BOSNIA I HERCEGOVINA
Population: 3,922,000
Area: 59,129 sq. km.
Economy: In 2002, BiH ranked 143rd in total GDP, with a per capita GDP of $1,766. In 2001, 19.08% of its revenues went to foreign debt service. Poverty statistics and UN Human Development Index ranking unavailable.
Main Language: Serbo-Croat
Monkey's Name: Majmun (my-moon)
Fun Fact: At the 1995 Dayton Accords, Bosnia i Hercegovina was divided into two federated "republics": the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska (Serb Republic, not to be confused with Serbia in Yugoslavia). However, above and beyond the authority of the republics' governments, the EU, U.S. and NATO placed a "High Representative." The High Representative is not a BiH citizen and has sweeping powers, including the right to overrule the results of elections in the republics—a power he used in 1998 to replace the elected, Yugoslav-friendly president of Republika Srpska with the election-losing but Western-funded, NATO-friendly candidate. Democracy, NATO-style!
In June 2002, the Monkey attempted to travel in Bosnia i Hercegovina. He intended to visit the medieval city of Mostar, once renowned for its 16th Century Turkish bridge (unfortunately destroyed by Croat shelling in the war for which all of Bosnia i Hercegovina is now renowned). He planned to visit Blagaj, the site of the mountaintop castle from whence Hercegovina (the southern part of the modern state) was ruled until the Ottoman conquest in the mid-15th Century. He might even have gone elsewhere.
Lamentably, the Monkey's Bulgarian traveling companion was unable to obtain a transit visa to enter Bosnia i Hercegovina at the border. After refusing the Monkey's Bulgarian friend entry, the grumbling border guards suggested that she should contact the BiH embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria in order to obtain the necessary visa in advance before her next visit. But —oops— there is no BiH embassy in Sofia!
Despite the effectively closed borders elsewhere, the Monkey and his companions were able to cross into BiH at its seaside with not so much as a speed bump to stop them. Alas, for now, these photos of the Monkey in the sliver of Bosnia i Hercegovina that connects the nearly-landlocked country to the Adriatic Sea will have to do. Fear not, people of Bosnia i Hercegovina: the Monkey will be back, and next time his traveling companions will sort out their visas beforehand. If only they can track down a BiH embassy somewhere…
The Monkey stops for a photo at the edge of Neum, Bosnia i Hercegovina's only sea port. Five minutes later he was back in Croatia.
Bosnia i Hercegovina is saved from being landlocked by a 5 kilometer-wide corridor that reaches the Adriatic Sea. Here the Monkey surveys the seascape.
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