Demographics - Croatia
| GENERAL: | |||
| 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. | |||
| GEOGRAPHY: | |||
| 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 | |
| land: | 56,414 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 (north) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south) 25 km, Slovenia 670 km | ||
| Coastline: | 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km) | ||
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: | 12 nm | |
| continental shelf: | 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation | ||
| 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, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower | ||
| Land use: | arable land: | 25.82% | |
| permanent crops: | 2.19% | ||
| other: | 71.99% | ||
| Irrigated land: | 30 sq km | ||
| 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 | ||
| Geography - note: | controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits | ||
| PEOPLE: | |||
| Population: | 4,494,749 | ||
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: | 16.2% (male 373,638/female 354,261) | |
| 15-64 years: | 67% (male 1,497,958/female 1,515,314) | ||
| 65 years and over: | 16.8% (male 288,480/female 465,098) | ||
| Median age: | total: | 40.3 years | |
| male: | 38.3 years | ||
| female: | 42.1 years | ||
| Population growth rate: | -0.03% | ||
| Birth rate: | 9.61 births/1,000 population | ||
| Death rate: | 11.48 deaths/1,000 population | ||
| Net migration rate: | 1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population | ||
| 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: | 0.62 male(s)/female | ||
| total population: | 0.93 male(s)/female | ||
| Infant mortality rate: | total: | 6.72 deaths/1,000 live births | |
| male: | 6.7 deaths/1,000 live births | ||
| female: | 6.74 deaths/1,000 live births | ||
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: | 74.68 years | |
| male: | 71.03 years | ||
| female: | 78.53 years (2006 est.) | ||
| Total fertility rate: | 1.4 children born/woman | ||
| Nationality: | noun: | Croat(s), Croatian(s) | |
| adjective: | Croatian | ||
| Ethnic groups: | Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, and Roma) | ||
| Religions: | Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.9%, none 5.2% | ||
| Languages: | Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) | ||
| Literacy: | definition: | age 15 and over can read and write | |
| total population: | 98.50% | ||
| male: | 99.40% | ||
| female: | 97.8% (2003 est.) | ||
| GOVERNMENT: | |||
| Country name: | conventional long form: | Republic of Croatia | |
| conventional short form: | Croatia | ||
| local long form: | Republika Hrvatska | ||
| local short form: | Hrvatska | ||
| former: | People's Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Croatia | ||
| 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: | Independence Day, 8 October (1991); note - 25 June 1991 is the day the Croatian Parliament voted for independence; following a three-month moratorium to allow the European Community to solve the Yugoslav crisis peacefully, Parliament adopted a decision on 8 October 1991 to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia | ||
| 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 Damir POLANCEC (since 15 February 2005) | ||
| cabinet: | Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the parliamentary Assembly | ||
| elections: | president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 16 January 2005 (next to be held January 2010); the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president and then approved by the Assembly | ||
| election results: | Stjepan MESIC reelected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC 66%, Jadranka KOSOR (HDZ) 34% in the second round | ||
| Legislative branch: | unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added in the November 2003 parliamentary elections; members elected from party lists by popular vote to serve four-year terms) | ||
| elections: | last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in 2007) | ||
| election results: | 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 | ||
| note: | minority government coalition - HDZ, DC, HSLS, HSU, SDSS | ||
| 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 [Josip FRISCIC]; Croatian Pensioner Party or HSU [Vladimir JORDAN]; Croatian People's Party or HNS [Vesna PUSIC] (in 2005 party merged with Libra to become Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats or NS-LD [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 STANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Zlatko BENASIC]; Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN] | ||
| Flag description: | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue superimposed by the Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered) | ||
| ECONOMY: | |||
| 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 a mild recession in 2000 with tourism, banking, and public investments leading the way. Unemployment remains high, at about 18%, with structural factors slowing its decline. While macroeconomic stabilization has largely been achieved, structural reforms lag because of deep resistance on the part of the public and lack of strong support from politicians. Growth, while impressive at about 3% to 4% for the last several years, has been stimulated, in part, through high fiscal deficits and rapid credit growth. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform. | ||
| GDP - real growth rate: | 3.50% | ||
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $11,600 | ||
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: | 8.10% | |
| industry: | 31% | ||
| services: | 60.80% | ||
| Labor force: | 1.71 million | ||
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 2.7%, industry 32.8%, services 64.5% | ||
| Unemployment rate: | 18.7% official rate; labor force surveys indicate unemployment around 14% | ||
| Population below poverty line: | 11% | ||
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 3.20% | ||
| Agriculture - products: | wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products | ||
| 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: | 4.50% | ||
| Exports - commodities: | transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels | ||
| Exports - partners: | Italy 23%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 13.4%, Germany 11.4%, Austria 9.6%, Slovenia 7.6% | ||
| Imports - commodities: | machinery, transport and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants; foodstuffs | ||
| Imports - partners: | Italy 17.1%, Germany 15.5%, Russia 7.3%, Slovenia 7.1%, Austria 6.9%, France 4.4% | ||
| Currency (code): | kuna (HRK) | ||
| Fiscal year: | calendar year | ||
| TRANSNATIONAL ISSUES: | |||
| Disputes - international: | discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement; 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 un-ratified and in dispute; as a European Union peripheral state, neighboring Slovenia must conform to the strict Schengen border rules to curb illegal migration and commerce through southeastern Europe while encouraging close cross-border ties with Croatia | ||
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | IDPs: 12,600 (Croats and Serbs displaced in 1992-95 war) | ||
| 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 | ||
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