Background: In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a
kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia
became an independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal
TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991,
it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before
occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN
supervision the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to
Croatia in 1998.
Government type: presidential/parliamentary democracy
Capital: Zagreb
Currency: 1 Croatian kuna (HRK) = 100 lipas
Geography of Croatia
Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates: 45 10 N, 15 30 E
Area:
total: 56,538 sq km
land: 56,410 sq km
water: 128 sq km
Land boundaries:
total: 2,197 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and
Montenegro 266 km (241 km with Serbia; 25 km with Montenegro), Slovenia 670 km
Coastline: 5,790 km (mainland 1,778 km, islands 4,012 km)
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot
summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast
Terrain: geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low
mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m
Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural
asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 21%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 20%
forests and woodland: 38%
other: 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 30 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: frequent and destructive earthquakes
Environment - current issues: air pollution (from metallurgical
plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution
from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and reconstruction of
infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil strife.
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea
and Turkish Straits.
People of Croatia
Population: 4,495,904 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.16%
15-64 years: 66.61%
65 years and over: 15.23%
Population growth rate: 1.48%
Birth rate: 12.82 births/1,000 population
Death rate: 11.41 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate: 13.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: 7.21 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.9 years
male: 70.28 years
female: 77.73 years
Total fertility rate: 1.94 children born/woman
Nationality:
noun: Croat(s)
adjective: Croatian
Ethnic groups: Croat 78.1%, Serb 12.2%, Muslim 0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovenian
0.5%, Czech 0.4%, Albanian 0.3%, Montenegrin 0.3%, Roma 0.2%, others 6.6% (1991)
Religions: Roman Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%,
others and unknown 10.8% (1991)
Languages: Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak,
and German)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 99%
female: 95% (1991 est.)
SOURCE: The World Factbook |