The West Herzegovina Canton (; ; ) is a federated state and one of the cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The West Herzegovina Canton is in the Herzegovina region in the southwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its seat of government is in à  iroki Brijeg, while other municipalities within the Canton are Grude, Ljubuà ¡ki and Posuà ¡je. It has 94,898 inhabitants, of whom more than 98% are ethnic Croats.
The majority of the present-day West Herzegovina Canton was part of Zachlumia, the medieval South Slavic principality. In the 15th century, it became part of the Duchy of Saint Sava under Stjepan VukÃÂiàKosaÃÂa, who proclaimed himself the herzog (duke), thereby giving the region its name - Herzegovina. The Ottomans conquered Herzegovina in 1483 when the territory of the West Herzegovina Canton became part of the Sanjak of Herzegovina. In 1833 the Sanjak of Herzegovina became more autonomous under Ali-paà ¡a RizvanbegoviÃÂ, who became pasha of the Herzegovina Eyalet, however, after his death, Herzegovina once again became a sanjak. In 1878 the whole territory was occupied and later in 1908 annexed by the Austria-Hungary, who held it until 1918. During that time, the territory of the West Herzegovina Canton was part of the District of Mostar in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary and after the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the territory of the West Herzegovina Canton remained part of the District of Mostar. However, with the creation of banovinas in 1929, the territory became part of the Littoral Banovina, and in 1939 it was incorporated in the Banovina of Croatia, where it de iure remained until 1943.
During World War II, the territory of the West Herzegovina Canton became part of the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi-affiliated puppet state created in April 1941. Administratively, it was part of the County of Hum, having Mostar as its capital. The puppet state collapsed in May 1945. The Yugoslav Partisans formed the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (later renamed to Socialist Republic), as a federal unit of Yugoslavia, of which the territory of the West Herzegovina Canton became part as well. However, in the process of the collapse of the communist regime, ethnic Croats formed the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, which encompassed all Croat-majority municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including those of the West Herzegovina Canton.
During the Bosnian War, the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia was later proclaimed a short-lived republic in 1993. The following year, in 1994, it became part of the Croat-Bosniak Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which led to the formation of ten cantons in June 1996, including the West Herzegovina Canton.
West Herzegovina Canton is located in the Herzegovina region of southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has the ÃÂvrsnica mountain and Canton 10 to the north, Croatia to the west and south, and the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton to the east. The area of the canton is .
The canton has three rivers: Lià ¡tica, Trebià ¾at and RiÃÂina, and the Blidinje Lake. Its highest peak is the PloÃÂno on the ÃÂvrsnica mountain, with a height of 2,228 metres.
The canton is a very mountainous area especially in Posuà ¡je (where it also becomes mountainous) and the northern parts of à  iroki Brijeg. The region is interlaced with karst fields with which the mountains of western and northern Herzegovina descend to the sea. Dugo polje (1150âÂÂ1250 m) is the first step, followed by Rakitno polje (870âÂÂ910 m), Posuà ¡ko polje (580âÂÂ610 m), Bekijsko polje (260âÂÂ300 m), Mostarsko Blato (220 m) and Ljubuà ¡ko polje (80âÂÂ100 m) with which the descent ends. The rivers Lià ¡tica and Tihaljina flow through western Herzegovina, RiÃÂina sometimes flows through the Posusje field and UgrovaÃÂa through the KoÃÂerin field.
The territory as a whole belongs to the Neretva basin or the Adriatic Sea. The highest mountains are ÃÂvrsnica (municipality of Posuà ¡je), ÃÂabulja (municipality of à  iroki Brijeg), à  titar (municipality of Posuà ¡je), Zavelim (municipality of Posuà ¡je), Kuà ¡anovac (municipality of Posuà ¡je) and (municipality of à  iroki Brijeg) and Radovanj ( Municipality of Posuà ¡je).
In all towns in the canton of western Herzegovina, the sub-Mediterranean climate type prevails, except in Ljubuà ¡ki, where the Mediterranean climate predominates. There is also a significant difference between the sub-Mediterranean climate in Posuà ¡je and the sub-Mediterranean climate in à  iroki Brijeg and Grude. In Posuà ¡je, mountain and Mediterranean influences collide, so the sub-Mediterranean climate in Posuà ¡je is harsher and closer to the temperate mountain climate prevailing in the area of Tribistovo, Radovnje, etc. Summers in western Herzegovina are hot and temperatures exceed 35 degrees. In winter, snow is more frequent and common in the northernmost towns, especially in Posuà ¡je.
The Assembly of the West Herzegovina Canton () is the legislature of the West Herzegovina Canton, serving as the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the West Herzegovina Canton. It has 23 representatives elected directly at the Bosnian general election. The representatives have a four-year term. The Assembly enacts the local Constitution, laws and other regulations and elects the Government.
The current composition of the Assembly of the West Herzegovina Canton is:
The Government of the West Herzegovina Canton () is led by the Prime Minister who has one deputy and it consists of seven ministries. The ministries have different seats, with each municipality having two ministries, while the capital à  iroki Brijeg serves as the seat of the Prime Minister.
The coat of arms is a variant of the historical Croatian coat of arms. The flag is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and blue, with the coat of arms in the middle. These symbols were also used by Canton 10 and the former Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.
The cantonal constitution originally regulated the flag and coat of arms. However, by a decision of the Constitutional Court, the constitutional provisions on cantonal symbols were marked as unconstitutional in 1998. Acting on the court's decision, the Cantonal Assembly removed the disputed provisions in 2000 and adopted a new law on the flag and coat of arms in 2003 that restored the same symbols.
According to the data of the Federal Institute for Development Programming, the West Herzegovina Canton had the nominal GDP of 487.211 million BAM, the seventh largest in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, before the Canton 10, the Bosnian Podrinje Canton Goraà ¾de and the Posavina Canton. It generated 2.90% of the total GDP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The West Herzegovina Canton has fifth largest GDP per capita, amounting to 5,973 BAM, while the average in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 7,188 BAM.
This region, before the war, was one of the poorest regions in BiH. Today it is one of the richest. Despite the canton's small geographical area size, its agricultural sector is important. In the canton, 30,000 ha (120 sq miles) is used for agriculture; 84,000 ha (320 sq miles) is forest. Around 6,000 ha of arable land is below 100 metres in altitude.
The West Herzegovina Canton has a central location in Herzegovina, and as such has favorable traffic characteristics. The future route of the motorway of the E73 corridor, where there is also a connection with the A1 motorway from Dubrovnik to Zagreb, which means the entire West Herzegovina Canton in encircled by two EU corridors, the E73 and the E65. The crossroad of these corridors is in the hinterland of PloÃÂe port, making the Canton of West Herzegovina the "portal of the South East Europe".
According to the latest census data, the vast majority of the local population is made up of Croats. The most dominant religion in the canton is Christianity, with Catholicism being the most numerous denomination. The most significant non-Christian minority are Muslims with 1.8% of the total population. Most of them were in Ljubuà ¡ki.
According to local laws, the official holidays (non-working days) in the canton are: