Bosnia and Herzegovina, a province lying between Dalmatia and Slavonia, which has made rapid progress in prosperity since the Berlin Treaty of 1878 transferred it from Turkey to Austria. (Herzegovi'na, locally pron. Hertzegov'ina, is a Slav word for ' duchy' formed from the German Herzog.) Although not formally incorporated by treaty, these provinces form virtually a portion of the empire-monarchy, and enjoy the advantages of a settled government. Area, 19,725 sq. m., of which 16,197 belong to Bosnia, and 3528 to Herzegovina; population, 1,650,000. The Dinaric Alps, here attaining a maximum altitude of 7663 feet, form the water-parting between the Adriatic and Danube basins; and four rivers - the Unna, the Vrbas, the Bosna (from which Bosnia takes its name), and the Drina - flow northwards to the Save. Flocks and herds are largely reared. The commerce is largely in the hands of Jews, the majority of whom reside in Sarajevo, the capital, which is now connected by rail both with Budapest and the Adriatic. With the exception of the Jews, Gypsies, and some Osmanli who live in the larger towns of Bosnia, all the inhabitants of the Illyrian Alps are Slavs, and in Herzegovina their characteristics are most strongly marked. The Bosnians themselves, though united by race, are divided by religion, Mussulman against Christian, Greek-Orthodox against Roman Catholic. Hence, in spite of every natural advantage, they were, unlike their Servian brethren, unable to emancipate themselves from the Turkish yoke. Although they form little over a third of the population, the Mussulmans possess more than their share of landed property. The original population were doubtless of Illyrian (Albanian) stock, but were partly extruded, partly Slavonised, during the great Slav migrations of the early Christian centuries. The country was long dependent on Hungary, but became a kingdom some thirty years before the first Turkish invasion (1401). Soon after 1463 Bosnia was permanently conquered by the Turks, and thousands of the inhabitants were carried off as slaves, the boys were trained to be janissaries; the most obstinate Christians emigrated, and the bulk of the remainder accepted Islam more or less completely. Rebellions against the Osmanli power have been frequent, the Christian element became more powerful, and in 1878 the time for an Austrian occupation (bitterly resisted by the Mohammedan natives) seemed to have come.

See Evans, Through Bosnia and Herzegovina on Foot (1876); Asboth's work (Eng. trans. 1889); Laveleye's (trans. 1887) and Miller's (1896) on the Balkans; and Munro's Bosnia (2d ed. 1900).