Herzegovina

Hercegovina5.jpg|225px|thumb|right|Approximate borders between Bosnia (marked light) and Herzegovina (marked dark)

Note: A true border between Bosnia and Herzegovina does not exist, and the approximate borders are disputed. Source: Bosnian Wikipedia]] Herzegovina (natively Hercegovina/Херцеговина) is a historical and geographical region in the Dinaric Alps that comprises the southern part of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The area of Herzegovina is 9,948 km² (or 10,190 km² according to other sources).

Due to political agreements in the 19th century it was decided that the Hercegovina region of Bosnia was to be mentioned in the name of the country, changing the name from only "Bosnia" to "Bosnia and Herzegovina".

In the 1991 census, Herzegovina was recorded as having a population of 437,095 inhabitants. The ethnic composition of the population was the following: 206,457 were Croats (47.2%), 112,948 Bosniaks (25.8%), 93,047 Serbs (21.3%), 18,494 Yugoslavs (4.2%), and 6,149 were registered as 'others' (1.4%).

The Herzegovina terrain is mostly hilly, karst except for the central valley of the river Neretva. The largest city is Mostar, in the center of the region. Other larger towns include Trebinje, Konjic and Čapljina. Borders between Bosnia and Herzegovina are unclear and often disputed.

History

(See History of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

In the early Middle Ages, the territory of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into many smaller more or less independent territories. Herzegovina encompasses the regions then known as the Land of Hum or Zahumlje and Travunija. The westernmost parts of Herzegovina belonged to the Kingdom of Croatia. The book De Administrando Imperio mentions Zahumlje and Travunija as two regions inhabited by Serb tribes.

After the 1320s, all of these lands became a part of the Bosnian kingdom. In a document sent to Friedrich III on January 20, 1448, Bosnian duke Stjepan Vukčić Kosača called himself Herzog (duke) of Saint Sava, lord of Hum and Primorje, great duke of the Bosnian kingdom (Herzog means duke in German) and so the lands he controlled became (much later) known as Herzog's lands or Herzegovina.

In 1482 Herzog was overpowered by Ottoman forces led by his own son, Ahmed Hercegović, who accepted Islam. In the Ottoman Empire Herzegovina was organized as a province (sanjak) within the state (pashaluk) of Bosnia. The name of the country was changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1853, as a result of a twist of political events. It was part of the Ottoman Empire for a bit less than four centuries. By the end of this period, there happened a major uprising known as the Herzegovinian rebellion.

In 1878, Herzegovina was occupied by Austria-Hungary. This caused great resentment among its Bosniak and Serb populace which together resisted the invaders in smaller flare-ups that ended in 1882.

Today's Herzegovina

In the modern Bosnian-Herzegovinian state, Herzegovina is divided between two entities (see Bosnia and Herzegovina and History of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Republika Srpska doesn't have any official administrative units within Herzegovina (though the term Trebinje Region is often used informally). In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Herzegovina is administratively divided between the cantons of Herzegovina-Neretva, West Herzegovina and partially the Herzeg-Bosnia Canton.

Its western parts are inhabited mostly by Croats, the eastern parts mostly by Serbs, and there is a significant Bosniak population along the flow of the Neretva, including the cities of Mostar, Konjic and Stolac. The population of Herzegovina was mixed prior to the Yugoslav wars as well as the Second World War, both of which saw ethnic cleansing on a large scale.

Gallery

Image:Mostarbridge2004.jpg|The "Old Bridge" ("Stari most") in Mostar, rebuilt in 2004. Image:Neretva in Mostar.JPG|River Neretva in Mostar, 2004 Image:NeumCoastBH.jpg|Neum and the Herzegovinian coast. Image:Pocitelj.PNG|Počitelj, Old town

External links

Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina | Geography of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina | Geography of Republika Srpska

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Herzegovina

History

Today's Herzegovina

Gallery

See also

External links