Main page Compare countries Index countries Index fields

Query:
##ciekawa_strona##

Compare Croatia (2003) - European Union (2004)

Compare Croatia (2003) z European Union (2004)

 Croatia (2003)European Union (2004)
 CroatiaEuropean Union
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 -
Age structure 0-14 years: 18.3% (male 415,873; female 394,414)


15-64 years: 66.1% (male 1,465,488; female 1,454,778)


65 years and over: 15.6% (male 258,943; female 432,752) (2003 est.)
0-14 years: 16.3%


15-64 years: 67.2%


65 years and over: 16.6% (July 2004 est.)
Agriculture - products wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes, dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, fish
Airports 59 (2002) total: 3,130


with paved runways: 1,834


with unpaved runways: 1,296 (2003)
Airports - with paved runways total: 16


over 3,047 m: 2


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 9 (2002)
-
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 43


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 8


under 914 m: 34 (2002)
-
Area total: 56,542 sq km


land: 56,414 sq km


water: 128 sq km
total: 3,976,372 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than West Virginia less than one-half the size of the US
Background 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. Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all of Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.

The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since.

In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined to the EU, raising the membership total to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gives member states two years to ratify the document before it is scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006.

Despite the expansion of membership and functions, "Eurosceptics" in various countries have raised questions about the erosion of national cultures and the imposition of a flood of regulations from the EU capital in Brussels. Failure by member states to ratify the constitution or the inability of newcomer countries to meet euro currency standards might force a loosening of some EU agreements and perhaps lead to several levels of EU participation. These "tiers" might eventually range from an "inner" core of politically integrated countries to a looser "outer" economic association of members.
Birth rate 12.76 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) 10.2 births/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Budget revenues: $8.6 billion


expenditures: $9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
-
Capital Zagreb Brussels, Belgium
Climate Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south
Coastline 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km) 65,413.9 km
Constitution adopted on 22 December 1990 based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastrict) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gives member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it is scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006
Country name conventional long form: Republic of Croatia


conventional short form: Croatia


local long form: Republika Hrvatska


local short form: Hrvatska
-
Currency kuna (HRK) euro; pound (Cyprus), koruna (Czech Republic), krone (Denmark), kroon (Estonia), forint (Hungary), lat (Latvia), litas (Lithuania), lira (Malta), zloty (Poland), koruna (Slovakia), tolar (Slovenia), krona (Sweden), pound (UK)
Death rate 11.25 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) 10 deaths/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Debt - external $16.5 billion (yearend 2002 est.) $NA
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Ralph FRANK


embassy: Thomasa Jeffersona 2, 10010 Zagreb


mailing address: use street address


telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200


FAX: [385] (1) 661-2373
chief of mission: Ambassador Rockwell SCHNABEL


embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat (Rue Zinner), B-1000 Brussels


mailing address: same as above


telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222


FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
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: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON


chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037


telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500


FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Disputes - international discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina on sections of the Una River and villages at the base of Mount Pljesevica; parliamentarians are far from ratifying the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia; in late 2002, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro adopted an interim agreement to settle the disputed Prevlaka Peninsula, allowing the withdrawal of the UN monitoring mission (UNMOP), but discussions could be complicated by the inability of Serbia and Montenegro to come to an agreement on the economic aspects of the new federal union; Croatia and Italy continue to debate bilateral property and ethnic minority rights issues stemming from border changes after the Second World War -
Economic aid - donor - $NA
Economic aid - recipient ODA $66 million (2000) -
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. Opponents fear reforms would cut jobs, wages, and social benefits. The government has a heavy backload of civil cases, many involving tenure land. The country is likely to experience only moderate growth without disciplined fiscal and structural reform. Domestically, the European Union attempts to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income (from $10,000 to $28,000) and historic national animosities, the European Community faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, both Germany and France since 2003 have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004, the EU admitted 10 central and eastern European countries that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the existing 15. The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), an associated organization, introduced the euro as the common currency on 1 January 1999. The UK, Sweden, and Denmark do not now participate; the 10 new countries may choose to join the EMU when they meet its fiscal and monetary criteria and the member states so agree.
Electricity - consumption 14.27 billion kWh (2001) 2.635 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports 386 million kWh (2001) 234.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports 3.386 billion kWh (2001) 245.7 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production 12.12 billion kWh (2001) 2.822 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: 33.6%


hydro: 66%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0.4% (2001)
-
Elevation extremes lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m


highest point: Dinara 1,830 m
lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m


highest point: Mount Blanc, France/Italy 4,807 m
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 NA
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
Hazardous Wastes, Biodiversity, Air Pollution, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94, Ozone Layer Protection, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Law of the Sea, Desertification, Climate Change; has signed, but not yet ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Ethnic groups Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, Bosniak 0.5%, Hungarian 0.4%, Slovene 0.3%, Czech 0.2%, Roma 0.2%, Albanian 0.1%, Montenegrin 0.1%, others 4.1% (2001) -
Exchange rates kuna per US dollar - 7.87 (2002), 8.34 (2001), 8.28 (2000), 7.11 (1999), 6.36 (1998) euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)
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), Ante SIMONIC (since 30 July 2002), Zeljka ANTUNOVI (since 27 January 2000), Slavko LINIC (since 27 January 2000)


cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the House of Representatives


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


election results: Stjepan MESIC elected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 56%, Drazen BUDISA (HSLS) 44%


note: government coalition - SDP, HSLS, HSS, LP, HNS; a sixth party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), withdrew in June 2001
chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)


cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas)


elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments; the president-designate then chooses the other Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; election last held 18 November 2004 (next to be held 2009)


election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449-149 with 82 abstentions


note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least twice a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines
Exports NA (2001) 6.429 million bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports - partners Italy 22.4%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 14.4%, Germany 12.5%, Slovenia 8%, Austria 7.3% (2002) NA
Fiscal year calendar year NA
Flag description red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered) on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
GDP purchasing power parity - $43.12 billion (2002 est.) purchasing power parity - $11.05 trillion (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 9%


industry: 33%


services: 58% (2002 est.)
agriculture: 2.3%


industry: 28.3%


services: 69.4% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $9,800 (2002 est.) purchasing power parity - $25,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 5.2% (2002 est.) 1% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates 45 10 N, 15 30 E -
Geography - note controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits -
Heliports 1 (2002) 94 (2003)
Highways total: 28,123 km


paved: 23,792 km (including 410 km of expressways)


unpaved: 4,331 km (2000)
total: 4,634,810 km (including 56,704 km of expressways)


paved: 4,161,318 km


unpaved: 473,492 km (1999-2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 3.7%


highest 10%: 23.3% (1998)
lowest 10%: 2.9%


highest 10%: 25.2% (1995 est.)
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 -
Imports NA (2001) 16.97 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners Italy 16.8%, Germany 16.4%, Slovenia 7.8%, Russia 6.8%, Austria 6.7%, France 5.2% (2002) NA
Independence 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia) 7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
Industrial production growth rate 2.8% (2002 est.) 0.8% (2004 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 among the world's largest and most technologically advanced industries, including iron and steel, aluminum, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, aircraft, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools, electronics, telecommunications equipment, fishing, food processing, furniture, paper, textiles and clothing, tourism
Infant mortality rate total: 6.92 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 7.78 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 6.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
total: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births (July 2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2.2% (2002 est.) 2% (2004 est.)
International organization participation BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMOGIP, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue member), EBRD, IDA, OAS (observer), OECD, WTO


European Commission: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, G-10, NSG (observer), UN (observer)


European Central Bank: BIS


European Investment Bank: WADB (nonregional member)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 9 (2000) -
Irrigated land 30 sq km (1998 est.) 115,807 sq km
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 European Court of Justice (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied correctly) - 25 Justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 11 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 25 justices appointed for a six-year term
Labor force 1.7 million (2001) 211.1 million
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 13.2% NA, industry 25.4% NA, services 46.4% NA (2002) agriculture 4.3%, industry 29%, services 66.8% (2000)
Land boundaries total: 2,197 km


border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro (north) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south) 25 km, Slovenia 670 km
total: 11,214.8 km


border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania 443 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km


note: data for European Continent only
Land use arable land: 23.55%


permanent crops: 2.24%


other: 74.21% (1998 est.)
arable land: NA


permanent crops: NA
Languages Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are listed
Legal system based on civil law system -
Legislative branch unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added in the November Parliamentary elections; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - House of Counties was abolished in March 2001


elections: Assembly - last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in 2007)


election results: Assembly (then referred to as the House of Representatives) - percent of vote by party - HDZ 43.4%, SDP 23%, HNS 7.4%, HSS 6.57%, HSP 6%; seats by party - HDZ 66, SDP 34, HNS 10, HSS 9, HSP 7; note - these are preliminary results
Council of the European Union (25 member-state ministers having 321 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; European Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population); members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term


elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009)


election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28
Life expectancy at birth total population: 74.37 years


male: 70.76 years


female: 78.2 years (2003 est.)
total population: 78.1 years


male: 74.9 years


female: 81.4 years (July 2004 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 98.5%


male: 99.4%


female: 97.8% (2003 est.)
-
Location Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia Europe between Eastern Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean
Map references Europe Europe
Maritime claims continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation


territorial sea: 12 NM
NA
Merchant marine total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 765,830 GRT/1,188,948 DWT


ships by type: bulk 14, cargo 16, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 5, multi-functional large-load carrier 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 6, short-sea passenger 3


note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 1 (2002 est.)
-
Military - note - In October 2004, the European Union heads of government signed a "constitutional treaty" that offers possibilities - with some limits - for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, in a process that may take some two years, this treaty will in effect make operational the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a European military planning unit is likely to continue. So is creation of a rapid-reaction military force and a humanitarian aid system, which the planning unit will support. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade and the Multinational Command Support Brigade and will command EUFOR, which will take over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Other troop contributions are under national command - committments to provide 67,100 troops were made at the Helsinki EU session in 2000. Some 56,000 EU troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. As of November 2004, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France had proposed creation of three 1,500-man rapid-reaction "battle groups."
Military branches Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HV), Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $520 million (2002 est.) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 2.39% (2002 est.) -
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 1,081,135 (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 856,946 (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - military age 19 years of age (2003 est.) -
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 30,096 (2003 est.) -
National holiday Statehood Day, 25 June (1991) Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert Schuman proposed the creation of an organized Europe
Nationality noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)


adjective: Croatian
-
Natural hazards destructive earthquakes flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Natural resources oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish
Net migration rate 1.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) 1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)
Pipelines gas 1,374 km; oil 583 km (2003) -
Political parties and leaders Croatian Bloc or HB [Ivic PASALIC]; Croatian Christian Democratic Union or HKDU [Anto KOVACEVIC]; Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Ivo SANADER]; Croatian Party of Rights or HSP [Anto DJAPIC]; 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]; Democratic Centre or DC [Mate GRANIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Ivo BANAC]; Party of Liberal Democrats or LIBRA [Goran GRANIC]; 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
Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Hans-Gert POETTERING]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
Political pressure groups and leaders NA -
Population 4,422,248 (July 2003 est.) 456,285,839 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% NA
Population growth rate 0.31% (2003 est.) 0.17% (July 2004 est.)
Ports and harbors Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj, Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland waterway port on Danube), Zadar Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Bremen (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia)
Radio broadcast stations AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999) AM 866, FM 13,396, shortwave 73 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Railways total: 2,296 km


standard gauge: 2,296 km 1.435-m gauge (983 km electrified) (2002)
total: 222,293 km


broad gauge: 28,438 km


standard gauge: 186,405 km


narrow gauge: 7,427 km


other: 23 km (2003)
Religions Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, others and unknown 6.2% (2001) Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
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 (2003 est.)
at birth: NA


under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female


total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (July 2004 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed) 18 years of age; universal
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)
note - see individual country entries of member states
Telephones - main lines in use 1,721,139 (2000) 238,763,162 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular 1.3 million (2001) 314,644,700 (2002)
Television broadcast stations 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995) 2,791 (1995); note - does not include repeaters; sum of indiviual country television broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Terrain geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Total fertility rate 1.93 children born/woman (2003 est.) 1.48 children born/woman (July 2004 est.)
Unemployment rate 21.7% (2002 est.) 9.1% (2004 est.)
Waterways 785 km


note: (perennially navigable; large sections of Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and debris)
53,512 km
Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.