Sarajevo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
For other uses, see Sarajevo (disambiguation).

Sarajevo

Сарајево

Capital city

Grad Sarajevo
City of Sarajevo

From top, left to right: Sarajevo panorama, Gazi Husrev-beg

Mosque, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Baščaršija, View of the city at
night and on the bottom view of the old town Sarajevo.
 Flag

Seal

Nickname(s): 

"Jerusalem of Europe",[1] "Jerusalem of the Balkans",[2] "Šeher,

Rajvosa"[3]

Sarajevo

Location within Bosnia and Herzegovina

Show map of Bosnia and Herzegovina Show map of

Balkans Show map of Europe Show all

Coordinates:  43°52′N 18°25′ECoordinates:  43°52′N 18°25′E

Country  Bosnia and Herzegovina

Canton  Sarajevo Canton

Municipalities: 4
  Centar
 Novi Grad
 Novo Sarajevo
 Stari Grad

Founded 1461

Government
 • Mayor Abdulah Skaka (SDA)

Area
 • City proper 141.5 km2 (54.6 sq mi)
 • Urban 419.16 km2 (161.84 sq mi)
 • Metro 3,350 km2 (1,290 sq mi)

Elevation 550 m (1,800 ft)

Population
 (2013 census)[4]
 • City proper 275,524
 • Density 1,900/km2 (5,000/sq mi)
 • Urban 419,957
 • Urban density 1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
 • Metro 555,210
 • Metro density 170/km2 (430/sq mi)
 • Demonym Sarajevan (English)
Sarajlija (Bosnian)

Time zone UTC+1 (CET)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)

Postal code BIH-71 000

Area code(s) +387 33

Website sarajevo.ba

Sarajevo (/ˌsærəˈjeɪvoʊ/ SARR-ə-YAY-voh; Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Сарајево, Bosnian
pronunciation: [sǎrajeʋo] ( listen); see names in other languages) is the capital[5] and largest
city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,569 in its administrative limits. [4]
[6]
 The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo and nearby
municipalities is home to 555,210 inhabitants. [a][7] Located within the greater Sarajevo
valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along
the Miljacka River in the heart of the Balkans.
Sarajevo is the political, financial, social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina
and a prominent center of culture in the Balkans, with region-wide influence in
entertainment, media, fashion and the arts. [8][9]
Due to its long history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes called
the "Jerusalem of Europe"[1] or "Jerusalem of the Balkans".[2] It is one of only a few major
European cities to have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue
within the same neighborhood.[10] A regional center in education, the city is home to the
Balkans'[11] first institution of tertiary education in the form of an Islamic madrasa, today
part of the University of Sarajevo.[12]
Although settlement in the area stretches back to prehistoric times, the modern city
arose as an Ottoman stronghold in the 15th century.[13] Sarajevo has attracted
international attention several times throughout its history. In 1885, Sarajevo was the
first city in Europe and the second city in the world to have a full-time electric tram
network running through the city, following San Francisco. [14] In 1914, it was the site of
the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by local Young
Bosnia activist Gavrilo Princip that sparked World War I, which also ended Austro-
Hungarian rule in Bosnia and resulted in the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Later, after World War II, the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina within the Second Yugoslavia led to a massive expansion of Sarajevo,
then the constituent republic's capital, which culminated with the hosting of the 1984
Winter Olympics marking a prosperous era for the city. However, after the start of
the Yugoslav Wars, for 1,425 days, from April 1992 to February 1996, the city suffered
the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare, during the Bosnian
War and the breakup of Yugoslavia.[15]
Sarajevo has been undergoing post-war reconstruction, and is the fastest growing
city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[16] The travel guide series Lonely Planet has named
Sarajevo as the 43rd best city in the world, [17] and in December 2009 listed Sarajevo as
one of the top ten cities to visit in 2010.[18] In 2011, Sarajevo was nominated to be the
2014 European Capital of Culture and in 2019, it hosted the European Youth Olympic
Festival.[19][20] In October 2019, Sarajevo was designated as a UNESCO Creative City for
placing culture at the center of its development strategies, [21][22] and is one of the world's
eighteen Cities of Film. Furthermore, there is a UNESCO tentative monument, the Old
Jewish Cemetery, almost 500 years old site that is the second-largest Jewish sepulchral
complex in Europe. UNESCO says that "It represents the eternal proof of coexistence of
two or more different confessions under different administrations and rules, and the
proof of mutual respect and tolerance." [23]