In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National Minorities of BiH recognizes 17 national minorities: Albanians, Montenegrins, Czechs, Italians, Jews, Hungarians, Macedonians, Germans, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Russians, Ruthenians, Slovaks, Slovenes, Turks and Ukrainians.

By definition, a national minority is a part of the population - citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who do not belong to any of the three constituent peoples, and is made up of people of the same or similar ethnic origin, the same or similar traditions, customs, beliefs, language, culture and spirituality and close or related history and other characteristics, which ensures the provision of basic rights for members of national minorities within the framework of BiH legislation.

The obligations of the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Members of National Minorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulate further affirmation, institutional protection of individual and collective rights of members of national minorities, their further national and civil emancipation, integration into all normal and legal social processes, relationships and flows, without discrimination and historical coexistence, coexistence with members and communities of constituent nations, majority nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.