The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Government

Based on the etymolgy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was the larger northern territory is named for the Bosna River; the smaller southern section takes its name from the Old Serbian word herceg, meaning "duke," combined with the possessive -ov and the suffix -ina, meaning "country," to denote "dukedom". The Government system in this country is the parliamentary republic type and the different Administrative divisions includes: 3 first-order administrative divisions - Brcko District (Brcko Distrikt) (ethnically mixed), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine) (predominantly Bosniak-Croat), Republika Srpska (predominantly Serb)

National symbols

Golden lily.

The flag

The National flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina has .

The National Anthem

Title
Lyric/music

More about the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Constitution
Date of Independence	1 March 1992 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday	Independence Day, 1 March (1992) and Statehood Day, 25 November (1943) - both observed in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity; Victory Day, 9 May (1945) and Dayton Agreement Day, 21 November (1995) - both observed in the Republika Srpska entity
Legal system	civil law system; Constitutional Court review of legislative acts
International law organization participation	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
History	14 December 1995 (constitution included as part of the Dayton Peace Accords)
Amendment process	Decided by the Parliamentary Assembly, including a two-thirds majority vote of members present in the House of Representatives; the constitutional article on human rights and fundamental freedoms cannot be amended
Citizenship
Citizenship by birth	no
Citizenship by descent only	at least one parent must be a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dual citizenship recognized	yes, provided there is a bilateral agreement with the other state
Residency requirement for naturalization	8 years
Executive Branch
Chief of state	Chairperson of the Presidency Zeljko KOMSIC (chairperson since 16 July 2025; presidency member since 20 November 2018 - Croat seat); Denis BECIROVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Bosniak seat); Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Serb seat)
Head of government	Chairperson of the Council of Ministers Borjana KRISTO (since 25 January 2023)
Cabinet	Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairperson, approved by the state-level House of Representatives
Election/appointment process	3-member presidency (1 Bosniak and 1 Croat elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 Serb elected from the Republika Srpska) directly elected by simple-majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term but then ineligible for 4 years); the presidency chairpersonship rotates every 8 months, with the new member of the presidency elected with the highest number of votes starting the new mandate as chair; the chairperson of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives
Most recent election date	2 October 2022
Election results	2022: percent of vote - Denis BECIROVIC - (SDP BiH) 57.4% - Bosniak seat; Zeljko KOMSIC (DF) 55.8% - Croat seat; Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (SNSD) 51.7% - Serb seat 2018: percent of vote - Milorad DODIK (SNSD) 53.9% - Serb seat; Zeljko KOMSIC (DF) 52.6% - Croat seat; Sefik DZAFEROVIC (SDA) 36.6% - Bosniak seat
Expected date of next election	October 2026
Legislative branch
Legislature name	Parliamentary Assembly (Skupstina)
Legislative structure	Bicameral
Judicial branch
Highest court(s)	Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); Court of BiH (consists of 44 national judges and 7 international judges organized into 3 divisions - Administrative, Appellate, and Criminal, which includes a War Crimes Chamber)
Judge selection and term of office	BiH Constitutional Court judges - 4 selected by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina House of Representatives, 2 selected by the Republika Srpska's National Assembly, and 3 non-Bosnian judges selected by the president of the European Court of Human Rights; Court of BiH president and national judges appointed by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council; Court of BiH president appointed for renewable 6-year term; other national judges appointed to serve until age 70; international judges recommended by the president of the Court of BiH and appointed by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina; international judges appointed to serve until age 70
Subordinate courts	The Federation has 10 cantonal courts plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has a supreme court, 5 district courts, and a number of municipal courts
Diplomatic representation in the US
Chief of mission	Ambassador Sven ALKALAJ (since 30 June 2023)
Chancery	2109 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
Telephone	[1] (202) 337-1500
FAX	[1] (202) 337-1502
Email address and website	[email protected] http://www.bhembassy.org/index.html
Consulate(s) general	Chicago
Diplomatic representation from the US
Chief of mission	Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Daniel KOSKI (since February 2025)
Embassy	1 Robert C. Frasure Street, 71000 Sarajevo
Mailing address	7130 Sarajevo Place, Washington DC 20521-7130
Telephone	[387] (33) 704-000
FAX	[387] (33) 659-722
Email address and website	[email protected] https://ba.usembassy.gov/
Branch office(s)	Banja Luka, Mostar
National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites	5 (3 cultural, 2 natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales	Old Bridge Area of Mostar (c); Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad (c); Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards (c); Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe - Janj Forest (n); Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno (n)