Pacific Ocean (2008) | Croatia (2005) | |
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: 16.4% (male 378,615/female 359,231)
15-64 years: 67% (male 1,497,355/female 1,514,993) 65 years and over: 16.6% (male 283,460/female 462,250) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products |
Airports | - | 68 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 23
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: 9 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 37 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 155.557 million sq km
note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
total: 56,542 sq km
land: 56,414 sq km water: 128 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world | slightly smaller than West Virginia |
Background | The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south. | 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. |
Birth rate | - | 9.57 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $14.14 billion
expenditures: $15.65 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | - | Zagreb |
Climate | planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December | Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast |
Coastline | 135,663 km | 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km) |
Constitution | - | adopted on 22 December 1990; revised 2000, 2001 |
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 |
Death rate | - | 11.38 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $26.4 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Ralph FRANK
embassy: 2 Thomas Jefferson, 10010 Zagreb mailing address: use street address telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200 FAX: [385] (1) 661-2373 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Neven JURICA
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 |
Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small disputed sections of the boundary; 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, remains un-ratified and in dispute; as a European Union peripheral state, neighboring Slovenia must conform to the strict Schengen border rules to curb illegal migration and commerce through southeastern Europe while encouraging close cross-border ties with Croatia |
Economic aid - recipient | - | ODA $166.5 million (2002) |
Economy - overview | The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings. | 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 a mild recession in 2000 with tourism, banking, and public investments leading the way. Unemployment remains high, at about 14 percent, with structural factors slowing its decline. 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. Growth, while impressively about 4% for the last several years, has been achieved through high fiscal and current account deficits. The government is gradually reducing a heavy back log of civil cases, many involving land tenure. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 15.2 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | - | 406 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | - | 3.966 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | - | 12.51 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m
highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m |
Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea | 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 |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | - | Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, and Roma) (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | - | kuna per US dollar - 6.0358 (2004), 6.7035 (2003), 7.8687 (2002), 8.34 (2001), 8.2766 (2000) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: President Stjepan (Stipe) MESIC (since 18 February 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ivo SANADER (since 9 December 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Jadranka KOSOR (since 23 December 2003) and Damir POLANEC (since NA February 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the parliamentary Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 16 January 2005 (next to be held January 2010); the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president and then approved by the Assembly election results: Stjepan MESIC reelected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 66%, Jadranka KOSOR (HDZ) 34% |
Exports | - | NA |
Exports - commodities | - | transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels |
Exports - partners | - | Italy 23%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 13.4%, Germany 11.4%, Austria 9.6%, Slovenia 7.6% (2004) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | - | red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 8.2%
industry: 30.1% services: 61.7% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $11,200 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 3.7% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 0 00 N, 160 00 W | 45 10 N, 15 30 E |
Geography - note | the major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean | controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits |
Heliports | - | 1 (2004 est.) |
Highways | - | total: 28,344 km
paved: 23,979 km (including 455 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,365 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 24.5% (2003 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 |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | - | Italy 17.1%, Germany 15.5%, Russia 7.3%, Slovenia 7.1%, Austria 6.9%, France 4.4% (2004) |
Independence | - | 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 2.7% (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 |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 6.84 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.79 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 2.5% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ABEDA, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNOCI, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | - | 30 sq km (1998 est.) |
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 Assembly |
Labor force | - | 1.71 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 2.7%, industry 32.8%, services 64.5% (2004) |
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 |
Land use | - | arable land: 26.09%
permanent crops: 2.27% other: 71.65% (2001) |
Languages | - | Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census) |
Legal system | - | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added in the November 2003 parliamentary elections; members elected from party lists by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Assembly - last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in 2007) election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; number of seats by party - HDZ 66, SDP 34, HSS 10, HNS 10, HSP 8, IDS 4, Libra 3, HSU 3, SDSS 3, other 11 note: minority government coalition - HDZ, DC, HSLS, HSU, SDSS |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 74.45 years
male: 70.79 years female: 78.31 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.5% male: 99.4% female: 97.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia |
Map references | Political Map of the World | Europe |
Maritime claims | - | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 73 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 750,579 GRT/1,178,786 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 12, chemical tanker 2, passenger/cargo 25, petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1) registered in other countries: 31 (2005) |
Military branches | - | Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM), Air and Air Defense Forces (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo i Protuzrakoplovna Obrana, HRZiPZO) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $620 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.39% (2002 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 8 October (1991); note - 25 June 1991 is the day the Croatian Parliament voted for independence; following a 3-month moratorium to allow the European Community to solve the Yugoslav crisis peacefully, Parliament adopted a decision on 8 October 1991 to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia |
Nationality | - | noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)
adjective: Croatian |
Natural hazards | surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December | destructive earthquakes |
Natural resources | oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish | oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | 1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 1,340 km; oil 583 km (2004) |
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 Pensioner Party or HSU [Vladimir JORDAN]; Croatian People's Party or HNS [Vesna PUSIC] (in 2005 party merged with Libra to become Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats or NS-LD [Vesna PUSIC]); Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Ivan CEHOK]; Croatian True Revival Party or HIP [Miroslav TUDJMAN]; Democratic Centre or DC [Vesna SKARE-OZBOLT]; Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Vojislav STANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Zlatko BENASIC]; Party of Liberal Democrats or Libra [Jozo RADOS] (in 2005 merged with HNS); Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | NA |
Population | - | 4,495,904 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 11% (2003) |
Population growth rate | - | -0.02% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Omisalj, Ploce, Rijeka, Sibenik, Vukovar (on Danube) |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999) |
Railways | - | total: 2,726 km
standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (984 km electrified) (2004) |
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) |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed) |
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: country code - 385; 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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 1.825 million (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 2.553 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995) |
Terrain | surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest | geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Transportation - note | Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state) | - |
Unemployment rate | - | 13.8% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | - | 785 km (2004) |