they were deprived of their rights to representation as Bosniaks had come to control

319-766: The Sejdic-Finci issue at State level, in February 2013 the US embassy supported an expert working group which presented its 188 recommendations to the FBIH House of Representatives in 2013, aiming to address the costly and complex governance structures with overlapping competences between the Federation, the Cantons and the municipalities as currently entailed in the Federation Constitution. The initiative

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348-637: The Federation are dominated by three large parties, the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the multi-ethnic Social Democratic Party (SDP BiH) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH). Entity-level institutions include: Since Bosniaks compose roughly 70.4% of the Federation's population, Croats 22.4% and Serbs just around 2%, the Parliament's House of Peoples (with equal representation for all three nationalities)

377-605: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated forces of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia , and this territory was added to the federation ( Una-Sana Canton ). Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995–1999) – OHR.int By the Dayton Agreement of 1995 that ended the four-year war, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was defined as one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina , comprising 51% of country's area, alongside Republika Srpska . Cantons and federal structure were built rather slowly after

406-466: The Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Culture and Sports – are unconstitutional since education and culture are an exclusive competence of the cantons. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina comprises ten cantons ( Bosnian : kantoni , Croatian : županije ): The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina comprises 51% of the land area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is home to 62.85% of

435-753: The Venice Commission on the same matter. Lacking legislative amendments to revise the Election Law, in Summer 2018 the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina provisionally enacted a new formula for the composition of the House of People, based on the minimal representation formula (one deputy per each constituent people per each canton) and on the 2013 census . In 2022, the High Representative imposed amendments to

464-463: The assigned zone) The three AOs were known collectively as Multi-National Divisions until the end of 2002 where they were reduced in scope to Multi-National Brigades. SFOR operated under peace enforcement , not peacekeeping , rules of engagement . For example, it was cleared, in 1997, to neutralise Serb radio-television facilities. During its mandate, SFOR arrested 29 individuals who were charged with war crimes . Those arrested were transferred to

493-538: The close of 2002, and to approximately 7,000 by the close of 2004. During NATO's 2004 Istanbul Summit the end of the SFOR mission was announced. It was replaced by the European Union 's EUFOR Althea, on 2 December 2004 at NATO HQ, Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, B-H. Operation Joint Forge was succeeded by the EU's Operation Althea . SFOR was divided into three zones of operation: (Some units had troops stationed outside

522-417: The constituent peoples. A significant portion of Brčko District was also part of the Federation; however, when the district was created, it became shared territory of both entities, but it was not placed under control of either of the two, and is hence under direct jurisdiction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has 79 municipalities. The government and politics of

551-547: The country's total population. group [REDACTED]   Una-Sana [REDACTED]   Central Bosnia [REDACTED]   Posavina [REDACTED]   Herzegovina-Neretva [REDACTED]   Tuzla [REDACTED]   West Herzegovina [REDACTED]   Zenica-Doboj [REDACTED]   Sarajevo [REDACTED]   Bosnian Podrinje [REDACTED]   Canton 10 Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina The political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were created by

580-448: The entities wield most of the authority. Both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska control the majority of responsibilities and resources, each with its own constitutions, presidents, parliaments, governments, and prime ministers. They manage citizenship matters and primarily enforce laws since the state level lacks this ability. The entities serve as the primary level for distributing state-collected funds and oversee

609-668: The federal Constitution and the Election Law, implementing the Ljubic verdict. The changes also reconstructed the original balance of power between Croats and Bosniaks in the Federation, as envisioned in Washington Agreement. In 2023, the High Representative suspended the federal Constitution for one day in order to impose a new government. This created a huge scandal and political crisis. Some see this as an act of "treason". The Inter-Entity Boundary Line (IEBL) that distinguishes Bosnia and Herzegovina's two entities runs along

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638-827: The frontlines as they existed at the end of the Bosnian War , with adjustments (most importantly in the western part of the country and around Sarajevo), as defined by the Dayton Agreement. The total length of the IEBL is approximately 1,080 km. The IEBL is an administrative demarcation and not controlled by the military or police and there is free movement across it. Five of the cantons (Una-Sana, Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj, Bosnian Podrinje and Sarajevo) are Bosniak-majority cantons, three (Posavina, West Herzegovina and Canton 10) are Croat-majority cantons, and two (Central Bosnia and Herzegovina-Neretva) are 'ethnically mixed', meaning there are special legislative procedures for protection of

667-450: The high powers the entities have and the political differences between the entities themselves, Bosnia and Herzegovina is described as a confederation . The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is split into 10 cantons , local governing units that were endowed with substantial autonomy, whereas Republika Srpska operates under a centralised government structure. While the state level holds a limited set of exclusive or joint responsibilities,

696-494: The majority in the upper house as well. Dissatisfied Croat politicians set up a separate Croatian National Assembly , held a referendum parallel to the elections and proclaimed their self-rule in Croat-majority areas in the Federation. Their attempts ended shortly after a crackdown by SFOR and legal proceedings. Dissatisfied with the representation of Croats in the Federation, Croat political parties insist on creating

725-464: The war. Separatist Croat Herzeg-Bosnia institutions existed and functioned parallel to Federation ones up until 1996–97, when they were phased out. On 8 March 2000, the Brčko District was formed as an autonomous district within Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was created from part of the territory of both Bosnian entities. Brčko District is now a condominium that belongs to both entities. In 2001–2002,

754-788: Was established in Security Council Resolution 1088 on 12 December 1996. It succeeded the much larger Implementation Force IFOR which was deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 20 December 1995 with a one-year mandate. The commanders of the SFOR, who each served one-year terms, were General William W. Crouch , General Eric Shinseki , General Montgomery Meigs , Lt. General Ronald Adams , Lt. General Michael Dodson , Lt. General John B. Sylvester , Lt. General William E. Ward , Major General Virgil Packett and Brigadier General Steven P. Schook . SFOR operated in support of NATO Operation Joint Guard and Operation Joint Forge . Troop levels were reduced to approximately 12,000 by

783-604: Was finally not adopted by the Parliament. Following an appeal by HDZ BiH Božo Ljubić , in December 2016 the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina abolished the electoral formula for the indirect election of the Federation House of People, stating that it did not guarantee the legitimate representation of constituent peoples. Notably, the ruling did not concur with an amicus curiae opinion of

812-598: Was selected to prevent dominance of one ethnic group over another. However, much of the territory Croats and Bosniaks claimed for their Federation was at that point still controlled by the Bosnian Serbs. The Washington Agreement was implemented during the spring of 1994, by convoking a Constitutional Assembly, which on 24 June adopted and proclaimed the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1995, Bosniak forces and Bosnian Croat forces of

841-475: Was to "deter hostilities and stabilise the peace, contribute to a secure environment by providing a continued military presence in the Area Of Responsibility (AOR), target and co-ordinate SFOR support to key areas including primary civil implementation organisations, and progress towards a lasting consolidation of peace, without further need for NATO-led forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina". SFOR

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