March 1st marks Bosnia's Independence Day declared 30 years ago when the majority of its citizens voted in a referendum and chose a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, the state of equal peoples and citizens.

Bosnia declared its independence in 1992, with a 63.4 percent voter turnout and 99.7 percent of the votes in favour of the country declaring independence from what was then called the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

On March 3, the first Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegovic declared the independence of what was initially called the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which changed into Bosnia and Herzegovina after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) which ended the 1992-95 war that followed soon after the secession from Yugoslavia.

On April 7, 1992, the United States and then European Economic Community recognised Bosnia as an independent state, and the country joined the United Nations on May 22.

On February 28, 1995, the BiH Parliament decided to celebrate March 1 as the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina.