1993 Edition

Area

total area: 56,538 km2 land area: 56,410 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Climate

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

Coastline

5,790 km (mainland 1,778 km, islands 4,012 km)

Environment

air pollution from metallurgical plants; damaged forest; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; subject to frequent and destructive earthquakes

International disputes

Serbian enclaves in eastern Croatia and along the western Bosnia and Herzegovinian border; dispute with Slovenia over fishing rights in Adriatic

Irrigated land

NA km2

Land boundaries

total 1,843 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina (east) 751 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina (southeast) 91 km, Hungary 292 km, Serbia and Montenegro 254 km (239 km with Serbia; 15 km with Montenego), Slovenia 455 km

Land use

arable land: 32% permanent crops: 20% meadows and pastures: 18% forest and woodland: 15% other: 15%

Location

Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Map references

Africa, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt

Note

controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits

Terrain

geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coast, coastline, and islands

Birth rate

11.38 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

10.73 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Croat 78%, Serb 12%, Muslim 0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovenian 0.5%, others 8.1%

Infant mortality rate

9 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

1,509,489 by occupation: industry and mining 37%, agriculture 16% (1981 est.), government NA%, other

Languages

Serbo-Croatian 96%, other 4%

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 73.19 years male: 69.7 years female: 76.89 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Croat(s) adjective: Croatian

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

4,694,398 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

0.07% (1993 est.)

Religions

Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Slavic Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 1.4%, others and unknown 9.8%

Total fertility rate

1.66 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Administrative divisions

100 districts (opcine, singular - opcina) Beli Manastir, Biograd (Biograd Na Moru), Bielovar, Bjelovar, Brac, Buje, Buzet, Cabar, Cakovec, Cazma, Cres Losinj, Crikvenica, Daruvar, Delnice, Djakovo (Dakovo), Donja Stubica, Donji Lapac, Dordevac, Drnis, Dubrovnik, Duga Resa, Dugo Selo, Dvor, Garesnica, Glina, Gospic, Gracac, Grubisno Polje, Hvar, Imotski, Ivanec, Ivanic-Grad, Jastrebarsko, Karlovac, Klanjec, Knin, Koprivnica, Korcula, Kostajnica, Krapina, Krizevci, Krk, Kutina, Labin, Lastovo, Ludbreg, Makarska, Metkovic, Nova Gradiska, Novi Marof, Novska, Obrovac, Ogulin, Omis, Opatija, Orahovica, Osijek, Otocac, Ozalj, Pag, Pazin, Petrinja, Ploce (Kardeljevo), Podravska Slatina, Porec, Pregrada, Pukrac, Pula, Rab, Rijeka, Rovinj, Samobor (part of Zagreb), Senj, Sesvete, Sibenik, Sinj, Sisak, Slavonska Pozega, Slavonski Brod, Slunj, Split (Solin, Kastela), Titova Korenica, Trogir, Valpovo, Varazdin, Vinkovci, Virovitica, Vukovar, Vis, Vojnic, Vrborsko, Vrbovec, Vrgin-Most, Vrgorac, Zabok, Zadar, Zagreb (Grad Zagreb), Zelina (Sveti Ivan Zelina), Zlatar Bistrica, Zupanja

Capital

Zagreb

Chamber of Deputies

last held NA August 1992 (next to be held NA August 1996); seats - (138 total) 87 HDZ

Chief of State

President Franjo TUDJMAN (since 30 May 1990)

Constitution

adopted on 2 December 1991

Digraph

HR

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Peter A. SARCEVIC chancery: 2356 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: (202) 543-5586

Executive branch

president, prime minister, deputy prime ministers, cabinet

FAX

[38] (41) 440-235

Flag

red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered)

Head of Government

Prime Minister Nikica VALENTIC (since NA April 1993); Deputy Prime Ministers Mate GRANIC, Vladimir SEKS, Borislav SKEGRO (since NA)

House of Parishes

last held 7 February 1993 (next to be held NA February 1997); seats - (68 total; 63 elected, 5 presidentially appointed) HDZ 37, HSLS 16, HSS 5, IDS 3, SDP 1, PNS 1

Independence

NA June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Constitutional Court

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Parishes (Zupanije Dom) and a lower house or Chamber of Deputies (Predstavnicke Dom)

Member of

CEI, CSCE, ECE, ICAO, IMO, IOM (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Croatia conventional short form: Croatia local long form: Republika Hrvatska local short form: Hrvatska

National holiday

Statehood Day, 30 May (1990)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Political parties and leaders

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Stjepan MESIC, chairman of the executive council; Croatian People's Party (HNS), Savka DABCEVIC-KUCAR, president; Croatian Christian Democratic Party (HKDS), Ivan CESAR, president; Croatian Party of Rights, Dobroslav PARAGA; Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), Drazen BUDISA, president; Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), leader NA; Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), leader NA; Social-Democratic Party (SDP), leader NA; Croatian National Party (PNS), leader NA

President

last held 4 August 1992 (next to be held NA); Franjo TUDJMAN reelected with about 56% of the vote; Dobroslav PARAGA 5%

Suffrage

16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal

Type

parliamentary democracy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant) embassy: Andrije Hebranga 2, Zagreb mailing address: AMEMB Unit 25402, APO AE 09213-5080 telephone: [38] (41) 444-800

Agriculture

Croatia normally produces a food surplus; most agricultural land in private hands and concentrated in Croat-majority districts in Slavonia and Istria; much of Slavonia's land has been put out of production by fighting; wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflowers, alfalfa, and clover are main crops in Slavonia; central Croatian highlands are less fertile but support cereal production, orchards, vineyards, livestock breeding, and dairy farming; coastal areas and offshore islands grow olives, citrus fruits, and vegetables

Budget

revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

1 Croatian dinar (CD) = 100 paras

Economic aid

$NA

Electricity

3,570,000 kW capacity; 11,500 million kWh produced, 2,400 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

Croatian dinar per US $1 - 60.00 (April 1992)

Exports

$2.9 billion (1990) commodities: machinery and transport equipment 30%, other manufacturers 37%, chemicals 11%, food and live animals 9%, raw materials 6.5%, fuels and lubricants 5% partners: principally the other former Yugoslav republics

External debt

$2.6 billion (will assume some part of foreign debt of former Yugoslavia)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$4.4 billion (1990) commodities: machinery and transport equipment 21%, fuels and lubricants 19%, food and live animals 16%, chemicals 14%, manufactured goods 13%, miscellaneous manufactured articles 9%, raw materials 6.5%, beverages and tobacco 1% partners: principally other former Yugoslav republics

Industrial production

growth rate -29% (1991 est.)

Industries

chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum reduction, paper, wood products (including furniture), building materials (including cement), textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food processing and beverages

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

50% (monthly rate, December 1992)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $26.3 billion (1991 est.)

National product per capita

$5,600 (1991 est.)

National product real growth rate

-25% (1991 est.)

Overview

Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output roughly comparable to that of Portugal and perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. Croatian Serb Nationalists control approximately one third of the Croatian territory, and one of the overriding determinants of Croatia's long-term political and economic prospects will be the resolution of this territorial dispute. Croatia faces monumental problems stemming

foreign debt; damage during the fighting to bridges, factories, powerlines, buildings, and houses; the large refugee population, both Croatian and Bosnian; and the disruption of economic ties to Serbia and the other former Yugoslav republics, as well as within its own territory. At the minimum, extensive Western aid and investment, especially in the tourist and oil industries, would seem necessary to salvage a desperate economic situation. However, peace and political stability must come first. As of June 1993, fighting continues among Croats, Serbs, and Muslims, and national boundaries and final political arrangements are still in doubt.

from

the legacy of longtime Communist mismanagement of the economy; large

Unemployment rate

20% (December 1991 est.)

Airports

total: 75 usable: 72 with permanent-surface runways: 15 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 5

Highways

32,071 km total; 23,305 km paved, 8,439 km gravel, 327 km earth (1990); note - key highways note disrupted because of territorial dispute

Inland waterways

785 km perennially navigable

Merchant marine

18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 77,074 GRT/93,052 DWT; includes 4 cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 10 passenger ferries, 2 bulk, 1 oil tanker; note - also controlled by Croatian shipowners are 198 ships (1,000 GRT or over) under flags of convenience - primarily Malta and St. Vincent - totaling 2,602,678 GRT/4,070,852 DWT; includes 89 cargo, 9 roll-on/ roll-off, 6 refrigerated cargo, 14 container, 3 multifunction large load carriers, 51 bulk, 5 passenger, 11 oil tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 6 service vessel

Pipelines

crude oil 670 km, petroleum products 20 km, natural gas 310 km (1992); note - now disrupted because of territorial dispute

Ports

coastal - Rijeka, Split, Kardeljevo (Ploce); inland - Vukovar, Osijek, Sisak, Vinkovci

Railroads

2,592 km of standard guage (1.435 m) of which 864 km are electrified (1992); note - disrupted by territorial dispute

Telecommunications

350,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 14 AM, 8 FM, 12 (2 repeaters) TV; 1,100,000 radios; 1,027,000 TVs; NA submarine coaxial cables; satellite ground stations - none

Branches

Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces

Defense expenditures

337-393 billion Croatian dinars, NA% of GDP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 1,177,029; fit for military service 943,259; reach military age (19) annually 32,873 (1993 est.)