Sarajevo's City Hall in the colours of the BiH flag to mark Independence Day

March 1st marks Bosnia's Independence Day declared 29 years ago when the majority of its citizens voted in a referendum for a sovereign and independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a state of equal peoples and citizens.
The voter turnout was 63.4 percent and 99.7 percent of the votes were in favour of leaving 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.

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