Bosnia and Herzegovina

Phone

The international calling code for the Bosnia is 387.

Numbers are generally quoted in the form of a three-digit area code followed by a six-digit number, for example:

    053 322 812

Unless you are in the same area as the number (in this case the 053 area, which is Doboj), you should dial the whole number as written. If you are in the area you can omit the area code and just dial the number (eg. 322812). If you are calling from abroad you should dial the international prefix followed by the area code, but omitting the leading 0. (eg. +387 53 322 812). 080 0 numbers are free, whilst 09x numbers are premium rate.

As a visitor you generally have three options for making calls:

• Using a payphone. Call boxes are mostly operated by BH Telecom - the state-owned telephone company for the whole country.
• Using your mobile phone from home. Check tariffs with your phone provider. North American phones will not work in Bosnia unless they are GSM-compatible.
• Buying a Pay-as-you-go phone or SIM card in Bosnia. BH Telecom offer prepaid SIM cards for around 30KM each. Top-ups start at 10 marks (which will last for up to 60 days). At June 2006, SMS messages cost 0.20KM international and 0.10KM domestic. Calls to other BH Telecom mobiles are around 0.40KM/minute. Calls to Europe cost a little over 2KM/min and calls further afield are a little under 3.50KM/min.

Internet

Internet cafes are not as common here as elsewhere in Europe. There are a couple in every town however, so keep looking out for the signs, which consist of @ signs in the word "internet", just the same as everwhere else. Once you have found one the internet is pretty inexpensive - expect to pay around a 2KM per hour.

Bosnian keyboards are pretty similar to American keyboards. for the benefit of British readers that means that the "@" sign is above the 2.