"text":"<p>The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent communist state consisting of six socialist republics under the strong hand of Marshal Josip Broz, aka TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before Yugoslav forces were cleared from Croatian lands, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013. In January 2023, Croatia further integrated into the EU by joining the Eurozone and the Schengen Area.</p>"
"text":"Danube (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"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"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"destructive earthquakes"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> 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"
"text":"<br>Knjiga svjetskih činjenica, nužan izvor osnovnih informacija. (Croatian)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"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"
"text":"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"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast"
"text":"Danube (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"the name seems to be related to \"digging\"; archeologists suggest that the original settlement was established beyond a water-filled hole or <em>graba</em> and that the name derives from this; <em>za</em> in Slavic means \"beyond\"; the overall meaning may be \"beyond the trench (fault, channel, ditch)\""
"text":"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)"
"text":"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"
"text":"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"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Croatia"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"5 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"President Zoran MILANOVIC (since 18 February 2020)"
"text":"Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC (since 19 October 2016); Deputy Prime Ministers Tomo MEDVED (since 23 July 2020), Davor BOZINOVIC (since 12 July 2019), Oleg BUTKOVIC (since 15 July 2022), Branko BACIC (since 17 January 2023), Anja SIMPRAG (since 29 April 2022)"
"text":"Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the Assembly"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"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"
"text":"<br><em>2019: </em>Zoran MILANOVIC elected president in second round; percent of vote in second round - Zoran MILANOVIC (SDP) 52.7%, Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 47.3%<br><br><em>2015:</em> 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%"
"text":"unicameral Assembly or Hrvatski Sabor (151 seats; 140 members in 10 multi-seat constituencies and 3 members in a single constituency for Croatian diaspora directly elected by proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method with a 5% threshold; an additional 8 members elected from a nationwide constituency by simple majority by voters belonging to minorities recognized by Croatia; the Serb minority elects 3 Assembly members, the Hungarian and Italian minorities elect 1 each, the Czech and Slovak minorities elect 1 jointly, and all other minorities elect 2; all members serve 4-year terms"
},
"elections":{
"text":"early election held on 5 July 2020 (next to be held by 2024)"
"text":"<br>percent of vote by coalition/party - HDZ-led coalition 37.3%, Restart coalition 24.9%, DPMS-led coalition 10.9%, MOST 7.4%, Green-Left coalition 7%, P-F-SSIP 4%, HNS-LD 1.3%, NS-R 1%, other 6.2%; number of seats by coalition/party - HDZ-led coalition 66, Restart coalition 41, DPMS-led coalition 16, MOST 8, Green-Left coalition 7, P-F-SSIP 3, HNS-LD 1, NS-R 1, national minorities 8; composition as of January 2021 - men 103, women 48, percent of women 31.8%"
"text":"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":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"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"
"text":"Bloc for Croatia or BLOK or BZH [Zlatko HASANBEGOVIC]<br>The Bridge or Most [Bozo PETROV] (formerly the Bridge of Independent Lists)<br>Center or Centar [Ivica PULJAK] (formerly Pametno and Party with a First and Last Name or SSIP)<br>Civic Liberal Alliance or GLAS [Ankar Mrak TARITAS]<br>Croatian Demochristian Party or HDS [Goran DODIG]<br>Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Branimir GLAVAS]<br>Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Andrej PLENKOVIC]<br>Croatian Democratic Union-led coalition (includes HSLS, HDS, HDSSB)<br>Croatian Party of Pensioners or HSU [Veselko GABRICEVIC]<br>Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Kreso BELJAK]<br>Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats or HNS-LD [Mirko KOROTAJ, acting]<br>Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Dario HREBAK]<br>Croatian Sovereignists or HS [Marijan PAVLICEK]<br>Focus on the Important or Focus [Davor NADI]<br>Green-Left coalition [collective leadership] (includes MOZEMO!, NL)<br>Homeland Movement or DP [Ivan PENAVA] (also known as Miroslav Škoro Homeland Movement or DPMS)<br>Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Milorad PUPOVAC]<br>Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Dalibor PAUS]<br>New Left or NL [Ivana KEKIN]<br>People's Party - Reformists or NS-R [Radimir CACIC]<br>Restart Coalition (includes SDP, HSS, HSU, GLAS, IDS, NS-R)<br>Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Peda GRBIN]<br>We Can! or Mozemo! [collective leadership]<br>Workers' Front or RF [collective leadership]<strong><br></strong>"
"text":"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":"<strong>note:</strong> 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"
"text":"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)"
"text":"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"
"text":"chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages, tourism"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Prior to 1 January 2023, Croatia used the kuna as its currency, and it is currently accepting both currencies until 15 January 2023. However, kuna users will receive change in euros, and the exchange rate has been fixed at 7.53450 kuna to 1 euro. Persons may exchange currencies at Croatian post offices until 30 June 2023, free-of-charge, and at any Croatian bank until 31 December 2023."
"text":"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)"
"text":"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)"
"text":"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)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske, OSRH): Ground Forces (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM; includes Coast Guard), Air Force and Air Defense Forces; Military Police Force (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for internal security, including law enforcement (Croatia Police) and border security"
"text":"the majority of the military's inventory consists of Soviet-era equipment, although in recent years Croatia has acquired some limited numbers of more modern weapon systems from Western suppliers, including France, Germany, and the US (2023)"
"note":"<strong>note: </strong>in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries have sent additional troops and equipment to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe"
"text":"<p>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; since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Croatia and Slovenia have each claimed sovereignty over Piranski Bay and four villages, and Slovenia has objected to Croatia's claim of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea; in 2009, however Croatia and Slovenia signed a binding international arbitration agreement to define their disputed land and maritime borders, which led to Slovenia lifting its objections to Croatia joining the EU; Croatia joined the Schengen Zone on 1 January 2023</p>"
"text":"<p>drug trafficking groups are major players in the procurement and transportation of of large quantities of cocaine destined for European markets</p> <p></p>"