Background: 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 bitter fighting ensued with occupying Serb armies.

Map reference:

Area
Total: total: 56,538 km²

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 5,790 km (mainland 1,778 km, islands 4,012 km)
Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 12 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
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

Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt

Land use
Arable land: 32%
Permanent crops: 20%
Meadows and pastures: 18%
Forest and woodland: 15%
Other: 15%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Population: 4,694,398 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 0.07% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Croat(s)
Adjective: Croatian

Ethnic groups:

Languages: Serbo-Croatian 96%, other 4%
Total population: NA%
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

Religions: Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Slavic Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 1.4%, others and unknown 9.8%

Population growth rate: 0.07% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 11.38 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Environment
Current issues: air pollution from metallurgical plants; damaged forest; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; subject to frequent and destructive earthquakes
Current issues note:

Infant mortality rate: 9 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 73.19 years
Male: 69.7 years
Female: 76.89 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.66 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Croatia
Conventional short form: Croatia
Local long form: Republika Hrvatska
Local short form: Hrvatska

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Zagreb

Administrative divisions:

Independence: NA June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)

National holiday: Statehood Day, 30 May (1990)

Constitution: adopted on 2 December 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal

Executive branch: president, prime minister, deputy prime ministers, cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Parishes (Zupanije Dom) and a lower house or Chamber of Deputies (Predstavnicke Dom)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Peter A. SARCEVIC
In the us chancery: 2,356 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20,036
In the us telephone: (202) 543-5,586
From the us chief of mission: (vacant)
From the us embassy: Andrije Hebranga 2, Zagreb
From the us mailing address: AMEMB Unit 25,402, APO AE 9,213-5,080
From the us telephone: 38 (41) 444-800
From the us fax: 38 (41) 440-235

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 roughly comparable to that of Portugal and perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. Croatian Serb Nationalists control approximately one third of the Croatian territory, and one of the overriding determinants of Croatia's long-term political and economic prospects will be the resolution of this territorial dispute. Croatia faces monumental problems stemming from: the legacy of longtime Communist mismanagement of the economy; large foreign debt; damage during the fighting to bridges, factories, powerlines, buildings, and houses; the large refugee population, both Croatian and Bosnian; and the disruption of economic ties to Serbia and the other former Yugoslav republics, as well as within its own territory. At the minimum, extensive Western aid and investment, especially in the tourist and oil industries, would seem necessary to salvage a desperate economic situation. However, peace and political stability must come first. As of June 1993, fighting continues among Croats, Serbs, and Muslims, and national boundaries and final political arrangements are still in doubt.

Real gdp growth rate: -25% (1991 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $5,600 (1991 est.)

Agriculture products: Croatia normally produces a food surplus; most agricultural land in private hands and concentrated in Croat-majority districts in Slavonia and Istria; much of Slavonia's land has been put out of production by fighting; wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflowers, alfalfa, and clover are main crops in Slavonia; central Croatian highlands are less fertile but support cereal production, orchards, vineyards, livestock breeding, and dairy farming; coastal areas and offshore islands grow olives, citrus fruits, and vegetables

Industries: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum reduction, paper, wood products (including furniture), building materials (including cement), textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food processing and beverages

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate -29% (1991 est.)

Labor force: 1,509,489
By occupation industry and mining: 37%
By occupation agriculture: 16% (1981 est.)
By occupation government: NA%

Unemployment rate: 20% (December 1991 est.)

Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports
Commodoties: machinery and transport equipment 30%, other manufacturers 37%, chemicals 11%, food and live animals 9%, raw materials 6.5%, fuels and lubricants 5%
Partners: principally the other former Yugoslav republics

Imports: $4.4 billion (1990)
Commodoties: machinery and transport equipment 21%, fuels and lubricants 19%, food and live animals 16%, chemicals 14%, manufactured goods 13%, miscellaneous manufactured articles 9%, raw materials 6.5%, beverages and tobacco 1%
Partners: principally other former Yugoslav republics

Exchange rates: Croatian dinar per US $1 - 60.00 (April 1992)

Electricity
Production: 3,570,000 kW capacity; 11,500 million kWh produced, 2,400 kWh per capita (1992)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 337-393 billion Croatian dinars, NA% of GDP (1993 est.), note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Airports: 75
Usable: 72
With permanentsurface runways: 15
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 10
With runways 1220-2439 m: 5

Pipelines: crude oil 670 km, petroleum products 20 km, natural gas 310 km (1992; note - now disrupted because of territorial dispute

Waterways: 785 km perennially navigable

Merchant marine:

Disputes international: Serbian enclaves in eastern Croatia and along the western Bosnia and Herzegovinian border; dispute with Slovenia over fishing rights in Adriatic