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: 56,538 sq km
land : 56,410 sq km
water: 128 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries:
total: 2,197 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro 266 km (241 km with Serbia; 25 km with Montenego), Slovenia 670 km

Coastline: 5,790 km (mainland 1,778 km, islands 4,012 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 coast, 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

Land use:
arable land: 24%
permanent crops: 2%
other: 74% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 30 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent and 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; widespread casualties and destruction of infrastructure in border areas affected by civil strife

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification

Geography - note: controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits

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
male: 70.52 years
female: 77.96 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.93 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Croat(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: Serbo-Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czechoslovak, and German)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population : 97%
male: 99%
female: 95% (1991 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Croatia
conventional short form: Croatia
local long form: Republika Hrvatska
local short form: Hrvatska

Data code: HR

Government type: presidential/parliamentary democracy

National 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 appointed by the president
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
elections: Assembly - last held 2-3 January 2000 (next to be held in the fall of 2003)
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

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: CCC, CE, CEI, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ivan GRDESIC
chancery: 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-5899
FAX : [1] (202) 588-8936
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Lawrence G. ROSSIN
embassy: Andrije Hebranga 2, Zagreb
mailing address: US Embassy, Zagreb, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5080
telephone: [385] (1) 455-55-00
FAX : [385] (1) 455-85-85

Flag description: red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered)

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.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 5% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
total : 1.7 million (2001)
by occupation: iagriculture 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 - capacity: 3.59 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production:10.578 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 12.638 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, vegetables; livestock breeding, dairy farming

Exports:
total value : $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities: transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
partners: Italy 24%, Germany 15%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 12%, Slovenia 9%, Austria 5.8% (2001 est.)

Imports:
total value:$8.4 billion (c.i.f., 2001)
commodities: machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs
partners : Italy 17%, Germany 16.9%, Slovenia 7.9%, Russia 7.5%, Austria 7% (2001 est.)

Debt - external: $11 billion (2001)

Economic aid:
recipient : ODA, $NA
note: IMF has given Croatia $192 million; World Bank has given Croatia $100 million

Currency: 1 Croatian kuna (HRK) = 100 lipas

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

Telephones: 1,721,139 (2000)

Telephone system:
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)

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 perennially navigable; Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and debris)

Pipelines: crude oil 670 km; petroleum products 20 km; natural gas 310 km (1992); note - under repair following territorial dispute

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
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
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m:4
under 914 m : 8 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7 (1996 est.)
under 914 m: 37 (2001)

Heliports: 1 (2001)

Military branches: Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HV), Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Force

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: 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.)

Disputes - international: Eastern Slavonia, which was held by ethnic Serbs during the ethnic conflict, is currently being overseen by the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia; reintegration of Eastern Slavonia into Croatia will occur in 1997; Croatia and Italy have not resolved a bilateral issue dating from WWII over property and ethnic minority rights; maritime border dispute with Slovenia over direct access to the sea in the Adriatic; the border issue is currently under negotiation; Serbia and Montenegro is disputing Croatia's claim to the Prevlaka Peninsula in southern Croatia because it controls the entrance to Kotor Bay in Montenegro; Prevlaka is currently under observation by the UN military observer mission in Prevlaka (UNMOP) 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; a minor transit point for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe