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Flag of Croatia
Map of Croatia
Introduction Croatia
Geography Croatia
Geographic coordinates:
45 10 N, 15 30 E
Map references:
total: 56,542 sq km
water: 128 sq km
land: 56,414 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries:
total: 2,197 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro (north) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south) 25 km, Slovenia 670 km
5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km)
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 NM
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m
Natural resources:
Land use:
arable land: 23.55%
permanent crops: 2.24%
other: 74.21% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
30 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
destructive earthquakes
Environment - current issues:
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
Geography - note:
People Croatia
4,390,751 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.3% (male 411,847; female 390,797)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male 1,461,305; female 1,448,973)
65 years and over: 15.4% (male 252,970; female 424,859) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.12% (2002 est.)
Birth rate:
12.8 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate:
11.31 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate:
9.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
Infant mortality rate:
7.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.13 years
female: 77.96 years (2002 est.)
male: 70.52 years
Total fertility rate:
1.93 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.02% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
350 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 100 (1999 est.)
noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)
adjective: Croatian
Ethnic groups:
Croat 78.1%, Serb 12.2%, Bosniak 0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovene 0.5%, Czech 0.4%, Albanian 0.3%, Montenegrin 0.3%, Roma 0.2%, others 6.6% (1991)
Roman Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%, others and unknown 10.8% (1991)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 99%
female: 95% (1991 est.)
Government Croatia
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Croatia
conventional short form: Croatia
local short form: Hrvatska
local long form: Republika Hrvatska
Government type:
presidential/parliamentary democracy
Administrative divisions:
25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday:
Statehood Day, 25 June (1991)
adopted on 22 December 1990
Legal system:
based on civil law system
Executive branch:
head of government: Prime Minister Ivica RACAN (since 27 January 2000); Deputy Prime Ministers Goran GRANIC (since 27 January 2000), Ante SIMONIC (since NA July 2002), 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
note: government coalition - SDP, HSLS, HSS, LP, HNS; a fifth party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), withdrew in June 2001
election results: Stjepan MESIC elected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 56%, Drazen BUDISA (HSLS) 44%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Assembly or Sabor (151 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - House of Counties was abolished in March 2001
election results: Assembly (then referred to as the 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
elections: Assembly - last held 2-3 January 2000 (next to be held in the fall of 2003)
Judicial branch:
Political parties and leaders:
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]; Croatian True Revival Party or HIP [Miroslav TUDJMAN]; 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]
note: the Social Democratic Party or SDP and the Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS formed a coalition as did the HSS, HNS, LP, and IDS, which together defeated the Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ in the 2000 lower house parliamentary election; the IDS subsequently left the governing coalition in June 2001 over its inability to win greater autonomy for Istria
Political pressure groups and leaders:
International organization participation:
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ivan GRDESIC
FAX: [1] (202) 588-8936
telephone: [1] (202) 588-5899
chancery: 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Lawrence G. ROSSIN
embassy: Andrije Hebranga 2, Zagreb 10000
mailing address: use street address
telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200
FAX: [385] (1) 661-2373
Flag description:
Economy Croatia
Economy - overview:
Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. The economy emerged from its mild recession in 2000 with tourism the main factor, but massive structural 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. As a result, the country is likely to experience only moderate growth without disciplined fiscal and structural reform.
purchasing power parity - $38.9 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $8,800 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 33%
services: 58% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 23% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
29 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
1.7 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate:
20.2% (2002 est.)
revenues: $8.6 billion
expenditures: $9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industrial production growth rate:
2.8% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
10.578 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 45%
hydro: 55%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
12.638 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports:
900 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports:
3.7 billion kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products:
$5.1 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
Exports - partners:
Italy 23.7%, Germany 14.8%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 12%, Slovenia 9.1%, Austria 5.7%, France 3.5 (2001)
$9.7 billion c.i.f. (2002)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Germany 17.1%, Italy 16.9%, Slovenia 7.9%, Russia 7.2%, Austria 7%, France 4.4% (2001)
Debt - external:
$16.5 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA $66 million (2000)
kuna (HRK)
Currency code:
Exchange rates:
kuna per US dollar - 8.452 (January 2002), 8.340 (2001), 8.277 (2000), 7.112 (1999), 6.362 (1998), 6.101 (1997)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Croatia
Telephones - main lines in use:
1,721,139 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.3 million (2001)
Telephone system:
general assessment: NA
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)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999)
1.51 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995)
1.22 million (1997)
Internet country code:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
9 (2000)
Internet users:
480,000 (2001)
Transportation Croatia
total: 2,726 km
standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (NA electrified) (2000)
total: 28,009 km
paved: 23,695 km (including 330 km of expressways)
unpaved: 4,314 km (2001)
785 km
note: (perennially navigable; large sections of Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and debris)
crude oil 670 km; petroleum products 20 km; natural gas 310 km (1992)
Ports and harbors:
Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj, Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland waterway port on Danube), Zadar
Merchant marine:
total: 49 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 681,465 GRT/1,076,315 DWT
note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 1 (2002 est.)
ships by type: bulk 14, cargo 13, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 5, container 1, multi-functional large-load carrier 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 3
67 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 22
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 8 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 37 (2002)
1 (2002)
Military Croatia
Military branches:
Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HV), Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces
Military manpower - military age:
19 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,086,578 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 860,497 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 30,037 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$520 million (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.39% (2002 est.)
Transnational Issues Croatia
Disputes - international:
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue discussions on the disputed boundary in the Una River near Kostajnica, Hrvatska Dubica, and Zeljava; Bosnia and Herzegovina also protests Croatian claim to the tip of the Klek Peninsula and several islands near Neum; Hungary opposes Croatian plan to build a hydropower dam on the boundary stream Drava; Slovenia and Croatia have not obtained parliamentary ratification of 2001 land and maritime boundary treaty which cedes villages on the Dragonja River and Sveta Gera (Trdinov Peak) to Croatia, and most of Pirin Bay to Slovenia, but restricts Slovenian access to the open sea; Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro continue to discuss disputed Prevlaka Peninsula and control over the Gulf of Kotor despite imminent UN intention to withdraw observer mission (UNMOP); Croatia and Italy are still trying to resolve bilateral property and ethnic minority rights dating from World War II
Illicit drugs:

This page was last updated on 19 March 2003