Sarajevo is the political, financial, social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a prominent center of culture in the Balkans. It exerts region-wide influence in entertainment, media, fashion and the arts. Due to its long history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes called the "Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It is one of a few major European cities to have a mosque, Catholic church, Eastern Orthodox church, and synagogue within the same neighborhood.
Although there is evidence of human settlement in the area since prehistoric times, the modern city arose in the 15th century as an Ottoman stronghold, when the latter empire extended into Europe. Sarajevo has gained international renown several times throughout its history. In 1885, it 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, California, of the United States. In 1914, it was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a local Young Bosnia activist Gavrilo Princip, a murder that sparked World War I. This resulted in the end of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and the creation of the multicultural Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the Balkan region.
Later, after World War II, the area came under control of the communist Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the republic also known as Second Yugoslavia. As Sarajevo was designated as this larger republic's capital, its population and businesses expanded rapidly, with investment in infrastructure and economic development.
In 1984 the socialist republic hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, which marked a prosperous era for the city. However, after the start of the Yugoslav Wars, the city suffered the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare, for a total of 1,425 days, from April 1992 to February 1996. This was during the Bosnian War and the breakup of Yugoslavia, under nationalist ethnic passions that tore families apart and resulted in genocide and massacres.[12]
With continued post-war reconstruction in the aftermath, Sarajevo is the fastest growing city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The travel guide series Lonely Planet ranked Sarajevo as the 43rd best city in the world. In December 2009, it recommended Sarajevo as one of the top ten cities to visit in 2010.
In 2011, Sarajevo was nominated as the 2014 European Capital of Culture. It was selected to host the European Youth Olympic Festival. In addition, in October 2019, Sarajevo was designated as a UNESCO Creative City for having placed culture at the center of its development strategies. It is also ranked as one of the world's eighteen Cities of Film.
Sarajevo je glavni i najveći grad Bosne i Hercegovine, njena metropola i njen najveći urbani, kulturni, ekonomski i prometni centar, glavni grad Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine i sjedište Kantona Sarajevo. Prema popisu stanovništva iz 1991. grad je po tadašnjoj strukturi sa deset općina imao 527.049, a po popisu stanovništva iz 2013. i trenutnoj teritorijalnoj podjeli sa četiri općine 275.524. Nalazi se u središnjem dijelu jugoistočne Evrope i Balkana. Kroz grad protiče rijeka Miljacka, a u neposrednoj blizini grada u općini Ilidža je i izvorište rijeke Bosne, izletištem Vrelom Bosne. Oko grada nalaze se planine: Jahorina, Bjelašnica, Igman, Treskavica i Trebević.
Sarajevo je političko, finansijsko, socijalno i kulturno središte Bosne i Hercegovine i istaknuto središte kulture na Balkanu, sa uticajem na čitavu regiju u oblasti zabave, medija, mode i umjetnosti.[5] Regionalni je centar u obrazovanju, dom je prve balkanske institucije tercijarnog obrazovanja, islamske medrese, koja je danas dio Univerziteta u Sarajevu. Grad je poznat po svojoj tradicionalnoj kulturnoj i religijskoj raznolikosti, sa pripadnicima islama, pravoslavlja, katolicizma i judaizma koji tu egzistiraju stoljećima. Zbog svoje duge i bogate historije, vjerskih i kulturnih raznolikosti, Sarajevo se ponekad naziva Jerusalem Evrope ili Jerusalem Balkana. Jedan je od rijetkih evropskih gradova u čijem se centru, u neposrednoj blizini, nalaze bogomolje sve tri velike monoteističke religije: džamija, katolička crkva, pravoslavna crkva i sinagoga.
Iako su područja oko grada naseljena još od prahistorije, moderni grad nastao je kao osmanlijsko uporište u 15. vijeku. Sarajevo je tokom svoje historije nekoliko puta privuklo međunarodnu pažnju. 1885. godine Sarajevo je bio prvi grad u Evropi i drugi grad na svijetu koji je imao stalnu mrežu električnih tramvaja koji su saobraćali kroz grad, slijedeći u tom primjeru San Francisco. 1914. godine Sarajevo je bilo i mjesto atentata na nadvojvodu Franza Ferdinanda od strane lokalnog mladobosanskog aktiviste Gavrila Principa koji je pokrenuo Prvi svjetski rat, koji je također okončao austrougarsku vlast u Bosni i Hercegovini i rezultirao stvaranjem Kraljevine Jugoslavije.
