Croatia

• Mediterranean and continental;
• continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters;
• mild winters, dry summers along coast

• 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

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

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.)

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.)

noun:

Croat(s), Croatian(s)

adjective:

Croatian

conventional long form:

Republic of Croatia

conventional short form:

Croatia

local short form:

Hrvatska

local long form:

Republika Hrvatska

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 NA July 2002), 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

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%

• 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

• 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

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ivan GRDESIC

FAX:

[1] (202) 588-8936

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

telephone:

[1] (202) 588-5899

chancery:

2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

chief of mission:

Ambassador Lawrence G. ROSSIN

embassy:

Andrije Hebranga 2, Zagreb 10000

mailing address:

use street address

telephone:

[385] (1) 661-2200

FAX:

[385] (1) 661-2373

lowest 10%:

4%

highest 10%:

23% (1998)

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)

total:

2,726 km

standard gauge:

2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (NA electrified) (2000)

total:

28,009 km

paved:

23,695 km (including 330 km of expressways)

unpaved:

4,314 km (2001)

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 Kong 1 (2002 est.)

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

• 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 Serbia and Montenegro 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

• 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