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| Introduction | Croatia |
| Background: | The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal 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. |
| People | Croatia |
| Population: | 4,496,869 (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 16.6% (male 383,729; female 364,287) 15-64 years: 67% (male 1,497,525; female 1,515,956) 65 years and over: 16.4% (male 277,616; female 457,756) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 39.7 years male: 37.7 years female: 41.5 years (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | -0.02% (2004 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 9.51 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Death rate: | 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 6.96 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 7.03 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 74.14 years male: 70.21 years female: 78.29 years (2004 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.39 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | less than 0.1% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 200 (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | less than 10 (2001 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s) adjective: Croatian |
| Ethnic groups: | Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, Bosniak 0.5%, Hungarian 0.4%, Slovene 0.3%, Czech 0.2%, Roma 0.2%, Albanian 0.1%, Montenegrin 0.1%, others 4.1% (2001) |
| Religions: | Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, others and unknown 6.2% (2001) |
| Languages: | Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.5% male: 99.4% female: 97.8% (2003 est.) |
| Government | Croatia |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Croatia conventional short form: Croatia local short form: Hrvatska former: People's Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Croatia local long form: Republika Hrvatska |
| Government type: | presidential/parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: | Zagreb |
| Administrative divisions: | 20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular) and 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 |
| Independence: | 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia) |
| National holiday: | Statehood Day, 25 June (1991) |
| Constitution: | adopted on 22 December 1990; revised 2000, 2001 |
| 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 Ivo SANADER (since 9 December 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Jadranka KOSOR (since 23 December 2003) and Andrija HEBRANG (since 23 December 2003) 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: minority government coalition - HDZ, DC, HSLS election results: Stjepan MESIC elected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 56%, Drazen BUDISA (HSLS) 44% |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added in the November 2003 parliamentary elections; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - House of Counties was abolished in March 2001 election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; number of seats by party - HDZ 66, SDP 34, HSS 10, HNS 10, HSP 8, IDS 4, Libra 3, HSU 3, SDSS 3, other 11 elections: Assembly - last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in 2007) |
| 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 Assembly |
| Political parties and leaders: | Croatian Bloc or HB [Ivic PASALIC]; Croatian Christian Democratic Union or HKDU [Anto KOVACEVIC]; Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Ivo SANADER]; Croatian Party of Rights or HSP [Anto DJAPIC]; Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Zlatko TOMCIC]; Croatian Pensioner Party or HSU [Vladimir JORDAN]; Croatian People's Party or HNS [Vesna PUSIC]; Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Ivan CEHOK]; Croatian True Revival Party or HIP [Miroslav TUDJMAN]; Democratic Centre or DC [Vesna SKARE-OZBOLT]; Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Vojislav STRANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Ivo BANAC]; Party of Liberal Democrats or Libra [Jozo RADOS]; Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA |
| International organization participation: | BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNMOGIP, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Neven JURICA chancery: 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York FAX: [1] (202) 588-8936 telephone: [1] (202) 588-5899 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Ralph FRANK embassy: 2 Thomas Jefferson, 10010 Zagreb mailing address: use street address telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200 FAX: [385] (1) 661-2373 |
| Flag description: | red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered) |
| Communications | Croatia |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 1.825 million (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 2.553 million (2003) |
| 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: country code - 385; 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) |
| Radios: | 1.51 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995) |
| Televisions: | 1.22 million (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .hr |
| Internet hosts: | 29,644 (2004) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 9 (2000) |
| Internet users: | 1.014 million (2003) |
| Transportation | Croatia |
| Railways: | total: 2,726 km standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (984 km electrified) (2003) |
| Highways: | total: 28,123 km paved: 23,792 km (including 410 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,331 km (2000) |
| Waterways: | 785 km (2004) |
| Pipelines: | gas 1,340 km; oil 583 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors: | Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj, Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland waterway port on Danube), Zadar |
| Merchant marine: | total: 51 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 750,579 GRT/1,178,786 DWT by type: bulk 16, cargo 14, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 5, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea/passenger 3 registered in other countries: 44 (2003 est.) foreign-owned: Hong Kong 3, Russia 1 |
| Airports: | 68 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 23 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2004 est.) 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 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: | 1 (2003 est.) |
| Military | Croatia |
| Military branches: | Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM), Air and Air Defense Forces (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo i Protuzrakoplovna Obrana, HRZiPZO) |
| Military manpower - military age and obligation: | 18 years of age for compulsory military service, with 6-month service obligation; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary service (2004) |
| Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 1,100,132 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 873,994 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 30,639 (2004 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $520 million (2002 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 2.39% (2002 est.) |
| Transnational Issues | Croatia |
| Disputes - international: | discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina over disputed territory around Kostajnica on the Una River and villages at the base of Mount Pljesevica; the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia, remains controversial, has not been ratified, and has been complicated by Croatia's declaration of an ecological-fisheries zone in the Adriatic Sea |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | IDPs: 12,600 (Croats and Serbs displaced in 1992-1995 war) (2004) |
| Illicit drugs: | transit point along the Balkan route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe; has been used as a transit point for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe |
| This page was last updated on 16 December, 2004 |
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