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Geography |
Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the
Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Slovenia
Geographic coordinates: 45 10 N, 15 30 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 56,538 sq km
land: 56,410 sq km
water: 128 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West
Virginia
Land boundaries:
total: 2,197 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km,
Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro 266 km (241 km
with Serbia; 25 km with Montenegro), Slovenia 670 km
Coastline: 5,790 km (mainland 1,778 km, islands
4,012 km)
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm
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 extremes:
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m
Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite,
low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica,
mica, clays, salt, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 21%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 20%
forests and woodland: 38%
other: 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 30 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: frequent and destructive
earthquakes
Environment - current issues: air pollution (from
metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is
damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial
and domestic waste; widespread casualties and
destruction of infrastructure in border areas affected
by civil strife
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur
94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent
Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification
Geography - note: controls most land routes from
Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits
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Background:
In
1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known
after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia
became an independent communist state under the strong hand of
Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from
Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often
bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly
cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision the last
Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in
1998.
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People |
Population: 4,282,216 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (male 396,484; female 376,267)
15-64 years: 67% (male 1,445,101; female 1,420,159)
65 years and over: 15% (male 238,853; female 405,352)
(2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.93% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 12.82 births/1,000 population (2000
est.)
Death rate: 11.51 deaths/1,000 population (2000
est.)
Net migration rate: 7.98 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 7.35 deaths/1,000 live births
(2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.67 years
male: 70.04 years
female: 77.51 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.94 children born/woman (2000
est.)
Nationality:
noun: Croat(s)
adjective: Croatian
Ethnic groups: Croat 78.1%, Serb 12.2%, Muslim
0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovenian 0.5%, Czech 0.4%,
Albanian 0.3%, Montenegrin 0.3%, Roma 0.2%, others 6.6%
(1991)
Religions: Roman Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%,
Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%, others and unknown 10.8%
(1991)
Languages: Croatian 96%, other 4% (including
Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 99%
female: 95% (1991 est.)
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Communications |
Telephones - main lines in use: 1.477 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 187,000 (yearend
1998)
Telephone system:
domestic: reconstruction plan calls for
replacement of all analog circuits with digital and
enlarging the network; a backup will be included in the
plan for the main trunk
international: digital international service is
provided through the main switch in Zagreb; Croatia
participates in the TEL project which consists of two
fiber-optic trunk connections with Slovenia and a
fiber-optic trunk line from Rijeka to Split and
Dubrovnik; Croatia is also investing in ADRIA 1, a joint
fiber-optic project with Germany, Albania, and Greece
(2000)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5
(1999)
Radios: 1.51 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 36 (plus 321
repeaters) (September 1995)
Televisions: 1.22 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 4 (1999)
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Transportation |
Railways:
total: 2,296 km
standard gauge: 2,296 km 1.435-m gauge (983 km
electrified)
note: some lines remain inoperative or not in
use; disrupted by territorial dispute (1997)
Highways:
total: 27,840 km
paved: 23,497 km (including 330 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 4,343 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 785 km perennially navigable; large
sections of Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and
debris
Pipelines: crude oil 670 km; petroleum products
20 km; natural gas 310 km (1992); note - under repair
following territorial dispute
Ports and harbors: Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj,
Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland
waterway port on Danube), Zadar
Merchant marine:
total: 65 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
818,887 GRT/1,232,803 DWT
ships by type: bulk 15, cargo 25, chemical tanker
1, combination bulk 5, container 5, liquified gas 1,
multi-functional large load carrier 3, passenger 1,
petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1,
roll-on/roll-off 4, short-sea passenger 3 (1999 est.)
Airports: 67 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 22
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 8 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 8
under 914 m: 36 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1999 est.) |
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