Croatia

Republika Hrvatska Republic of Croatia
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Lijepa naša domovino Our beautiful homeland
Location of  Croatia (orange) on the European continent (white)  —  [Legend]
Capital	Zagreb 45°48′N 16°0′E
Largest city	capital
Official languages	Croatian1
Government	Parliamentary republic
- President	Stjepan Mesić
- Premier	Ivo Sanader
{{{sovereignty_type}}}
- Founded	First half of 7th century
- Medieval duchy	March 4 852
- Independence	May 21 879
- Elevated to kingdom	925
- Union with Hungary	1102
- joined Habsburg Empire	January 1 1527
- Independence from Austria-Hungary	October 29 1918
- SFR Yugoslavia seceded	June 25 1991
Area
- Total	56,542 km² (126th) 21,831 sq mi
- Water (%)	0.2
Population
- July 2007 estimate	4,555,000
- 2001 census	4,437,460
- Density	81/km² 208/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2007 estimate
- Total	$68.21 billion
- Per capita	$14,368 IMF
HDI  (2004)	0.846 (high)
Currency	kuna (HRK)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.hr
Calling code	+385

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia (Republika Hrvatska), is a country at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and Central Europe.

Croatia has strategic importance in that it controls most land routes from Western Europe to the Aegean Sea, and the Turkish Straits.

For that reason, the territory has been colonised and invaded by numerous different ethnic groups and empires over its 100,000 years of pre-human and human habitation.

Croatia has been known for “ethnic cleansing”, both during the Second World War, when the Fascist Ustashi government enacted racial laws and formed eight concentration camps targeting minority Roma and Jewish populations, and during the war of independence in the 1990s, when Serbs drove Croatians from their homes in the early part of the struggle.

Geography

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Map of Croatia

Croatia has strategic importance in that it controls most land routes from Western Europe to the Aegean Sea, and the Turkish Straits.

Its shape resembles that of a crescent or a horseshoe. Croatia shares land borders with Slovenia and Hungary on the north, Serbia on the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the south and east, and Montenegro on the south, as well as a sea border with Italy to the west. Its mainland territory is split in two non-contiguous parts by the short coastline of Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum.

Croatia occupies approximately 21,825 square miles (56,540 square kilometers), or is slightly smaller than West Virginia in the United States of America.

Its terrain is diverse. There are plains, lakes and rolling hills in the continental north and northeast (Central Croatia and Slavonia, and part of the Pannonian plain); there are densely wooded mountains in Lika and Gorski Kotar, part of the Dinaric Alps; and there are rocky coastlines on the Adriatic Sea (Istria, northern seacoast and Dalmatia).

Dinara, near the source of Cetina river.

The country is famous for its many national parks. Offshore Croatia consists of over one thousand islands varying in size. Seventy percent of the land is farmland. The highest point is Dinara, one of the more prominent mountains located on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is 6000 feet (1830 meters).

Croatia has a mixture of climates. In the north and east it is a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. A Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry, and brilliantly sunny summers, prevails along the coast. There is a semi-highland and highland climate in the south-central region. The average temperature in Zagreb is 32°F (0° C) in January and about 75°F (24°C) in July. Annual precipitation in Zagreb it is about 26 inches (652mm).

Croatia’s main rivers are the Sava, Drava, Danube and Kupa. The Drava and the Sava flow from the Pannonian Plain into the Danube, which forms part of Croatia’s eastern border with Serbia. The Kupa flows east along the Slovenian border into central Croatia, to join the Sava.

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Zagreb center, from left, Cibona Tower, Hotel Westin, arts and crafts museum.

Croatia is rich in mineral resources, which include petroleum, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower.

Deciduous forests, including beech and oak predominate on the plains and in much of the mountainous area, and there are 50 types of protected plant life. The floodplain of the Sava has extensive wetlands that provide a habitat for numerous plant and animal species. Wildlife includes hare, fox, lynx, weasel, otter, bear, deer, marten, boar, wildcat, wolf, and mouflon (wild sheep). Dinara is host to an endemic species of rodents, a vole called "Dinarski miš" ("Dinaric mouse"), which is declared an endangered species.

Natural hazards include destructive earthquakes. Environment issues include air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests. Industrial and domestic waste pollution in the rivers is so bad that the water must be treated even for industrial use. The 1992-95 civil strife has left a significant number of land mines requiring removal.

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. Zagreb is the cultural, scientific, economic and governmental center of the Republic of Croatia. The city's population in 2001 was 779,145. It is situated between the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain and both northern and southern bank of the Sava river.

History

A view of the city of Hvar from the castle.

The area known as Croatia today has been inhabited throughout the prehistoric period, ever since the Stone Age. In the middle Paleolithic period, Neandertals lived in modern Zagorje, northern Croatia. Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger discovered 100,000-year-old bones and other remnants of a Neandertal, subsequently named Homo krapiniensis, on a hill near the town of Krapina.

In the early Neolithic period, the Starcevo-Körös, Vinča and Sopot cultures were scattered between and around the Sava, the Drava and the Danube. Notable are the excavation sites of Ščitarjevo near Zagreb, Sopot near Vinkovci, Vučedol near Vukovar, Nakovanj on Pelješac. Traces of a somewhat isolated Hvar culture were found on the Adriatic island of Hvar.

The Iron Age left traces of the Hallstatt culture (proto-Illyrians) and the La Tène culture (proto-Celts).

Illyria and Rome

In recorded history, the area was inhabited by Illyrian tribes such as the Delmetae, who spoke an Illyrian language, an ancient branch of Indo-European. Other tribes such as the Liburni and Iapodes, whose ethnicity is less clear, inhabited various parts of the Adriatic coastline and interior between modern Istria and Herzegovina.

In the fourth century B.C.E., the northern parts of modern-day Croatia were also colonized by the Celts, the Scordisci tribe. Other Celtic peoples may also have been found elsewhere integrated among the Illyrians. The islands of Issa and Pharos as well as the locality of Tragurion became Greek colonies since the same period.

Illyria was a sovereign state until the Romans conquered it two centuries later, in 168 B.C.E. The Romans organized the land into the Roman province of Illyricum, which encompassed most of modern Croatia (Istria was part of the province of Italia). Illyricum was subsequently split into the provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia in year 10. Pannonia was further split in two by Trajan between 102 C.E. and 107 C.E.

Christian era

A four-fold split of the same province followed at the turn of the fourth century under Diocletian — an emperor of Illyrian descent, from Dalmatia. Other notable people from these areas in this period included the Christian Jerome, Saint Marinus (builder of San Marino), emperors Valentinian I and Valens, and Pope John IV.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Roman roads and the Illyrian population speaking Romance languages (such as Istro-Romanian or Dalmatian) remained. With the increasing amount of human migration, this population entrenched in the cities along the whole Dalmatian coast.

Lombards and Huns

Oton Iveković, The Croats arrival at the Adriatic Sea

The Lombards and the Huns made an incursion from the north. After 476 the area was subject to Odoacer and then to Ostrogoth rulers beginning with Theodoric the Great. Justinian I claimed the old province of Dalmatia to the Eastern Roman Empire in 535. Forebears of Croatia's current Slav population settled there in the seventh century following the Eurasian Avars, reportedly under instructions from Byzantine emperor Heraclius.

Medieval Croatian state

The Croats arrived in what is today Croatia in the seventh century. They organized into two dukedoms; the duchy of Pannonian Croatia in the north and the duchy of Littoral Croatia in the south. The biggest part of Christianization of the Croats ended in the ninth century]].

Croatian duke Trpimir I (845–864), founder of the Trpimirović dynasty, fought successfully against Bulgarians, and against Byzantine strategos in Zadar. He expanded his state in east to the Drava River. The first native Croatian ruler recognized by a pope was duke Branimir, whom Pope John VIII called dux Chroatorum in 879.

Kingdom of Croatia

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Pre-Romanesque Church of St. Donatus in Zadar, from the ninth century.

The first King of Croatia, Tomislav (910–928) of the Trpimirović dynasty, was crowned in 925. Tomislav, rex Chroatorum, united the Pannonian and Dalmatian duchies and created a sizeable state. He defeated Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I in the battle of the Bosnian Highlands. The mediæval Croatian kingdom reached its peak during the reign of King Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074).

Following the disappearance of the major native dynasty by the end of the eleventh centuryin the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, the Croats eventually recognized the Hungarian ruler Coloman as the common king for Croatia and Hungary in a treaty of 1102 (often referred to as the Pacta conventa).

Union with Hungary

The consequences of the change to the Hungarian king included the introduction of feudalism and the rise of the native noble families such as Frankopan and Šubić. The later kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by giving certain privileges to the towns. The primary governor of Croatian provinces was the ban.

The princes of Bribir from the Šubić family became particularly influential, asserting control over large parts of Dalmatia, Slavonia and Bosnia. Later, however, the Angevines intervened and restored royal power. They also sold the whole of Dalmatia to Venice in 1409.

As the Ottoman Empire incursion into Europe started, Croatia once again became a border area. The Croats fought an increasing number of battles and gradually lost increasing swaths of territory to the Ottoman Empire. The Battle of Krbava field (the field of blood), was fought between Croatia in union with Hungary and Ottoman forces on September 9, 1493, in southern Croatia. It resulted in the total defeat of the Croatian army led by Ban Mirko Derenčin.

Habsburg Empire, Venice, and the Ottomans

File:Bihac tvrdi grad AD 1590.jpg

Bihać fortified place of Croatia Kingdom.

The 1526 Battle of Mohács and the death of King Louis II of Hungary meant the end of Hungarian authority over Croatia, replaced by the Habsburg Monarchy, signed by Croatian nobles at Cetingrad assembly. The Ottoman Empire further expanded in the sixteenth century to include most of Slavonia, western Bosnia and Lika.

Later in the same century, large areas of Croatia and Slavonia adjacent to the Ottoman Empire were carved out into the Military Frontier (Vojna Krajina, German Militaergrenze) and ruled directly from Vienna military headquarters. The area became rather deserted and was subsequently settled by Serbs, Vlachs, Croats and Germans and others. As a result of their compulsory military service to the Habsburg Empire during conflict with the Ottoman Empire, the population in the Military Frontier was free of serfdom and enjoyed much political autonomy unlike the population living in the parts ruled by Hungary.

After the Bihać fort finally fell in 1592, only small parts of Croatia remained unconquered. The remaining 16,800 km² were referred to as the remnants of the remnants of the once great Croatian kingdom. The Ottoman army was successfully repelled for the first time on the territory of Croatia following the battle of Sisak in 1593. The lost territory was mostly restored, except for large parts of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Croats participated in the Thirty Years' War. They were remembered for their brutality throughout the Protestant world. One Protestant church in Aachen still has a saying about Croats, as they were remembered in common prayers of German people from that time: "God save us from hunger, Croats and plague!".

By the 1700s, the Ottoman Empire was driven out of Hungary and Croatia, and Austria brought the empire under central control. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria was supported by the Croatians in the War of Austrian Succession of 1741–1748 and subsequently made significant contributions to Croatian matters.

With the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, its possessions in eastern Adriatic became subject to a dispute between France and Austria. The Habsburgs eventually secured them (by 1815) and Dalmatia and Istria became part of the empire, though they were in Cisleithania while Croatia and Slavonia were under Hungary.

Croatian nationalism

Ban Josip Jelačić.

Croatian romantic nationalism emerged in mid-nineteenth century to counteract the apparent Germanization and Magyarization of Croatia. The Illyrian movement attracted a number of influential figures from 1830s on, and produced advances in the Croatian language and culture. The champion of the Illyrian movement was Ljudevit Gaj who also reformed and standardized the Croatian literary language.

Following the Revolutions of 1848 in Habsburg areas and the creation of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, Croatia lost its domestic autonomy, despite the contributions of its ban Josip Jelačić in quenching the Hungarian rebellion. Croatian autonomy was restored in 1868 with the Hungarian–Croatian Settlement, which was not particularly favorable for the Croatians.

Croatia in the first Yugoslavia

File:Stjepan Radic.jpg

Face of Stjepan Radić on Croatia's 200 kn bill.

Shortly before the end of the First World War in 1918, the Croatian Parliament severed relations with Austria-Hungary as the Little Entente armies defeated those of the Habsburgs. “Croatia and Slavonia” became a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs composed out of all Southern Slavic territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy with a transitional government headed in Zagreb. Although the state inherited much of Austro-Hungary's military arsenal, including the entire fleet, the Kingdom of Italy moved rapidly to annex the state's most western territories, promised by the Treaty of London of 1915. An Italian Army eventually took Istria, started to annex the Adriatic islands one by one, and even landed in Zadar.

After Srijem left Croatia and Slavonia and joined Serbia together with Vojvodina, which was shortly followed by a referendum to join Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia, the People's Council (Narodno vijeće) of the state, guided by what was by that time a half a century long tradition of pan-Slavism and without sanction of the Croatian sabor, joined the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The Kingdom underwent a crucial change in 1921 to the dismay of the Croatian political leadership led by the Croatian Peasant Party of Stjepan Radić. The new constitution abolished the historical/political entities, including Croatia and Slavonia centralizing authority in the capital of Belgrade. The Croatian Peasant Party boycotted the government of the Serbian Radical People's Party throughout the period, except for a brief interlude between 1925 and 1927, when external Italian expansionism was at hand with her allies, Albania, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria that threatened Yugoslavia as a whole.

In 1928, Radić was mortally wounded during a Parliament session by Puniša Račić, a deputy of the Serbian Radical People's Party, which caused further upsets among the Croatian elite. In 1929, King Alexander of Yugoslavia proclaimed a dictatorship and imposed a new constitution which, among other things, renamed the country into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1934, King Aleksandar was assassination abroad, in Marseilles, by a coalition of two radical groups: the Croatian Ustaše and the Macedonian pro-Bulgarian VMORO. The Serbian-Croatian Dragiša Cvetković-Vlatko Maček government that came to power, distanced Yugoslavia's former allies of France and the United Kingdom, and moved closer to Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in the period of 1935-1941. A national Banovina of Croatia was created in 1939 out of the two Banates, as well as parts of the Zeta, Vrbas Banovina, Drina Banovina and Danube Banates. It had a reconstructed Croatian Parliament which would choose a Croatian Ban and Viceban. This Croatia included a part of Bosnia (region), most of Herzegovina and the city of Dubrovnik and the surroundings.

World War II

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Ante Pavelić visiting Hitler at Berghof

The Axis powers’ occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941 allowed the Croatian radical right Ustaše to come into power, forming the "Independent State of Croatia", led by Ante Pavelić, who assumed the role of Poglavnik Nezavisne Drzave Hrvatske (i.e. Leader of the Independent State of Croatia). Following the pattern of other fascist puppet regime in Europe, the Ustashi enacted racial laws, formed eight concentration camps targeting minority Roma and Jewish populations.

The main targets for persecution, however, where the minority Serbs who were reasoned to be a trojan horse of Serbian expansionism and bore the brunt of retribution for the excesses of the Serb royal dictatorship of the first Yugoslavia. Coinciding with the Ustashi abuses, was the campaign by the Četnici who sought to ethnically cleanse parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia as part of the Stevan Moljevic plan. Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have been killed in this cycle of violence, that also include the Partisans, making the conflict as much a civil war as it was ethnic.

The all-Yugoslav communist anti-fascist partisan movement emerged in Croatia early in 1941, under the command of Croat-Slovene Josip Broz Tito, spreading quickly into the other parts of Yugoslavia. The movement was originally of Croat origin illustrating the ineffectiveness of Ustaše "independance" propaganda on the disgruntled population. Serbian royalist guerrilla Četnici were formed, but acted mainly against partisans rather than the occupying fascist forces.

By 1943, the Partisan resistance movement had gained the upper hand, against the odds, and in 1945, with the some help from the Soviet Red Army, expelled the Axis forces and local supporters. The ZAVNOH, state anti-fascist council of people's liberation of Croatia, functioned since 1944 and formed an interim civil government.

Following the defeat of the Independent State of Croatia at the end of the war a large number of soldiers and civilians (ranging from sympathisers, young conscripts, anti-communists, and ordinary serfs who were motivated by rumours of Partisan atrocities) attempted to flee in the direction of Austria hoping to surrender to British forces and be given refuge. They were instead interned by British forces and then returned to the Partisans. A large number of these persons were killed in what has come to be called the Bleiburg massacre.

Second Yugoslavia

Richard Nixon and Mrs Nixon, and President Josip Broz Tito and Mrs Broz, enroute to a dinner in President Tito's honor in 1971.

Croatia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945, which was run by Tito's Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Tito, himself a Croat, adopted a carefully contrived policy to manage the conflicting national ambitions of the Croats and Serbs.

Croatia was a Socialist Republic part of a six-part federation. Under the new communist system, private property was nationalized and the economy was based on a type of planned market socialism. The country underwent a rebuilding process, recovered from World War II, went through industrialization and started developing tourism.

The constitution of 1963 balanced the power in the country between the Croats and the Serbs, and alleviated the fact that the Croats were again in a minority. Trends after 1965, however, led to the Croatian Spring of 1970–1971, when students in Zagreb organized demonstrations for greater civil liberties and greater Croatian autonomy. The regime stifled the public protest and incarcerated the leaders, but this led to the ratification of a new Constitution in 1974, giving more rights to the individual republics.

In 1980, after Tito's death, economic, political, and ethnic difficulties started to mount and the federal government began to crumble. The crisis in Kosovo and, in 1986, the emergence of Slobodan Milošević in Serbia provoked a very negative reaction in Croatia and Slovenia. As communist hegemony was challenged throughout Central and Eastern Europe calls for free multi-party elections were becoming louder.

Croatian war of independence

FranjoTudman.

In 1990, the first free elections were held. A people's movement called the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won by a relatively slim margin against the reformed communist Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), led by Franjo Tuđman (former general in Tito's World War II anti-fascist Yugoslav Partisan movement) and Ivica Račan (former president of Croatia's branch of the Yugoslav Communist's League, the SKH ) respectively. However, Croatia's British-style first-past-the-post election system enabled Tuđman to form the government relatively independently. HDZ's intentions were to secure more independence for Croatia, contrary to the wishes of part of ethnic Serbs in the republic and official politics in Belgrade. The excessively polarized climate soon escalated into complete estrangement between the two nationalities and even sectarian violence.

In the summer of 1990, Serbs from the mountainous areas where they constitute a relative majority rebelled and formed an unrecognized "Autonomous Region of the Serb Krajina" (later the Republic of Serbian Krajina). Any intervention by the Croatian police was obstructed by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), mainly consisting of Serbs. The conflict culminated with the so-called "log revolution", when the so-called Krajina Serbs blocked the roads to the tourist destinations in Dalmatia.

After the Croatian government had declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991, the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) began military actions. Many Croatian cities, notably Vukovar and Dubrovnik, came under the attack of the Serbian forces. The Croatian Parliament cut remaining ties with Yugoslavia on October 8, 1991.

The civilian population fled the areas of armed conflict en masse: thousands of Croats moved away from the Bosnian and Serbian border, while thousands of Serbs moved towards it. In many places, masses of civilians were forced out by the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), which consisted mostly of conscripts from Serbia and Montenegro, and irregulars from Serbia, in what became known as ethnic cleansing. Ethnic Serbs in Croatian-dominated parts of Croatia were similarly forced out by the Croatian army and irregular forces.

The border city of Vukovar underwent a three month siege — the Battle of Vukovar — during which most of the city was destroyed and a majority of the population was forced to flee. The city fell to the Serbian forces on November 18, 1991. Some historians believe that the city could have been spared and defended, but was left to "fend for itself" to gain sympathy from the west.

Subsequent United Nations-sponsored cease-fires followed, and the warring parties mostly entrenched. The Yugoslav People's Army retreated from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina where the Bosnian War was just about to start. During 1992 and 1993, Croatia also handled estimated 700,000 refugees from Bosnia, mainly Bosnian Muslims.

Armed conflict in Croatia remained intermittent and mostly on a small scale until 1995. In early August, Croatia started Operation Storm and quickly reconquered most of the territories of "Republic of Serbian Krajina", leading to a mass exodus of the Serbian population. An estimated 90,000-350,000 Serbs fled shortly before, during and after the operation. As a result of this exodus, a few months later the war ended with the negotiation of the Dayton Agreement. A peaceful integration of the remaining Serbian-controlled territories in Eastern Slavonia was completed in 1998 under UN supervision. Most of the Serbs who fled from the former Krajina have not returned.

Tudman dies

President Tuđman died in late 1999. In February 2000, Stjepan Mesić was elected president, ending the HDZ's rule. The country underwent many liberal reforms beginning in 2000. An economic recovery as well as healing of many war wounds ensued and the country proceeded to become a member of several important regional and international organizations. The country has started the process of joining the European Union, but a perceived lack of co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia concerning the tracking down of the indicted general Ante Gotovina long formed difficulties. After Gotovina's capture on December 8, 2005, negotiations with the aim of Croatia joining the EU have started.

Government and politics

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President Stjepan Mesic.

File:Ivo Sanader - NATO2.png

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.

The politics of Croatia take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister of Croatia is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the Croatian parliament]] (Sabor). The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. It adopted its current constitution on December 22, 1990, and declared independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991.

The president (predsjednik) is the head of state, directly elected to a five-year term and is limited by the constitution to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president appoints the prime minister with the consent of the parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy. The president’s official residence is predsjednički dvori.

The Croatian parliament (sabor) is a unicameral legislative body. A second chamber, the "House of Counties", which was set up by the Constitution of 1990, was abolished in 2001. The number of sabor members can vary from 100 to 160; they are all elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The plenary sessions of the sabor take place from January 15 to July 15, and from September 15 to December 15.

The Croatian government]] (vlada) is headed by the prime minister who has two deputy prime ministers and 14 ministers in charge of particular sectors of activity. The executive branch is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies of the republic. The government's official residence is at Banski dvori.

Croatia has a three-tiered judicial system, consisting of the Supreme Court, county courts, and municipal courts. Court hearings are open, and judgments are made publicly, except in issues of privacy of the accused. Judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council, and judicial office is permanent (until 70 years of age). The president of the Supreme Court is elected for a four-year term by the Croatian Parliament at the proposal of the president. The Constitutional Court rules on matters regarding the Constitution. Since the 1991–1995 war, there is increased petty crime, and there are more beggars on the streets. Most are displaced peoples or refugees.

Croatia is divided into 21 counties (županija) and the capital Zagreb's city district (in italics below):

Military

Croatia’s military is officially called the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, and it consists of: ground forces, naval forces, and air and air defense forces. Total active duty members of the armed forces number 32,700, including about 8000 conscripts.

Reserves number 111,000 out of which 32,360 are on the first state of alert. Available males aged 16-49 number 1,081,135, of which 856,946 are technically fit for military service. Only male citizens are subject to compulsory military service at least until 2008/09. The Croatian military budget was approximately USD 1.1 billion in 1997 (a little more than 5 percent of GDP), but it has since been reduced significantly to 2 percent of GDP in 2007.

Foreign relations

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The Old Harbour at Dubrovnik's Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Croatian foreign policy has focused on entering the European Union and NATO. In order to gain access to European and trans-Atlantic institutions, it has had to undo many negative effects of the break-up of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the war that ensued, and improve and maintain good relations with its neighbors.

Key issues over the last decade have been the implementation of the Dayton Accords and the Erdut Agreement, non-discriminatory facilitation of the return of refugees and displaced persons from the 1991-95 war including property restitution for ethnic Serbs, resolution of border disputes with Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and general democratization.

Croatia has had an uneven record in these areas between 1996 and 1999 during the right-wing HDZ government, inhibiting its relations with European Union and the U.S. Improvement in these areas severely hindered the advance of Croatia's prospects for further Euro-Atlantic integration. Progress in the areas of Dayton, Erdut, and refugee returns were evident in 1998, but progress was slow and required intensive international engagement.

Croatia's unsatisfactory performance implementing broader democratic reforms in 1998 raised questions about the ruling party's commitment to basic democratic principles and norms. Areas of concern included restrictions on freedom of speech, one-party control of public TV and radio, repression of independent media, unfair electoral regulations, a judiciary that is not fully independent, and lack of human rights and civil rights protection.

A centre-left coalition government was elected in early 2000. The SDP-led government slowly relinquished control over public media companies and did not interfere with freedom of speech and independent media, though it didn't complete the process of making Croatian Radiotelevision independent. Judiciary reforms remained a pending issue as well.

Foreign relations were severely affected by the government's hesitance and stalling of the extradition of Croatian general Janko Bobetko to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and inability to take general Ante Gotovina into custody for questioning by the Court.

Economy

File:Eurotower 2.jpg

The Eurotower - the newest skyscraper in Zagreb and modern low floor tram produced in Croatia.

In an economy traditionally based on agriculture and livestock, peasants comprised more than half of the Croatian population until after World War II. Pre-1945 industrialization was slow and centered on textile mills, sawmills, brickyards, and food-processing plants. Rapid industrialization and diversification occurred after World War II. Decentralization came in 1965, allowing growth of certain sectors, like the large tourist industry. Profits from Croatian industry were used to develop poorer regions in the former Yugoslavia. This, coupled with austerity programs and hyperinflation in the 1980s, led to discontent in both Croatia and Slovenia that fueled the independence movement.

Before the dissolution of Socialist Federal Republic 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. Privatization under the new Croatian Government had barely begun when war broke out. As a result of the Croatian War of Independence, the economic infrastructure sustained massive damage in the period 1991-92.

By the end of the 1990s, Croatia faced considerable economic problems stemming from:

• the legacy of long-time communist mismanagement of the economy;
• damage during the internecine fighting to bridges, factories, power lines, buildings, and houses;
• the large refugee and displaced population, both Croatian and Bosnian
• the disruption of economic ties; and
• mishandled privatization

Inflation and unemployment rose and the Croatian kuna fell, prompting the national bank to tighten fiscal policy. A new banking law passed in December 1998 gave the central bank more control over Croatia's 53 remaining commercial banks. Croatia is dependent on international debt to finance the deficit. A recently issued Euro-denominated bond was well received, selling $300-million, which helped offset economic losses from the Kosovo crisis.

Despite the successful value-added tax program, planned privatization of state controlled businesses, and a revised budget with a 7 percent across that board cut in spending, the government still projected a $200-million deficit for 1999.

Western aid and investment, especially in the tourist and oil industries, is helping restore the economy. The government has been successful in some reform efforts — partially macroeconomic stabilization policies — and it has normalized relations with its creditors.

The recession that began at the end of 1998 continued through most of 1999, and GDP in 1999 was flat. Inflation remained in check and the kuna was stable. However, consumer demand was weak and industrial production decreased. Structural reform lagged and problems of payment arrears and a lack of banking supervision continued.

Due to the upcoming elections, the HDZ government promised two salary increases to public-sector employees before the end of the year which increased the fiscal deficit.

The death of President Franjo Tuđman in December 1999, and the defeat of his ruling Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ party in parliamentary and presidential elections in January 2000 ushered in a new government committed to economic reform and halting the economic decline.

The Ivica Račan government carried out a large number of structural reforms and with tourism as the main factor, the country emerged from recession in 2000. Due to overall increase in stability, the economic rating of the country improved and interest rates dropped. As a result of coalition politics and resistance from the unions and the public, many reforms are still overdue, especially in the legal system.

Unemployment reached a peak of circa 22 percent in late 2002 due to many overdue bankruptcies. It has since been steadily decreasing, powered by growing industrial production and rising gross domestic product rather than only seasonal changes (tourism).

File:HNB2.jpg

The Croatian National Bank.

Tourism is a notable source of income during the summer. With over 10 million foreign tourists a year (as of 2006), Croatia is ranked as the 18th major tourist destination in the world.

Since the end of the communist regime, state-owned property has been transferred to private ownership. There have been difficulties with homes confiscated by the government and occupied by people other than their former owners for long periods of time. The occupants of government-owned apartments have the option to buy their homes. Government-owned industries have been transferred to private ownership.

The country has applied for membership in the European Union. During the accession, it is expected that agricultural policy will be the biggest stumbling block, as with other recent applicant countries.

Exports totalled $11.17-billion in 2006. Export commodities included transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, and fuels. Export partners included Italy 21.8 percent, Bosnia and Herzegovina 14.7 percent, Germany 10.7 percent, Slovenia 8.1 percent, and Austria 7.3 percent. Imports totalled $21.79-billion in 2006. Import commodities included machinery, transport and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants; and foodstuffs. Import partners included Italy 15.9 percent, Germany 14.9 percent, Russia 9.1 percent, Slovenia 6.8 percent, Austria 5.8 percent, China 4.7 percent, and France 4.2 percent.

Per capita GDP (purchasing power parity) was $14,368 in 2007, a rank of 53rd on the IMF list of 170 nations. Eleven percent of the population were below the poverty line 2003. The unemployment rate was officially 17.2 percent.

Other international rankings include: The United Nations Human Development Index, ranked 44 out of 177 countries; The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 55 out of 157 countries; Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, ranked 69 out of 163 countries; and Reporters Without Borders Worldwide press freedom index 2006, ranked 53 out of 168 countries.

Demographics

Split, the largest and most important city in Dalmatia.

The population of Croatia, estimated at 4,555,000 in 2007, has been stagnating over the last decade. The 1991–1995 war in Croatia had previously displaced large parts of the population and increased emigration. Some Croats who fled the country during the war are returning. Average life expectancy is 74.68 years.

Ethnicity and religion

Croatia is inhabited mostly by Croats (89.9 percent). There are around 20 minorities, Serbs being the largest one (4.5 percent) and others having less than 0.5 percent each.

The census of 1991 was the last one held before the war in Croatia, marked by ethnic conflict between Serbs and Croats. In the ethnic and religious composition of population of Croatia of that time, those two sets of numbers are quoted as important:

• Croats 78.1 percent, Catholics 76.5 percent'
• Serbs 12.2 percent , Orthodox Christians 11.1 percent

There were also people who declared themselves Yugoslavs, but who would in recent censuses register as Serbs or others.

There were two major sets of population movements during this period - the first one during the earlier stage of the war, around 1991, and the second one during the later stage of the war, around 1995. The first movement peaked at around 550,000 on the Croatian side; the second movement peaked at around 200,000 on the Serbian side.

After the end of the war of the 1990s and everything else that it entailed, the numbers were:

• Croats 89.6 percent, Catholics 87.8 percent
• Serbs 4.5 percent, Orthodox Christians 4.4 percent

Most Croat refugees have since returned to their homes, while two thirds of the Serbs remain in exile; the other third either returned or had remained in Zagreb and other parts of Croatia not directly hit by war.

The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism (87.8 percent), with some Eastern Orthodoxy (4.4 percent) and Sunni Muslim (1.3 percent) minorities.

Language

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St Mark's Church, Zagreb.

The official and common language, Croatian, is a South Slavic language, using the Latin alphabet. Less than 5 percent of the population cites other languages as their mother tongues. The Croatian language has three dialects. From 1945 to 1991, the official language was Serbo-Croatian, although Croats often referred to their language as Croato-Serbian. Croatian and Serbian forms of the language have different dialects, and different alphabets. Since independence, Croatian and Serbian have been declared separate languages. Croatian and related Southern Slav languages are modern forms of the languages of the Slavic peoples who migrated into the region around 500 C.E. Under the Hapsburgs, urban Croats spoke German, and Latin was the official language of government.

Men and women

Rural women traditionally worked with men on the farm, prepared meals, processed food for storage, kept the house, did laundry, and cared for the children. Under the communist regime, women were encouraged into the workforce, and most women continue to expect to have a job or career. Grandfathers traditionally spend time with grandchildren, and fathers help raise children. Gender differences are more apparent among farmers and the working classes than among professionals.

Marriage and the family

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Glavni Kolodvor, the Central railway station on King Tomislav Square, Zagreb.

Couples arrange their own marriages, and have usually developed a serious relationship before they meet each other's families. People of the same nationality, religion, educational level, and social status tend to marry. Most marry in their early 20s, monogamy is the rule, divorce is increasingly common, and pregnancy before marriage is not uncommon.

While three-generation households were the norm, young people increasingly want privacy. A housing shortage means young married couples live with parents or a grandparent. Resident grandparents care for small children, although day care and kindergartens are available. The elderly are cared for at home, although nursing homes are available. Traditionally, only sons inherited, and daughters were given a dowry. By the twenty first century, usually one child in a family inherits the family home, which he or she lives in, while family wealth is distributed equally among all the sons and daughters. Infants are cared for at home, mainly by the mother.

Education

File:Zg sveuciliste.jpg

Zagreb University.

Pre-school, primary, and secondary education is free and available to all. Primary and lower secondary education between the ages of six and 15 is compulsory. Secondary education after 15 is optional. Individuals who do not plan to go to university usually attend a secondary school to prepare for work. Secondary curricula include college preparatory general education, technical education (mechanical training), and specialized education (bookkeeping or office skills). In 2000, 195,638 children were enrolled in primary schools, and in 2000–2001, 415,522 were attending secondary schools. Approximately 98.1 per cent of the population over the age of 15 can read and write.

People value higher education. The republic has 61 institutions of higher education, including four universities located in Zagreb (founded 1669), Split (1974), Rijeka (1973), and Osijek (1975), and three polytechnic institutes. In 2001–2002 there were some 112,537 students in higher education. In 1999–2000 total spending on education amounted to 4.3 per cent of GNP.

There are also a number of scientific institutes, including the Institute "Ruđer Bošković" in Zagreb that excels in physics, or the Energy Institute "Hrvoje Požar" also in Zagreb. The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb is a learned society promoting language, culture, and science from its first conception in 1836.

The Roman Catholic Church was instrumental in the founding of many educational facilities in Croatia. The Church continues to maintain numerous seminaries and theological faculties in the country, as well as the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome for Croatian students in Rome.

Class

There was traditionally an unofficial class system based on one's family name and professional status rather than wealth, but this was superseded by Communist Party membership during the communist era. Since then, material wealth, such as a house or apartment in a city, an automobile, a vacation house, and international travel, indicates status. City dwellers have higher status than people from villages. Croatian and Jewish families are likely to have high status, while Albanians are at the bottom of the social system, and Gypsies are outside it.

Culture

Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, around which the Croatian city of Split emerged.

Diocletian's Palace viewed from the south.

The Arena (colosseum) in Pula

Croatia has a long artistic, literary and musical tradition. UNESCO has marked six places in Croatia as World Heritage Sites: The Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, the cathedral of St. Jacob in Šibenik, the historic city of Trogir, the historic complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian, the old city of Dubrovnik, and Plitvice Lakes. Croatia also has a place in the history of clothing as the origin of the necktie (cravat).

Architecture

One of Croatia’s best Roman architectural remains is Diocletian's Palace, built in Split, by the emperor Diocletian between the third and the fourth century C.E.. At the time it was built, there was no such city of Split, and the original town was built around the palace. Another well-known Roman relic is the well preserved amphitheatre in Pula, Istria.

The Euphrasian Basilica is a minor basilica in Poreč. The basilica, entitled to the Virgin Mary, was built in the in the sixth century during the period of Bishop Euphrasius. It was built from 553 over the site of an older basilica, which had a nave and two aisles, and dated back to the fourth century]]. The basilica contains some particularly beautiful Byzantine wall mosaics.

The Adriatic islands contain over 13 centuries of Croatian architectural history. Croatian coastal towns contain a mixture of Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. There are numerous less glamorous traditional stone houses with red tiled roofs that stand along the Adriatic coast, standing along with architectural gems of the past and the modern hotel complexes of the late twentieth century.

Trogir has a preserved castle and tower and a series of dwellings and palaces from the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Trogir's grandest building is the church of St. Lawrence, whose main west portal is a masterpiece by Radovan, and the most significant work of the Romanesque-Gothic style in the country.

The best preserved among fortified medieval towns are Korcula and Dubrovnik. The Islands of Hvar and Korcula were both Venetian naval strongholds and at different times housed the Venetian Arsenal.

The most important public place in Croatian daily life is the café. People meet in cafes rather than their homes, which are small and crowded.

Art

Croatian paintings date from the eleventh century. The movement of Croatian Naive Art or self-taught artists is Croatia's twentieth century contribution to the world of fine arts. Notable artists from this group include Ivan Lackovic-Croata, Ivan Generalic and Ivan Rabuzin. The most famous Croatian sculptor is Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962), who created the wooden Madonna and Child. His sculptures can be found in town squares throughout Croatia.

Cuisine

File:Stockfisch am Trockengestell.jpg

For Christmas, Croats traditionally eat bakalar cod.

Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier proto-Slavic and the more recent contacts with Hungarian, Viennese and Turkish cuisine, while the coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine - Italian and French.

A large body of books bears witness to the high level of gastronomic culture in Croatia, which in European terms dealt with food in the distant past, such as the Gazophylacium by Belostenec, a Latin-Kajkavian dictionary dating from 1740 that preceded a similar French dictionary. There is also Beletristic literature by Marulić, Hektorović, Držić and other writers, down to the work written by Ivan Bierling in 1813 containing recipes for the preparation of 554 various dishes (translated from the German original), and which is considered to be the first Croatian cookbook.

Croatian cuisine can be divided into a few regions which all have their specific cooking traditions, characteristic for the area and not necessarily well-known in other parts of Croatia. This is also why the varied cuisine of Croatia is called "cuisine of the regions".

• Slavonia: spicy cuisine with many Hungarian influences, many meat and game dishes
• Hrvatsko Zagorje and Međimurje: famous sweets and dumplings
• Middle Croatia: home-made cheese, heavy roast dishes, strong Ottoman influences
• Istria: light food with many herbs, truffle dishes and Italian influences
• Dalmatia: Mediterranean cuisine with many Italian influences, paradise for lovers of fresh fish

Etiquette

Croatians stand close to one another and talk loudly, and strangers stare openly at one another. Language and behavior is formal when people do not know each other well. Friends greet each other more informally and usually kiss on both cheeks. Men and women kiss, women and women kiss, and men kiss other men who are family members or very close associates.

Literature

The Croatian nobility left a legacy of poetry and translations. The famous playwright Marin Drzic (1508-67) helped raise the literary level of the language. The novelist, playwright and poet Miroslav Krleza is known for his works The Return of Philip Latinowicz (1932) and the multi-volume Banners (1963-65), which concerns Croatian life at the turn of the century. Vesna Parun is a well-known contemporary poet.

Music and dance

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Croatian National Theatre.

Croatian dances are physically demanding, as dancers sing while they perform brisk and lively movements. The kolo is a circle dance in which men and women dance to the music of violins or the tambura, a three- or five-string mandolin. Guitars and accordions are other common folk instruments. Zagreb hosts an International Folklore Festival. Croatia has a strong tradition of classical music, and Ivo Pogorelich is an internationally known concert pianist.

Sports

Since independence Croatia has been a fairly successful sporting country. The most popular team sports have been football (soccer), along with handball, basketball and to some extent water polo. The most popular sports played mainly by individuals are tennis, skiing, swimming and to some extent table tennis and chess.

Croatia is in the process of rapidly modernising and expanding its sporting arenas, as it prepares to host the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship. The nation's arenas are primarily used for handball and basketball games.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Banac, Ivo. 1984. The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801416752
• Pavol Demes and Joerg Forbrig (eds.). Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe. German Marshall Fund, 2007. ISBN 978-80-969639-0-4
• Dubinskas, Frank A. 1983. Performing Slavonian folklore: the politics of reminiscence and recreating the past. Thesis (Ph. D.)—Stanford University, 1983. OCLC 11337760
• Eterovich, Francis H. 1976. Croatia: land, people, culture. Toronto: Published for the Editorial Board by University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802031226
• Guldescu, Stanko. 1964. History of medieval Croatia. The Hague: Mouton. OCLC 924708
• West, Richard. 1995. Tito: and the rise and fall of Yugoslavia. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786702028
• Crampton, Richard, and Misha Glenny. 2001. The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-1999. The New York Review of Books. 48 (1):14. ISSN 0028-7504

External links

• Croatia Countries and Their Cultures, accessed June 26, 2007.
• Croatia World Factbook 2007, accessed July 2, 2007.
• Croatia BBC Country Profiles, accessed July 2, 2007.
• Croatia U.S. Department of State, accessed July 2, 2007.
• Croatia - basic facts Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed July 2, 2007.
• Croatia - overview of history, culture, and science Accessed July 2, 2007.
• Croatia Directory of attractions in Croatia, accessed July 2, 2007.

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