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The country consists of two regions : Bosnia in the north, with Sarajevo as its chief city; and Hercegovina in the south, with Mostar as its chief city. Lying mostly in the Dinaric Alps, the nation has no port facilities. The Sava and its tributaries are the chief rivers. Much of the area is forested, and timber is an important product of Bosnia. Much of Hercegovina's terrain is denuded.
The ethnically diverse population speaks Serbo-Croatian. The country's Serbs (about 40% of the population, largely Eastern Orthodox), Bosnian Muslims (about 38%), and Croats (about 22%, mostly Roman Catholics) formerly formed a complex patchwork, but civil war and the flight of refugees forcibly segregated much of the population. Some inhabitants have gradually returned to their pre-conflict places of residence since the fighting's end.
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