Geography
Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska) is in Southeastern Europe and is bordered Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Sarajevo is the capital city. Other cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina include Banja Luka, Doboj, Mostar, Tuzla and Zenica.

Much of Bosnia and Herzegovina is mountainous with valleys. The country's main rivers are the Bosnia, the Drina, the Neretva, the Sava and the Vrbas.

Summers are hot and winters are cold; it is colder at the higher elevations. The coastline on the Adriatic has Mediterranean weather.

Environment
Bosnia and Herzegovina is very mountainous and much of the landscape is covered with forests. Although there is only a short coastline there is no shortage of rivers, lakes and springs.

Hutovo Blato Nature Park is on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Wildlife is protected in Bosnia and Herzegovina's Nature Reserves and National Parks such as Kozara and Sutjeska. Bears inhabit the higher mountain slopes and lynx are found in coniferous forests. The country's rivers and lakes are home to a number of species of fish and attract many birds; numerous birds live in the Hutovo Blato Nature Reserve.

Architecture
Religious architecture for the Catholic, Orthodox and Islamic religions can be found throughout the country. An unusual religious monument is the stecak, a medieval tombstone. Numbers of "stecci" can be seen in the countryside.

Historical buildings of interest include castles built before time of the Ottoman Turks and old town fortifications.

Architecture in the capital city of Sarajevo is diverse. Monuments from the Ottoman and Austrian-Hungarian eras stand together with buildings from the twentieth century.

Much reconstruction has taken place since the end of the civil war (1992-95). One notable example is the Old Bridge at Mostar, orginally built in 1566 and destroyed in 1993. The Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar was added to the World Heritage List in 2005.

Population
The population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was estimated at 3.5 million in 2016.

Languages
Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are the languages of the main ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Religion
Forty percent of the people are Muslim, just over thirty percent belong to the Orthodox Church and around fifteen percent are Roman Catholic.

Food
The cuisine of Bosnia and Herzegovina is influenced by its Balkan neighbours.

Traditional food includes bread, soups, stews, kebabs, cevapcici (minced meat sausages), stuffed leaves (dolma and sarma) and stuffed peppers. Pie, for example, meat, cheese and spinach is a favourite dish. Side dishes, such as sour cabbage, tomato and onion salad and yoghurt, are often served.

Desserts eaten are fruit, pancakes, cakes and pastries.

Coffee is preferred strong with sugar. Both wine and beer are produced locally.

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