Croatia
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Background

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 occupying Yugoslav forces, dominated by Serb officers, were mostly 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.

Geography and Environment

Location

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

Geographic coordinates

45 10 N, 15 30 E

Area

total: 56,594 sq km

land: 55,974 sq km

water: 620 sq km

country comparison to the world: 127

Land boundaries

total: 2,237 km

border countries (5): Bosnia and Herzegovina 956 km; Hungary 348 km; Montenegro 19 km; Serbia 314 km; Slovenia 600 km

Coastline

5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km)

Climate

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

Terrain

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

Elevation

highest point: Dinara 1,831 m

lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m

mean elevation: 331 m

Natural resources

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

Land Use

agricultural land: 23.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 16% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.5% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 6.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 34.4% (2018 est.)

other: 41.9% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

240 sq km (2012)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Danube (shared with Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania) - 2,888 km

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Population distribution

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

destructive earthquakes

Geography - note

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

Government and Politics

Executive Branch

chief of state: President Zoran MILANOVIC (since 18 February 2020)

head of government: Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC (since 19 October 2016 Deputy Prime Ministers Damir KRSTICEVIC (since 19 October 2016), Predrag STROMAR (since 9 June 2017), Marija Pejcinovic BURIC (since 19 June 2017), and Tomislav TOLUSIC (since 25 May 2018)

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

Legislative Branch

description: 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: early election held on 5 July 2020 (next to be held by 2024)

Judicial Branch

highest courts: 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

Political Parties and leaders

Bloc for Croatia or BLOK or BZH [Zlatko HASANBEGOVIC]

The Bridge or Most [Bozo PETROV] (formerly the Bridge of Independent Lists)

Center or Centar [Ivica PULJAK] (formerly Pametno and Party with a First and Last Name or SSIP)

Civic Liberal Alliance or GLAS [Ankar Mrak TARITAS]

Croatian Demochristian Party or HDS [Goran DODIG]

Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Branimir GLAVAS]

Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Andrej PLENKOVIC]

Croatian Democratic Union-led coalition (includes HSLS, HDS, HDSSB)

Croatian Party of Pensioners or HSU [Veselko GABRICEVIC]

Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Kreso BELJAK]

Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats or HNS-LD [Stjepan CURAJ]

Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Dario HREBAK]

Croatian Sovereignists or HS [Marijan PAVLICEK]

Focus on the Important or Focus [Davor NADI]

Green-Left coalition [collective leadership] (includes MOZEMO!, NL)

Homeland Movement or DP [Ivan PENAVA] (also known as Miroslav Škoro Homeland Movement or DPMS)

Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Milorad PUPOVAC]

Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Dalibor PAUS]

New Left or NL [Ivana KEKIN]

People's Party - Reformists or NS-R [Radimir CACIC]

Restart Coalition (includes SDP, HSS, HSU, GLAS, IDS, NS-R)

Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Peda GRBIN]

We Can! or Mozemo! [collective leadership]

Workers' Front or RF [collective leadership]

Economic overview

Though still one of the wealthiest of the former Yugoslav republics, Croatia’s economy suffered badly during the 1991-95 war. The country's output during that time collapsed, and Croatia missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Between 2000 and 2007, however, Croatia's economic fortunes began to improve with moderate but steady GDP growth between 4% and 6%, led by a rebound in tourism and credit-driven consumer spending. Inflation over the same period remained tame and the currency, the kuna, stable.

Croatia experienced an abrupt slowdown in the economy in 2008; economic growth was stagnant or negative in each year between 2009 and 2014, but has picked up since the third quarter of 2014, ending 2017 with an average of 2.8% growth. Challenges remain including uneven regional development, a difficult investment climate, an inefficient judiciary, and loss of educated young professionals seeking higher salaries elsewhere in the EU. In 2016, Croatia revised its tax code to stimulate growth from domestic consumption and foreign investment. Income tax reduction began in 2017, and in 2018 various business costs were removed from income tax calculations. At the start of 2018, the government announced its economic reform plan, slated for implementation in 2019.

Tourism is one of the main pillars of the Croatian economy, comprising 19.6% of Croatia’s GDP. Croatia is working to become a regional energy hub, and is undertaking plans to open a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal by the end of 2019 or early in 2020 to import LNG for re-distribution in southeast Europe.

Croatia joined the EU on July 1, 2013, following a decade-long accession process. Croatia has developed a plan for Eurozone accession, and the government projects Croatia will adopt the Euro by 2024. In 2017, the Croatian government decreased public debt to 78% of GDP, from an all-time high of 84% in 2014, and realized a 0.8% budget surplus - the first surplus since independence in 1991. The government has also sought to accelerate privatization of non-strategic assets with mixed success. Croatia’s economic recovery is still somewhat fragile; Croatia’s largest private company narrowly avoided collapse in 2017, thanks to a capital infusion from an American investor. Restructuring is ongoing, and projected to finish by mid-July 2018.