Croatia

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

• more of the population lives in the northern half of the country, with approximately a quarter of the populace residing in and around the capital of Zagreb;
• many of the islands are sparsely populated

• 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

note: the French designation of "Croate" to Croatian mercenaries in the 17th century eventually became "Cravate" and later came to be applied to the soldiers' scarves - the cravat; Croatia celebrates Cravat Day every 18 October

total:

45.1 years (2024 est.)

male:

43.2 years

female:

47 years

• more of the population lives in the northern half of the country, with approximately a quarter of the populace residing in and around the capital of Zagreb;
• many of the islands are sparsely populated

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.71 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

total:

8.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)

male:

8.2 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

8.7 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

77.7 years (2024 est.)

male:

74.6 years

female:

81 years

total:

9.64 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

4.75 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

3.52 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

1.37 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.36 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

36.9% (2020 est.)

male:

37.6% (2020 est.)

female:

36.1% (2020 est.)

• air pollution improving but still a concern in urban settings and in emissions arriving from neighboring countries;
• surface water pollution in the Danube River Basin

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

urban population:

58.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.05% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

15.29 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

17.49 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

3.98 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

1.654 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

269,933 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

16.3% (2015 est.)

municipal:

460 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

700 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

80 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

total global geoparks and regional networks:

3 (2024)

global geoparks and regional networks:

• Biokovo-Imotski Lakes;
• Papuk;
• Vis Archipelago (2024)

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

etymology:

name derives from the Croats, a Slavic tribe who migrated to the Balkans in the 7th century A.D.

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

etymology:

• the name seems to be related to "digging";
• archeologists suggest that the original settlement was established beyond a water-filled hole or graba and that the name derives from this;
• za in Slavic means "beyond";
• the overall meaning may be "beyond the trench (fault, channel, ditch)"

• 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia);
• 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;
• notable earlier dates: ca. 925 (Kingdom of Croatia established);
• 1 December 1918 (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) established)

• civil law system influenced by legal heritage of Austria-Hungary;
• note - Croatian law was fully harmonized with the European Community acquis as of the June 2010 completion of EU accession negotiations

history:

several previous; latest adopted 22 December 1990

amendments:

• proposed by at least one fifth of the Assembly membership, by the president of the republic, by the Government of Croatia, or through petition by at least 10% of the total electorate;
• proceedings to amend require majority vote by the Assembly;
• passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly;
• passage by petition requires a majority vote in a referendum and promulgation by the Assembly;
• amended several times, last in 2014

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Croatia

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Zoran MILANOVIC (since 18 February 2020)

head of government:

Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC (since 19 October 2016)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 22 December 2019 with a runoff on 5 January 2020 (next to be held in 2024);
• the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president and approved by the Assembly

election results:

2019: Zoran MILANOVIC elected president in second round; percent of vote in second round - Zoran MILANOVIC (SDP) 52.7%, Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 47.3%;

• 2015: Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC elected president in second round;
• percent of vote in second round - Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 50.7%, Ivo JOSIPOVIC (Forward Croatia Progressive Alliance) 49.3%

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of the court president and vice president, 25 civil department justices, and 16 criminal department justices)

judge selection and term of office:

• president of Supreme Court nominated by the president of Croatia and elected by the Sabor for a 4-year term;
• other Supreme Court justices appointed by the National Judicial Council;
• all judges serve until age 70

subordinate courts:

• Administrative Court;
• county, municipal, and specialized courts;
• note - there is an 11-member Constitutional Court with jurisdiction limited to constitutional issues but is outside of the judicial system

• Bosniaks Together
• The Bridge or MOST (formerly the Bridge of Independent Lists)
• Croatia Romani Union Kali Sara (SRRH)
• Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ
• Democratic Union of Hungarians in Croatia (DZMH)
• Focus or Fokus
• Homeland Movement or DP (also known as Miroslav Škoro Homeland Movement or DPMS)
• Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS
• Independent Platform of the North (NPS)
• Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS
• Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP
• We Can! or Mozemo!

chief of mission:

Ambassador Nathalie RAYES (since 25 January 2024)

embassy:

Ulica Thomasa Jeffersona 2, 10010 Zagreb

mailing address:

5080 Zagreb Place, Washington DC 20521-5080

telephone:

[385] (1) 661-2200

FAX:

[385] (1) 665-8933

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://hr.usembassy.gov/

• 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 (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 in 1972 while still part of Yugoslavia; "Lijepa nasa domovino," whose lyrics were written in 1835, served as an unofficial anthem beginning in 1891

total World Heritage Sites:

10 (8 cultural, 2 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• Plitvice Lakes National Park (n);
• Historic Split (c);
• Old City of Dubrovnik (c);
• Euphrasian Basilica;
• Historic Trogir (c);
• Šibenik Cathedral (c);
• Stari Grad Plain (c);
• Zadar and Fort St. Nikola Venetian Defense Works (c);
• Primeval Beech Forests (n);
• Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards (c)

• tourism-based economy that was one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 economic disruptions;
• newest euro user since 2023, helping recover from a 6-year recession;
• public debt increases due to COVID-19 and stimulus packages;
• weak exports;
• continuing emigration;
• new liquefied natural gas import terminal

Fitch rating:

BBB- (2019)

Moody's rating:

Ba1 (2020)

Standard & Poors rating: BBB- (2019)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

agriculture:

3% (2023 est.)

industry:

18.8% (2023 est.)

services:

61.2% (2023 est.)

note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

total:

19.2% (2023 est.)

male:

17.3% (2023 est.)

female:

22.3% (2023 est.)

note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

on food:

19.3% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

7.7% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.1% (2021 est.)

highest 10%:

22.3% (2021 est.)

note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

consumption:

702,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

exports:

1,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

imports:

702,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

total petroleum production:

11,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

70,000 bbl/day (2022 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

71 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

741.456 million cubic meters (2022 est.)

consumption:

2.502 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

exports:

1.038 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

imports:

3.006 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

proven reserves:

24.919 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• the mobile market is served by three MNOs, supplemented by a number of MVNOs;
• the network operators have focused on improving ARPU by encouraging prepaid subscribers to migrate to postpaid plans, and on developing revenue from mobile data services;
• 5G services are widely available, though the sector will only show its full potential later in 2021 following the award of licenses in several bands;
• this will contribute towards the government’s national broadband plan to 2027, which is tied to the EC’s two allied projects aimed at providing gigabit connectivity by the end of 2025;
• the broadband sector benefits from effective competition between the DSL and cable platforms, while there are also numerous fiber deployments in urban areas;
• the number of FttP subscribers broached 134,000 in March 2021. (2021)

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity 31 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions are 108 per 100 (2021)

international:

• country code - 385;
• the ADRIA-1 submarine cable provides connectivity to Albania and Greece;
• digital international service is provided through the main switch in Zagreb;
• Croatia participates in the Trans-Asia-Europe 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 (2019)

• the national state-owned public broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision, operates 4 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;
• 29 privately owned regional TV stations;
• multi-channel cable and satellite TV subscription services are available;
• state-owned public broadcaster operates 4 national radio networks and 23 regional radio stations;
• 2 privately owned national radio networks and 117 local radio stations (2019)

number of registered air carriers:

2 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 18

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

2,093,577 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

530,000 (2018) mt-km

total ports:

16 (2024)

large:

2

medium:

0

small:

6

very small:

8

ports with oil terminals:

8

key ports:

Bakar, Dubrovnik, Omisalj, Rijeka Luka, Rovinj, Sibenik, Split, Zadar

refugees (country of origin):

24,525 (Ukraine) (as of 29 February 2024)

stateless persons:

2,889 (2022)

note: 843,010 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-September 2023)