Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Map showing cantons or counties of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: kantoni, Croatian: županije, Serbian: кантони) are the members states of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the two political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1] The ten cantons were established by the Law on Federal Units (Cantons) on 12 June 1996.

Cantons

The cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina were created by the Law on Federal Units (Cantons) of 1996, which was based on the Bosniak-Croat Washington Agreement. The cantons consist of municipalities (singular: općina, општина; plural: općine, општине). A canton has its own government headed by the Prime minister. The Prime minister has his own cabinet, and is assisted in his duties by various cantonal ministries, agencies, and cantonal or county services. Five of the cantons (Una-Sana, Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj, Bosnian Podrinje, and Sarajevo) have a Bosniak majority, three (Posavina, West Herzegovina, and West Bosnia) have Bosnian Croat majority, while two of them (Central Bosnia and Herzegovina-Neretva) are 'ethnically mixed', meaning there are special legislative procedures for the protection of the political interests of the constituent ethnic groups. The most populous canton is Tuzla Canton while Canton 10 (or Herzeg-Bosnia County) is the largest by size.

Coat of
arms		 No. Abbr English name Bosnian name Croatian name Center Population
(2013 census)		 Area (km2) Density Municipalities
1 USK Una-Sana Canton Unsko-sanski kanton Unsko-sanska županija Bihać 299,343 4,125.0 69.8 8
2 PK
ŽP		 Posavina Canton Posavski kanton Županija Posavska Orašje 48,089 324.6 124.8 3
3 TK Tuzla Canton Tuzlanski kanton Tuzlanska županija Tuzla 477,278 2,649.0 187.9 13
4 ZDK Zenica-Doboj Canton Zeničko-dobojski kanton Zeničko-dobojska županija Zenica 385,067 3,334.3 119.9 12
5 BPK Bosnia-Podrinje Canton Goražde Bosansko-podrinjski kanton Goražde Bosansko-podrinjska županija Goražde Goražde 25,336 504.6 65.8 3
6 SBK
KSB		 Central Bosnia Canton Srednjobosanski kanton Županija Središnja Bosna Travnik 273,149 3,189 80.2 12
7 HNK
HNŽ		 Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Hercegovačko-neretvanski kanton Hercegovačko-neretvanska županija Mostar 236,278 4,401 51.5 9
8 ŽHZ
ZHK		 West Herzegovina Canton Zapadnohercegovački kanton Županija Zapadnohercegovačka Široki Brijeg 97,893 1,362.2 60.1 4
9 KS Sarajevo Canton Kanton Sarajevo Sarajevska županija Sarajevo 438,443 1,276.9 329.9 9
10 K10
HBŽ		 Canton 10 Kanton 10, Livanjski kanton Hercegbosanska županija Livno 90,727 4,934.9 16.5 6
FBiH Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine Sarajevo 2,371,603 26,110.0 89.1 79

Possible reorganization

There are a number of propositions for the reorganization of the Federation, ranging from decreasing the number of cantons, establishing new federal units on the state level, to the exchange of jurisdiction between the cantons and the Federation. [2] However, this question requires a high level of political agreement, especially between the Bosniak and Croat political parties, since it would necessarily include changing the federal constitution. For a constitutional law to pass, it has to obtain the support of the majority of the representatives and delegates in both chambers of the Federal parliament, including the majority of Croat and Bosniak delegates in the House of Peoples.

See also

References

  1. ↑ In Bosnian they are called kantoni, and zupanije in Croatian.
  2. ↑ Osmović, M. (19 April 2012). "Sprema se ukidanje pet županija!". Dnevni list (in Croatian). Retrieved 22 April 2012.