Croatia Tourism - Travel to Croatia

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Capital	Zagreb
Government	presidential/parliamentary democracy
Currency	kuna (HRK)
Area	total: 56,542 sq km water: 128 sq km land: 56,414 sq km
Population	4,390,751 (July 2002 est.)
Language	Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German)
Religion	Roman Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%, others and unknown 10.8% (1991)

Croatia is a country in Southeastern Europe on the east side of the Adriatic Sea, to the east of Italy. It is surrounded by Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east and Serbia and Montenegro in the northeast and south east.

Regions in Croatia

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

Cities in Croatia

Zagreb - Capital

Ports and harbors: Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj, Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland waterway port on Danube), Zadar

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Climate in Croatia

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

Highest point: Dinara 1,830 m

History of Croatia

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.

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Geography in Croatia

Geographic coordinates: 45 10 N, 15 30 E
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
Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower
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: 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 in 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 in 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

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)

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, Zagreb 10000
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 in 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 - $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.)

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)

Unemployment rate: 20.2% (2002 est.)

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: 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: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products

Exports: $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)

Imports: $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)

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

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: 480,000 (2001)

Transportation in 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)

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 (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)

Heliports: 1 (2002)

Transnational Issues in 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: 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

Croatia Tourism - Travel to Croatia

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