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| Croatia | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
the country’s vegetation is highly varied, from grape vines and olive trees in Dalmatia to oak forests in Slavonia. Animal life is diverse, ranging from snails and lizards near the coast to wolves and bears in the continental forests. Hare, foxes, lynx, weasels, otters, deer, marten, boars, wildcats, and mouflon (wild sheep) also inhabit Croatia. The Adriatic basin is rich in sea life.
| Croatia | Communications | Back to Top |
domestic: reconstruction plan calls for replacement of all analog circuits with digital and enlarging the network; a backup will be included in the plan for the main trunk international: digital international service is provided through the main switch in Zagreb; Croatia participates in the Trans-Asia-Europe (TEL) fiber-optic project which consists of two fiber-optic trunk connections with Slovenia and a fiber-optic trunk line from Rijeka to Split and Dubrovnik; Croatia is also investing in ADRIA 1, a joint fiber-optic project with Germany, Albania, and Greece (2000)
| Croatia | Culture | Back to Top |
The regions that comprise Croatia were not unified historically, so the country’s arts show a mix of foreign and native influences. The Dalmatian coast was long connected with Italy, and architectural marvels from Roman times can still be found in Dalmatia. Split, for example, contains the remains of the Roman emperor Diocletian’s palace, while the ruins of a Roman amphitheater lie in Pula. Medieval walls and fortifications distinguish the city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia, which was an independent city-state until the early 19th century. Continental Croatia, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had its own regional identity but much of its art and literature followed the empire’s styles. Croatian folk music remained linked to its locale, with styles differing greatly between Dalmatia and other regions.
Croatian literature are the much-translated novelist, poet, essayist, dramatist, polemicist, and critic Miroslav Krleza (1893–1981) and the lyric poet, essayist, and translator Tin Ujevic (1891–1955), both of whom treat man's psychological and sociopolitical struggles at both individual and universal levels. The monumental sculptures of Ivan Meštrovic (1883–1962), whom the French sculptor Auguste Rodin once called “the biggest phenomenon among sculptors,” synthesize a particularly Croatian national romanticism with the entire European tradition. Croatian naive painting, through a simple depiction of the timeless concerns of men and women caught within the cycles of the seasons and of life, has struck a universal chord and has brought worldwide fame to its main exponents, Ivan Generalic (1914–92), Ivan Rabuzin (1919– ), and Ivan Lackovic-Croata
The Yugoslav version of communism—which, following the 1948 break with the Soviet Union and the Cominform, evolved into a more flexible national path to socialism—allowed far greater autonomy and self-expression in cultural and other spheres of life than did most of its socialist neighbours. As a result, Croatian culture has been able to develop in continuity with the Western heritage of which it has long been a part and to which it has contributed for the last 1,000 years.
| Croatia | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces
Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,085,877 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 859,621 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 30,037 (2001 est.)
| Croatia | International Disputes | Back to Top |
Croatia and Italy made progress toward resolving a bilateral issue dating from World War II over property and ethnic minority rights; progress with Slovenia on discussions of adjustments to land boundary, but problems remain in defining maritime boundary in Gulf of Piran; Croatia and Yugoslavia are negotiating the status of the strategically important Prevlaka Peninsula, which is currently under a UN military observer mission
| Croatia | Economy | Back to Top |
Before the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 Croatia was the federation’s second most prosperous and industrialized republic after Slovenia, with a per capita output approximately one-third above the Yugoslav average. Although Croatia was part of a Communist, one-party system from the mid-1940s until 1990, Yugoslav socialism was decentralized. Enterprises, although under state control, were generally free to make their own pricing and investment decisions (subject to some political interference), and were allowed to compete with one another. Before the war in 1991 nearly two-thirds of the republic’s land was cultivated, and sugar beets, wheat, oats, rye, barley and corn (maize) were the principal agricultural products.
Rich deposits of oil and natural gas, sufficient to meet Croatia's needs and provide surplus for export, are found in the Pannonian valleys of eastern Slavonia. There are also bauxite deposits in Istria and Dalmatia, coal in northwestern Croatia, Istria, and Dalmatia, and smaller deposits of zinc, iron, lead, mercury, manganese, and salt throughout the country. Other natural resources are the numerous rivers with hydroelectric potential and the large forests that form the basis of the wood and pulp industry. Croatia's beautiful coastline and its numerous islands supply excellent natural harbours for the shipbuilding and fishing industries; they also form the basis of the country's single most important source of foreign exchange—tourism.
with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. Croatia faces considerable economic problems stemming from: the legacy of longtime communist mismanagement of the economy; damage during the internecine fighting to bridges, factories, power lines, buildings, and houses; the large refugee and displaced population, both Croatian and Bosnian; and the disruption of economic ties. Stepped-up Western aid and investment, especially in the tourist and oil industries, would help bolster the economy. The economy emerged from its mild recession in 2000 with tourism the main factor. Massive unemployment remains a key negative element. The government's failure to press the economic reforms needed to spur growth is largely the result of coalition politics and public resistance, particularly from the trade unions, to measures that would cut jobs, wages, or social benefits.
| Croatia | Education | Back to Top |
Preschool, elementary, and secondary education is free to all citizens, and compulsory from ages 7 to 15. The literacy rate was 99.8 percent in 2001, slightly higher for males (99.8 percent) than for females (99.8 percent). Croatia has four universities (one each in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, and Osijek) as well as a number of polytechnic institutes.
| Croatia | Government | Back to Top |
The Croatian Parliament, also known as the Sabor, became a unicameral body after its Upper House (Chamber of Counties) was eliminated by constitutional amendment in March 2001. The remaining body, the Chamber of Representatives, consists of 151 members who serve 4-year terms elected by direct vote. The Sabor meets twice a year--from January 15 to July 15 and from September 15 to December 15.
The powers of the legislature include enactment and amendment of the Constitution, passage of laws, adoption of the state budget, declarations of war and peace, alteration of the boundaries of the Republic, and carrying out elections and appointments to office. During the parliamentary elections of January 2000, six parties united to form a coalition government (SDP, HSLS, HSS, IDS, LS and HNS). The IDS left the coalition in June 2001. In July 2002, the HSLS left the coalition, after which it split into two parties, Libra and the HSLS. Libra remained in the coalition.
The president is the head of state and is elected by direct popular vote for a term of 5 years. The president is limited to serving no more than two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief, the president appoints the prime minister and Cabinet members with the consent of Parliament. Following the death of President Tudjman, the powers of the presidency were curtailed and greater responsibility was vested in Parliament.
The prime minister, who is nominated by the president, assumes office following a parliamentary vote of confidence in the new government. The prime minister and government are responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies of the republic.
Croatia has a three-tiered judicial system, consisting of the Supreme Court, county courts, and municipal courts. Croatia's Supreme Court is the highest court in the Republic. The Supreme Court assures the uniform application of laws. Members of the high court are appointed by the National Judicial Council, a body of 11 members, and justices on the Supreme Court are appointed for life. The court's hearings are generally open to the public.
The Constitutional Court is a body of 13 judges appointed by Parliament for an 8-year term. The Constitutional Court works to assure the conformity of all laws to the Constitution.
| Croatia | History | Back to Top |
The Croats are believed to be a purely Slavic people who migrated from Ukraine and settled in present-day Croatia during the 6th century. After a period of self-rule, Croatians agreed to the Pacta Conventa in 1091, submitting themselves to Hungarian authority. By the mid-1400s, concerns over Ottoman expansion led the Croatian Assembly to invite the Habsburgs, under Archduke Ferdinand, to assume control over Croatia. Habsburg rule proved successful in thwarting the Ottomans, and by the 18th century, much of Croatia was free of Turkish control.
In 1868, Croatia gained domestic autonomy while remaining under Hungarian authority. Following World War I and the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Croatia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes became Yugoslavia in 1929). Yugoslavia changed its name once again after World War II. The new state became the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia and united Croatia and several other states together under the communistic leadership of Marshall Tito.
After the death of Tito and with the fall of communism throughout eastern Europe, the Yugoslav federation began to crumple. Croatia held its first multi-party elections since World War II in 1990. Long-time Croatian nationalist Franjo Tudjman was elected President, and one year later, Croatians declared independence from Yugoslavia. Conflict between Serbs and Croats in Croatia escalated, and one month after Croatia declared independence, civil war erupted.
The United Nations mediated a cease-fire in January 1992, but hostilities resumed the next year when Croatia fought to regain one-third of the territory lost the previous year. A second cease-fire was enacted in May 1993, followed by a joint declaration the next January between Croatia and Yugoslavia. However, in September 1993, the Croatian Army led an offensive against the Serb-held Republic of Krajina. A third cease-fire was called in March 1994, but it, too, was broken in May and August 1995 after Croatian forces regained large portions of Krajina, prompting an exodus of Serbs from this area. In November 1995, Croatia agreed to peacefully reintegrate Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Dirmium under terms of the Erdut Agreement. In December 1995, Croatia signed the Dayton peace agreement, committing itself to a permanent cease-fire and the return of all refugees.
The death of President Tudjman in December 1999, followed by the election of a coalition government and president in early 2000, brought significant changes to Croatia. The government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Racan, progressed in implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords, regional cooperation, refugee returns, national reconciliation, and democratization.
On November 23, 2003, national elections were held for parliament. The new government, headed by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, took office in December 2003.
| Croatia | Introduction | Back to Top |
Croatia (in Croatian, Hrvatska), republic in south-eastern Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, bordered on the north by Slovenia and Hungary, on the east and south by Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on the east by Serbia. The area around the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, located at the southernmost tip of the republic's long western coastline on the Adriatic Sea, has a short border with Montenegro. Serbia and Montenegro since 1991 have established themselves as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Formerly a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia declared its independence on June 25, 1991. The country has an area of about 56,538 sq km (21,829 sq mi). Zagreb is the republic's capital and largest city.
Official Name - Republic of Croatia| Croatia | Land | Back to Top |
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| Croatia | Languages | Back to Top |
In Croatia, all ethnic groups speak Croatian regional dialects of Serbo-Croatian. Since the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian government has sought to differentiate a separate Croatian language (officially Croato-Serb or simply Croatian) from Serbian or Bosnian variants of Serbo-Croatian spoken in the FRY and Bosnia. Croatia has insisted on the exclusive use of the Latin alphabet, rejecting the Cyrillic alphabet used in the FRY and parts of Bosnia.
| Croatia | Legal | Back to Top |
Legal system: based on civil law system Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed) Executive branch: chief of state: President Stjepan (Stipe) MESIC (since 18 February 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Ivica RACAN (since 27 January 2000); Deputy Prime Ministers Goran GRANIC (since 27 January 2000), Zeljka ANTUNOVIC (since 27 January 2000), Slavko LINIC (since 27 January 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the House of Representatives elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 7 February 2000 (next to be held NA 2005); prime minister nominated by the president in line with the balance of power in the Assembly election results: Stjepan MESIC elected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 56%, Drazen BUDISA (HSLS) 44% note: government coalition - SDP, HSLS, HSS, LP, HNS, IDS Legislative branch: bicameral Assembly or Sabor consists of the House of Counties or Zupanijski Dom (68 seats, 63 directly elected by popular vote, 5 appointed by the president; members serve four-year terms; note - House of Counties to be abolished in 2001) and House of Representatives or the Zastupnicki Dom (151 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: House of Counties - last held 13 April 1997; House of Representatives - last held 2-3 January 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: House of Counties - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - HDZ 42, HSLS/HSS 11, HSS 2, IDS 2, SDP/PGS/HNS 2, SDP/HNS 2, HSLS/HSS/HNS 1, HSLS 1; note - in some districts certain parties ran as coalitions, while in others they ran alone; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - HDZ 46, SDP 44, HSLS 24, HSS 17, HSP/HKDU 5, IDS 4, HNS 2, independents 4, minority representatives 5 Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts appointed for eight-year terms by the Judicial Council of the Republic, which is elected by the House of Representatives
| Croatia | Life | Back to Top |
few people are in danger of starving, there are more poor people in Croatia than there had been when it was part of the Communist Yugoslav state. The nuclear family, a household consisting of two adults and their children, is standard in Croatia. Croatian women enjoy a more equal status with men in comparison to women in some other Yugoslav republics. Inner-city housing consists of old stone buildings in the Central European style, while small, family-unit housing and high-rise apartment buildings predominate in the city outskirts. Traditional rural housing includes one- or two-story wooden houses, small cabins, and whitewashed stone houses.
| Croatia | organization | Back to Top |
BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
| Croatia | People | Back to Top |
The total population of Croatia at the time of the 1991 census was 4,784,265; a 2001 estimate was 4,334,142. During and after the war ethnic Serbs fled Croatia while ethnic Croats moved in. Although Croatia’s natural population growth rate, which measures births and deaths, was negative in 1998, the actual population grew by 1.48 percent due to immigration. Life expectancy at birth was 74 years in 2001. The population density in 2001 was 77 persons per sq km (199 per sq mi). In 1999, 57 percent of the population was urban. Most of the urban population is concentrated in four cities: Zagreb, the country’s capital and primary industrial center; Split, a seaport; Rijeka, also a seaport; and the agricultural and industrial center of Osijek.
While most of Croatia's Serbs live in urban centres, just over one-quarter are scattered in villages and towns, mostly in lightly populated parts of the central mountain belt, in Lika and Banija, and in northern Dalmatia. There is also a smaller concentration in Slavonia. Many of the Serbs in Croatia are descendants of people who migrated to the border areas of the Austrian empire between the 16th and 18th centuries, following the Ottoman conquest of Serbia and Bosnia. Their original role as frontiersmen against Ottoman incursions, in addition to their poverty and geographic isolation, ensured that Croatia's Serbs would remain among the least-educated and often better-armed and more violence-prone residents of the region.
Population (2001 census est.): 4, 437,460. Growth rate (2001 est.): 1.9% Ethnic groups: Croat 89.63%, Serb 4.54%, Bosniak 0.47%, Italian 0.44%, Hungarian 0.37%, Albanian 03.34% Slovenian 0.3% and other 3.91%. Religions: Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Slavic Muslim 1.28%, others 6.52%. Language: Croatian (South Slavic language, using the Roman script). Health (2001 est.): Life expectancy--male 70.28 years; female 77.73 years. Infant mortality rate--7.21 deaths/1,000 live births
| Croatia | Politics | Back to Top |
Alliance of Croatian Coast and Mountains Department or PGS [Luciano SUSANJ]; Croatian Christian Democratic Union or HKDU [Marko VESELICA]; Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Ivo SANADER]; Croatian Party of Rights or HSP [Dobroslav PARAGA]; Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Zlatko TOMCIC]; Croatian People's Party or HNS [Vesna PUSIC]; Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Drazen BUDISA]; Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Vojislav STANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LP [leader NA]; Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN]
| Croatia | Provinces | Back to Top |
20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular), 1 city (grad -singular)*: Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska Zupanija, Brodsko-Posavska Zupanija, Dubrovacko-Neretvanska Zupanija, Istarska Zupanija, Karlovacka Zupanija, Koprivnicko-Krizevacka Zupanija, Krapinsko-Zagorska Zupanija, Licko-Senjska Zupanija, Medimurska Zupanija, Osjecko-Baranjska Zupanija, Pozesko-Slavonska Zupanija, Primorsko-Goranska Zupanija, Sibensko-Kninska Zupanija, Sisacko-Moslavacka Zupanija, Splitsko-Dalmatinska Zupanija, Varazdinska Zupanija, Viroviticko-Podravska Zupanija, Vukovarsko-Srijemska Zupanija, Zadarska Zupanija, Zagreb*, Zagrebacka Zupanija
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