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

• controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits;
• most Adriatic Sea islands lie off the coast of Croatia - some 1,200 islands, islets, ridges, and rocks

noun:

Croat(s), Croatian(s)

adjective:

Croatian

at birth:

1.055 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases:

tickborne encephalitis

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

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

name:

Zagreb

geographic coordinates:

45 48 N, 16 00 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• Independence Day, 8 October (1991);
• note - 25 June 1991 was the day the Croatian parliament voted for independence;
• following a three-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

chief of state:

President Ivo JOSIPOVIC (since 18 February 2010)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Jadranka KOSOR (since 6 July 2009);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Bozidar PANKRETIC (since 6 July 2009), Darko MILINOVIC (since 13 November 2009), Domagoj Ivan MILOSEVIC (since 29 December 2010), Petar COBANKOVIC (since 29 December 2010), Slobodan UZELAC (since 12 January 2008), Gordan JANDROKOVIC (since 29 December 2010)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the parliamentary assembly; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 10 January 2010 (next to be held in December 2015);
• the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president and then approved by the assembly

election results:

Ivo JOSIPOVIC elected president; percent of vote in the second round - Ivo JOSIPOVIC 60%, Milan BANDIC 40%

• Supreme Court;
• Constitutional Court;
• judges for both courts are appointed for eight-year terms by the Judicial Council of the Republic, which is elected by the Assembly

• Croatian Democratic Congress of Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Vladimir SISLJAGIC];
• Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Jadranka KOSOR];
• Croatian Laborists-Labor Party [Dragutin LESAR];
• Croatian Party of the Right or HSP [Ante STARCEVIC];
• Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Josip FRISCIC];
• Croatian Pensioner Party or HSU [Silvano HRELJA];
• Croatian People's Party or HNS [Radimir CACIC];
• Croatian Pure Party of the Right or HCSP [Ruza TOMASIC];
• Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Darinko KOSOR];
• Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Vojislav STANIMIROVIC];
• Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC];
• Kukuriku Coalition (consists of SDP, HNS, IDS, and HSU) [Zoran MILANOVIC];
• Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Zoran MILANOVIC]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC

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 James B. FOLEY

embassy:

2 Thomas Jefferson Street, 10010 Zagreb

mailing address:

use street address

telephone:

[385] (1) 661-2200

FAX:

[385] (1) 661-2373

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue - the Pan-Slav colors - superimposed by the Croatian coat of arms;
• the coat of arms consists of one main shield (a checkerboard of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields) surmounted by five smaller shields that form a crown over the main shield;
• the five small shields represent five historic regions, they are (from left to right):
  • Croatia,
  • Dubrovnik,
  • Dalmatia,
  • Istria,
  • and Slavonia

note: the Pan-Slav colors were inspired by the 19th-century flag of Russia

name:

"Lijepa nasa domovino" (Our Beautiful Homeland)

lyrics/music:

Antun MIHANOVIC/Josip RUNJANIN

note: adopted 1972; "Lijepa nasa domovino," whose lyrics were written in 1835, served as an unofficial anthem beginning in 1891

agriculture:

5%

industry:

31.3%

services:

63.6% (2008)

lowest 10%:

3.3%

highest 10%:

27.5% (2008 est.)

• machinery, transport and electrical equipment;
• chemicals, fuels and lubricants;
• foodstuffs

general assessment:

the telecommunications network has improved steadily since the mid-1990s; local lines are digital

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity holding steady at about 40 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions exceed the population

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 2 fiber-optic trunk connections with Slovenia and a fiber-optic trunk line from Rijeka to Split and Dubrovnik;
• the ADRIA-1 submarine cable provides connectivity to Albania and Greece (2009)

• the national state-owned public broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), operates 2 terrestrial TV networks, a satellite channel that rebroadcasts programs for Croatians living abroad, and 6 regional TV centers;
• 2 private broadcasters operate national terrestrial networks;
• about 15 privately-owned regional TV stations;
• multi-channel cable and satellite TV subscription services are available;
• state-owned public broadcaster operates 3 national radio networks and a number of regional radio stations;
• 2 privately-owned national radio networks and a large number of regional, county, city, and community radio stations (2007)

total:

2,722 km

country comparison to the world: 60

standard gauge:

2,722 km 1.435-m gauge (985 km electrified) (2009)

• Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske, OSRH), consists of five major commands directly subordinate to a General Staff: Ground Forces (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM; includes coast guard), Air Force and Air Defense Command, Joint Education and Training Command, Logistics Command;
• Military Police Force supports each of the three Croatian military forces (2011)

• 18-27 years of age for voluntary military service;
• 16 years of age with parental consent;
• 6-month service obligation;
• conscription abolished 1 January 2008 (2010)

males age 16-49:

1,016,234

females age 16-49:

1,017,355 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

770,710

females age 16-49:

839,732 (2010 est.)

male:

28,334

female:

27,015 (2010 est.)

• dispute remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement;
• 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 unratified and in dispute;
• Slovenia also protests Croatia's 2003 claim to an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic;
• as a European Union peripheral state, Slovenia imposed a hard border Schengen regime with non-member Croatia in December 2007

• 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 (2008)