Country Facts - Croatia

The People

Nationality
Croat(s)

Ethnic Composition

Croat	78%
Serb	12%
Hungarian	0.5%
Slovenian	0.5%
Other	9%

Religious Composition

Catholic	76.5%
Orthodox	11.1%
Muslim	1.2%
Protestant	0.4%
Other	10.8%

Languages Spoken

Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German)

Education and Literacy

The population over the age of 15 has a literacy rate of 97 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 1.7 million (2001)
By occupation:

Industry	31.1%
Agriculture	4.3%
Services	64.6%

Geography

Land Mass Total

21,830 sq mi (56,542 sq km)

Land

21,781 sq mi (56,414 sq km)

Water

49 sq mi (128 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,357 mi (2,185 km)
Border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 579 mi (932 km), Hungary 204 mi (329 km), Yugoslavia 157 mi (254 km), Slovenia 416 mi (670 km)

Coastline

Total: 3,625 mi (5,835 km)
Mainland 1,104 mi (1,777 km)
Islands 2,521 mi (4,058 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

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: Adriatic Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Dinara 6,003 ft (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	24%
Permanent crops	2%
Other	74%

(1998)

Natural hazards

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.

Geography Note

Croatia controls most land routes from western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits.

Demographics

Population

4,390,751 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	18.3%	Male: 411,847	Female: 390,797
15-64 years:	66.3%	Male: 1,461,305	Female: 1,448,973
65 years and over:	15.4%	Male: 252,970	Female: 424,859

(2002)

Growth Rate

1.12% (2002)

Life Expectancy

74.13 years (2002)
female: 77.96 years
male: 70.52 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$8,300 (2001)

Infant Mortality

7.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.6 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.94 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

9.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia was, after Slovenia, the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. The economy emerged from its mild recession in 2000 with tourism the main factor, but massive structural unemployment remains a key negative element. The government's failure to press the economic reforms needed to spur growth is largely the result of coalition politics and public resistance, particularly from the trade unions, to measures that would cut jobs, wages, or social benefits. As a result, the country tends to experience only moderate growth due to a disciplined fiscal and structural reform regimen. GDP growth in 2000 was 2.9 percent, jumping to 3.8 percent in 2001 and 4.3 percent in 2002. Expectations for 2003 show a drop to 4.2 percent due mainly to a drop in tourism. Croatia is making slow but steady progress towards a bright economic future.

Unemployment

23% (December 2001)

Inflation Rate

5% (2001)

Industries

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

Exports

US$4.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$8.4 billion (c.i.f., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$36.1 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Italy 24%, Germany 15%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 12%, Slovenia 9%, Austria 5.8% (2001)

Top Import Partners

Italy 17%, Germany 16.9%, Slovenia 7.9%, Russia 7.5%, Austria 7% (2001)

Top Exports

Transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels

Top Imports

Machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs

Debt - external

US$11 billion (2001)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year.

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 7p.m. with a one-hour break at 1p.m.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to 7 or 8p.m., with a one-hour break at 1p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 2 or 3p.m.
Banks	7:30a.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to noon.
Government	8a.m. to 6p.m. Offices in rural areas may keep less regular hours.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Epiphany	January 6	January 6	January 6
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
May Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Independence Day	May 30	May 30	May 30
Date of Antifascist Struggle	June 22	June 22	June 22
National Thanksgiving Day	August 5	August 5	August 5
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Christmas Day²	December 25	December 25	December 25
Second Day of Christmas	December 26	December 26	December 26

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press