Western Sahara (2008) | Croatia (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 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: 45.4% (male 88,176/female 85,421)
15-64 years: 52.3% (male 98,345/female 101,895) 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 3,705/female 5,075) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.6% (male 383,729; female 364,287)
15-64 years: 67% (male 1,497,525; female 1,515,956) 65 years and over: 16.4% (male 277,616; female 457,756) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish | wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products |
Airports | 9 (2007) | 68 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2007) |
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: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 37 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 56,542 sq km
land: 56,414 sq km water: 128 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly smaller than West Virginia |
Background | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. In April 2007, Morocco presented an autonomy plan for the territory to the UN, which the U.S. considers serious and credible. The Polisario also presented a plan to the UN in 2007. Since August 2007, representatives from the Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front have met three times to negotiate the status of Western Sahara, with a fourth round of negotiations planned for March 2008. | 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 | NA 39.95 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 9.51 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues: $12.76 billion
expenditures: $14.31 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
Capital | none
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Zagreb |
Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast |
Coastline | 1,110 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: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
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 |
Currency | - | kuna (HRK) |
Death rate | NA | 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $23.56 billion (2003 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | 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 | none | 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 | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals; several states have extended diplomatic relations to the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" represented by the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; most of the approximately 102,000 Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria | discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina over disputed territory around Kostajnica on the Una River and villages at the base of Mount Pljesevica; 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 controversial, has not been ratified, and has been complicated by Croatia's declaration of an ecological-fisheries zone in the Adriatic Sea |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | ODA $66 million (2000) |
Economy - overview | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. Incomes in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. The Moroccan Government controls all trade and other economic activities in Western Sahara. Morocco and the EU signed a four-year agreement in July 2006 allowing European vessels to fish off the coast of Morocco, including the disputed waters off the coast of Western Sahara. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. However, in 2006 the Polisario awarded similar exploration licenses in the disputed territory, which would come into force if Morocco and the Polisario resolve their dispute over Western Sahara. | 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 over 13 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 over 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 | 79.05 million kWh (2005) | 14.27 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 386 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 3.386 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 85 million kWh (2005) | 12.12 billion kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m |
Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | 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: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | Arab, Berber | 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 | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.2827 (2007), 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003) | kuna per US dollar - 6.7035 (2003), 7.8687 (2002), 8.34 (2001), 8.2766 (2000), 7.1124 (1999) |
Executive branch | none | 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 Andrija HEBRANG (since 23 December 2003) 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); prime minister nominated by the president in line with the balance of power in the Assembly election results: Stjepan MESIC reelected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 66%, Jadranka KOSOR (HDZ) 34% |
Exports | 0 bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels |
Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006) | Italy 26.1%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 14.6%, Germany 12%, Slovenia 8.3%, Austria 7.9% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | - | red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered) |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $47.05 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: 40% |
agriculture: 7.9%
industry: 30% services: 62.1% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $10,600 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 4.3% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 45 10 N, 15 30 E |
Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits |
Heliports | - | 1 (2003 est.) |
Highways | - | total: 28,123 km
paved: 23,792 km (including 410 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,331 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 23.3% (1998) |
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 | 1,698 bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006) | Italy 17.9%, Germany 15.7%, Slovenia 7.4%, Austria 6.6%, France 5.3%, Russia 4.7% (2003) |
Independence | - | 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 3.9% (2003 est.) |
Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | 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: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 6.96 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.03 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 1.8% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | none | 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 | NA | 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 | 12,000 | 1.69 million (2003) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 50%
industry and services: 50% |
agriculture 13.2%, industry 25.4%, services 46.4% (2002) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
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: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2005) |
arable land: 26.09%
permanent crops: 2.27% other: 71.65% (2001) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) |
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: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 74.14 years
male: 70.21 years female: 78.29 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.5% male: 99.4% female: 97.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia |
Map references | Africa | Europe |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 51 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 750,579 GRT/1,178,786 DWT
by type: bulk 16, cargo 14, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 5, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea/passenger 3 foreign-owned: Hong Kong 3, Russia 1 registered in other countries: 44 (2004 est.) |
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 | - | $520 million (2002 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.39% (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,100,132 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 873,994 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 30,639 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | - | Statehood Day, 25 June (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)
adjective: Croatian |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility | destructive earthquakes |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | 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 (2004 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]; 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 STRANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Zlatko BENASIC]; Party of Liberal Democrats or Libra [Jozo RADOS]; Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 382,617
note: estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility, mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data from neighboring countries (July 2007 est.) |
4,496,869 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | NA | -0.02% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj, Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland waterway port on Danube), Zadar |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999) |
Railways | - | total: 2,726 km
standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (984 km electrified) (2003) |
Religions | Muslim | Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, others and unknown 6.2% (2001) |
Sex ratio | NA | 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 (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed) |
Telephone system | general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
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 | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 1.825 million (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 2.553 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands |
Total fertility rate | NA | 1.39 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 19.5% (2003) |
Waterways | - | 785 km (2004) |