Sarajevo

Sarajevo, also Sarayevo, city and capital, Bosnia and Herzegovina (commonly referred to as Bosnia), on the Miljacka River, in the east central part of the country. Before civil war broke out in 1992, the city was an important cultural and commercial center with a multiethnic population of Bosnian Muslims (Muslim Slavs; also known as Bosniaks), Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats.

Sarajevo's principal manufactures included carpets, silks, fabrics, jewelry, tobacco goods, and machine tools. The war had a disastrous impact on the city's economy. Much of Sarajevo's infrastructure, industry, and housing were damaged or destroyed, and production in all major industries declined sharply. Unemployment climbed to more than 100,000 people, or about half the workforce.

Several educational and cultural institutions operated in the city before the war, including the Bosnian and Herzegovinian National Museum (founded in 1888). The University of Sarajevo (founded in 1949) remained partially open during the war, and a rudimentary school system continued to function.

Sarajevo was settled in the 14th century. From 1429 to 1878 the city was part of the Ottoman Empire, and numerous examples of architecture from that period still remain. Sarajevo then came under the rule of Austria-Hungary. On June 28, 1914, Francis Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist. This event touched off World War I (1914-1918). After the war, Sarajevo, as part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, became part of Yugoslavia. In 1984 Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympic Games.

In 1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia. War erupted shortly thereafter between Bosnian Serbs, who wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia, and Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks. More than 150,000 residents fled Sarajevo while thousands of poor Muslims from rural areas settled in the city. Serb separatists abandoned the national legislature and refused to recognize the authority of the Bosnian government in Sarajevo. They established their own parliament in the nearby town of Pale, with their administrative headquarters in Banja Luka, and mounted an armed siege of Sarajevo. More than 10,500 residents were killed in the Sarajevo area between 1992 and 1995, and thousands more were wounded. Several city districts were captured by radical Serbs, and non-Serbs were forced to flee. The separatists wanted to divide the city into two distinct areas: one as the capital of Bosnia, the other as the capital of a Serb republic. However, those opposing partition gained international support to keep Sarajevo united. Under the peace plan signed in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) force was stationed in the country, and all three groups (Bosniak, Serb, and Croat) agreed that Sarajevo was to remain united as the capital of Bosnia. See also Yugoslav Succession, Wars of; Dayton Peace Accord. Population (1991) 415,631; (2003 estimate) 401,696.