sarajevo

noun

1. a city in and the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the central part: assassination of the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand here June 28, 1914, was the final event that precipitated World War I.

noun

1. a republic in S Europe: formerly (1945–92) a constituent republic of Yugoslavia. 19,909 sq. mi. (51,565 sq. km). Capital: Sarajevo.

noun

1. the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina: developed as a Turkish town in the 15th century; capital of the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian administrations in 1850 and 1878 respectively; scene of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, precipitating World War I; besieged by Bosnian Serbs (1992–95). Pop: 603 000 (2005 est)

capital of Bosnia, founded 15c. and named in Turkish as Bosna-Saray, “Palace on the (River) Bosna,” from saray (see caravanserai); the modern name is a Slavic adjectival form of saray. The city in Bosnia and Herzegovina where the assassination that brought on World War I took place. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austrian Empire, had come to Sarajevo on a state visit; Sarajevo was then in one of the South Slavic provinces of the Austrian Empire. A young student who favored South Slavic independence shot and killed the archduke. Austria held the assassin’s home country, Serbia, responsible for the incident and declared war; complex European alliances then brought other countries into the fight. Capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Republic in southeastern Europe on the west Balkan Peninsula, bordered by Croatia to the west and north, Yugoslavia to the east, with a small outlet to the Adriatic Sea to the west. Sarajevo (see also Sarajevo) is the country’s capital and largest city.