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The World Factbook 2002
| Croatia |

Introduction | Croatia

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.

Geography | Croatia

Location: | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates: | 45 10 N, 15 30 E
Map references: | Europe
Area: | total: 56,542 sq km water: 128 sq km land: 56,414 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: | total: 2,185 km border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Yugoslavia 254 km, Slovenia 670 km
Coastline: | 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 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: 24% permanent crops: 2% other: 74% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: | 30 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: | 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 | Croatia

Population: | 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 total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
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.)
Nationality: | 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)
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.)

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
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
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
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: | 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

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: | NA
International organization participation: | BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Ivan GRDESIC FAX: [1] (202) 588-8936 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York 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, 10000 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)

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.

GDP: | purchasing power parity - $36.1 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 4% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 10% industry: 33% services: 57% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: | NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.7% highest 10%: 23.3% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 29 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: | 1.7 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate: | 23% (December 2001)
Budget: | revenues: $8.6 billion expenditures: $9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries: | chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages; tourism
Industrial production growth rate: | 6% (2001)
Electricity - production: | 10.578 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 44.76% hydro: 55.22% other: 0.02% (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: | wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products
Exports: | $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: | transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
Exports - partners: | Italy 24%, Germany 15%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 12%, Slovenia 9%, Austria 5.8% (2001 est.)
Imports: | $8.4 billion (c.i.f., 2001)
Imports - commodities: | machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs
Imports - partners: | Italy 17%, Germany 16.9%, Slovenia 7.9%, Russia 7.5%, Austria 7% (2001 est.)
Debt - external: | $11 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: | $NA
Currency: | kuna (HRK)
Currency code: | HRK
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)
Radios: | 1.51 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995)
Televisions: | 1.22 million (1997)
Internet country code: | .hr
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 9 (2000)
Internet users: | 200,000 (2001)

Transportation | Croatia

Railways: | total: 2,726 km standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (NA electrified) (2000)
Highways: | total: 28,009 km paved: 23,695 km (including 330 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,314 km (2001)
Waterways: | 785 km note: (perennially navigable; large sections of Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and debris)
Pipelines: | 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

Airports: | 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 (2001) 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 (2001)
Heliports: | 1 (2001)

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 Yugoslavia 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: | 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 1 January 2002