BOSNIA, till 1878 a Turkish vilayet. now a province of the Ottoman empire occupied and administered by Austria. Till 1876 it also included Herzegovina (q.v.), and still comprises the hitherto Turkish parts of Croatia and Dalmatia. It is bounded n. by the Save and Mina; e. by the Vrina, the mountain chain of Jublanik, and a branch of the Argentaric Alps; s. by the Scardagh mountains; and on the w. by the mountains of Cosman. Timor, and Steriza. At a few points in the s. it reaches to the Adriatic sea. Area. 20,000 sq.miles. Pop. '79, near 1.000.000; abouts Christians, Moslems. and the rest Jews. With the exception of the northern tract, extending along the Save, it is everywhere a mOuptainons country, mud is traversed by more or lesSelevated ranges of the Dinaric Alps, whose highest peaks rise to a height of from 5000 to 7700 ft. above the sea, and are covered with snow from Sept. to June. The mountain slopes are for the most part thickly covered with forests of oak, beech, lime, chestnut, etc., of magnificent growth, and only here and there exhibit meadows, pastures, and cultivated spots. The principal river of the country is the Save, on the northern border, into which flow the Duna, .the Verbas, the Bosna, and the Drin. The Narenta and the Boynna fall into the Adriatic sea. air is salubrious, the climate temperate'and mild. It is only in the plain that agriculture is carried oil to a considerable extent; grain, maize, hemp, vegeta bles, fruits, and grapes are produced in great abundance; and their cultivation would he much more extensively and actively prosecuted but for the heavy impositions laid upon this branch of industry by the Turkish government. Game and fish abound, as well as wild animals, such as bears, wolves, lynxes, etc. The country is celebrated for the breeding of sheep, swine, goats, and poultry; and bees, both wild and tame, are very numerous. The gypsies and Morlaeks dig for lead, quicksilver, coal, and iron; but beyond this, mining, owing to repressive government, is entirely neglected, although the country is rich in metallic ores. Commerce manufactures—chiefly limited to the fabrication of fire-arms, saber-blades, and knives—are entirely confined to the towns. The position of B. gives it the transit trade between Austria and Turkey. It has almost
no good roads. The population consists of Bosnians, Croats, Morlacks, Montenegrins, Turks, etc., the much greater part being of the Slavonia]] race. The Bosnians, or Boa niaks, who form about a third of the inhabitants, are partly Mohammedans (descendants of Slavonian Christians who changed their religion at the time of the Mohammedan conquest), and partly of the Greek and Roman Catholic churches. They are brave, hardy, rapacious, and cruel; rude and repulsive toward strangers, yet among themselves they are peaceful and honest; they are also industrious, simple in their habits, and tem perate. The Moslem women in B. are less secluded than in the other Turkish provinces, and have long enjoyed the liberty of appearing in public more or less veiled. The Croats, who form about a sixth of the population. belong partly to the Greek and partly to the Roman Catholic church; only a few are 3Inhammedans. They are principally engaged in agriculture, the feeding of cattle, and the barter trade. The Morlaks, who number about 150,000, dwell mostly in the district of Herzegovina, and are courteous and clever in business. They are inveterate enemies of the Turks. Three fourths of them are Greek Christians, and the rest Boman Catholics. The Osmanli Turks in B. are but about 2000 in number; the number of Greeks and Jews is between 20,000 and 30,000. B. being a frontier province, is important as a line of defense, and has consequently a great number of fortifications. B., in ancient times, was included in Pannonia; and previous to the 7th e. was governed by princes of its own, called bans or woiwodes, who became dependent on Hungary. Being conquered by the Turks, it was finally annexed to the Ottoman empire in 4522. B. lots frequently been the scat of political disturbance. A dangerous rebellion broke out in 1851. The insurrection which origin ated in Herzegovina in 1875, soon assumed the proportions of a national movement, and led to war between Turkey and Servia and Montenegro. The war of 1877-78 between Russia and Turkey followed; the treaty concluded at the close of it proposed to give II. administrative autonomy, but the Berlin conference of 1878 resolved that B. should be occupied and administered by Austria.