Quick Overview & Facts of Hrvatska [RF 5]
Geography
Area: 56,542 sq. km. land area (slightly smaller than West Virginia), 31,067 sq. km. coastal sea area.
Major cities (2011): Capital--Zagreb (792,875). Others--Split (178,192), Rijeka (128,735), Osijek (107,784).
Terrain: Croatia is situated between Central and Eastern Europe. Its terrain is diverse, containing rocky coastlines, densely wooded mountains, plains, lakes, and rolling hills.
Climate: Croatia has a mixture of climates. In the north it is continental, Mediterranean along the coast, and a semi-highland and highland climate in the central region.
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Constitution: Adopted December 22, 1990; last amended June 16, 2010.
Independence (from Yugoslavia): June 25, 1991.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet of ministers. Legislative--unicameral Parliament or Sabor. Judicial--three-tiered system.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Economy (Croatian National Bank, December 2011)
GDP (2010): $60.8 billion.
GDP per capita: $13,700.
Real GDP growth (2011): 0.7%.
Inflation rate (2011): 2.1%.
Unemployment rate (average for 2011): 17.9%.
Natural resources: Oil, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower.
Area: 56,542 sq. km. land area (slightly smaller than West Virginia), 31,067 sq. km. coastal sea area.
Major cities (2011): Capital--Zagreb (792,875). Others--Split (178,192), Rijeka (128,735), Osijek (107,784).
Terrain: Croatia is situated between Central and Eastern Europe. Its terrain is diverse, containing rocky coastlines, densely wooded mountains, plains, lakes, and rolling hills.
Climate: Croatia has a mixture of climates. In the north it is continental, Mediterranean along the coast, and a semi-highland and highland climate in the central region.
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Constitution: Adopted December 22, 1990; last amended June 16, 2010.
Independence (from Yugoslavia): June 25, 1991.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet of ministers. Legislative--unicameral Parliament or Sabor. Judicial--three-tiered system.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Economy (Croatian National Bank, December 2011)
GDP (2010): $60.8 billion.
GDP per capita: $13,700.
Real GDP growth (2011): 0.7%.
Inflation rate (2011): 2.1%.
Unemployment rate (average for 2011): 17.9%.
Natural resources: Oil, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower.
The People & Brief History [RF 5] & [RF 15]
6th Century:
1400's - 1800's:
1990's and the Yugoslav Wars (the Third Balkan War):
21st Century:
- The present day Croats were a Slavic people who migrated from the Ukraine.
- Croat experienced a brief period of self-rule under an independent kingdom. The Pacta Conventa was signed in 1091, submitting the Croat Kingdom under Hungarian rule.
1400's - 1800's:
- In the mid-1400s, with the Ottoman expansion closing in, the Croatian Assembly to invited the Habsburgs, under the leadership of Archduke Ferdinand, to assume rule over Croatia. The Habsburg rule proved effective in thwarting the Ottomans, and by the 18th century, much of Croatia was free from Turkish grasp.
- Croatia gained domestic autonomy under Hungarian authority.
- Following the war Croatia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes that later became Yugoslavia in 1929.
- German and Italian Fascist regimes set up a puppet in Yugoslavia. They ruled a nominally-independent Croat State. "This regime, under the hard-line nationalist Croatian Ustasha party, was responsible for the deaths of large numbers of ethnic Serbs, Jews, Roma, and other civilians in a network of concentration camps. It was eventually defeated by the Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito ... The pro-Yugoslav Partisans included many ethnic groups, including a large number of Croatians, and were supplied in large part by the United States and the United Kingdom. Yugoslavia changed its name once again after World War II. The new state became the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia and united Croatia and several other republics together under the communist leadership of Marshal Tito."
1990's and the Yugoslav Wars (the Third Balkan War):
- After the death of Tito in 1980 and the fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe, Croatia held its first multi-party elections since World War II in 1990. Croatian nationalist, Franjo Tudjman, was elected President. In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic came to supreme power from Serbia. he quickly began to dissolve any predated autonomy's such as Kosovo and acquire more power and military strength while promoting heavy nationalism. Nationalism being his answer to the diminishing state of the country of Yugoslavia. In this way a spiral of competitive and mutually fearful nationalisms began to destroy the country. Politicians seeking power exploited old historical divisions within the country - Serbs versus Croats, Orthodox Christians versus Catholics versus Muslims, and so on. Just one year later, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. Conflicts spread between Serbs and Croats in Croatia. The conflicts escalated drastically and one month after Croatia declared independence, the Yugoslav Army intervened and war erupted.
- The United Nations mediated a cease-fire in January 1992, however hostilities quickly resumed the next year as Croatia fought to regain a third of the territory lost in the fighting during the previous year. A second cease-fire was established in May 1993 and a joint declaration in 1994 between Croatia and Yugoslavia. However, in September 1993, the Croatian Army led an offensive against the Serb-held self-styled "Republic of Krajina." In March of 1994 a third cease-fire issued and then promptly broken in May and August 1995; after Croatian forces regained large portions of the Krajina and prompting a Serb exodus from the area. Croatia agreed in 1995 to peacefully reintegrate Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Sirmium under terms of the Erdut Agreement. Towards the end of 1995, Croatia signed the Dayton peace agreement, committing to a permanent cease-fire and the return of all refugees. In 1998 the Croatian government re-established political and legal authority over the previously aforementioned territories.
21st Century:
- "The death of President Tudjman in December 1999, followed by the election of a coalition government and President Stjepan Mesic in early 2000, brought significant changes to Croatia. The government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ivica Racan, progressed in implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords, regional cooperation, refugee returns, national reconciliation, and democratization."