Croatia

About Croatia

Background:

The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. In January 2008, Croatia assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2008-09 term, and in April 2009 it joined NATO. Croatia is a candidate for eventual EU accession.

PEOPLE

Population:
4,489,409 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 121

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) (2001 census)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.9%, none 5.2% (2001 census)

Languages:
Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census)

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:
name: Zagreb
geographic coordinates: 45 48 N, 16 00 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Independence:
25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue - the Pan-Slavic colors - superimposed by the Croatian coat of arms; the coat of arms consists of one main shield (a checkerboard of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields) surmounted by five smaller shields that form a crown over the main shield; the five small shields represent five historic regions, they are (from left to right): Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia

ECONOMY

Economy - overview:
Once one of the wealthiest of the Yugoslav republics, Croatia's economy suffered badly during the 1991-95 war as output collapsed and the country missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Between 2000 and 2007, however, Croatia's economic fortunes began to improve slowly, with moderate but steady GDP growth between 4% and 6% led by a rebound in tourism and credit-driven consumer spending. Inflation over the same period has remained tame and the currency, the kuna, stable. Nevertheless, difficult problems still remain, including a stubbornly high unemployment rate, a growing trade deficit and uneven regional development. The state retains a large role in the economy, as privatization efforts often meet stiff public and political resistance. 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. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform. While long term growth prospects for the economy remain strong, Croatia will face significant pressure as a result of the global financial crisis. Croatia's high foreign debt, anemic export sector, strained state budget, and over-reliance on tourism revenue will result in higher risk to economic stability over the medium term.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$79.23 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 75
$83.57 billion (2008 est.)
$81.61 billion (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$17,600 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 70
$18,600 (2008 est.)
$18,200 (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

Budget:
revenues: $20.99 billion
expenditures: $22.35 billion (2009 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.4% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 76
6.1% (2008 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

Exports:
$10.57 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 80
$14.36 billion (2008 est.)

Imports:
$22.1 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 64
$30.42 billion (2008 est.)

Exchange rates:
kuna (HRK) per US dollar - 5.4331 (2009), 4.98 (2008), 5.3735 (2007), 5.8625 (2006), 5.9473 (2005)