West Herzegovina Canton

West Herzegovina Canton forms Bosnia-Herzegovina's southwestern corner, predominantly Croat and oriented economically toward Croatian Dalmatia more than Sarajevo. The canton represents Dayton's ethnic logic: creating administrative units that align with wartime territorial control, ensuring Croat political autonomy regardless of economic rationality. Cross-border employment, shopping, and healthcare create daily integration with Croatia that administrative boundaries cannot prevent.

The canton lacks the tourism assets of neighboring Herzegovina-Neretva (no UNESCO sites, no pilgrimage destinations), creating development challenges. Agriculture—viticulture, tobacco, vegetables—provides rural employment, while construction and retail dominate urban economies. Proximity to Mostar and Međugorje generates some tourism spillover, but West Herzegovina typically serves as transit rather than destination.

Remittances from diaspora Croats, particularly those working in Germany and Western Europe, subsidize consumption that local production cannot support. This dependency creates source-sink economics where the canton exports labor and imports finished goods. Whether EU accession eventually integrates West Herzegovina into broader European markets—or whether Croatian absorption becomes the de facto path—represents the strategic choice that current paralysis defers.