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 Croatia| Facts & Figures |
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Republic of Croatia
President: Stipe Mesic (2000) Prime Minister: Jadranka Kosor
(2009) Land area: 21,781 sq mi (56,414 sq km);
total area: 21,831 sq mi (56,542 sq km) Population (2009 est.): 4,489,409
(growth rate: 0.0%); birth rate: 9.6/1000; infant mortality rate:
6.3/1000; life expectancy: 75.3; density per sq km: 79
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Zagreb, 685,500 Other large cities: Split, 173,600;
Rijeka, 142,500; Osijek, 89,600 Monetary unit: Kuna More Facts & Figures |
Republic of Croatia
GeographyCroatia is a former Yugoslav republic on the
Adriatic Sea. It is about the size of West Virginia. Part of Croatia is a
barren, rocky region lying in the Dinaric Alps. The Zagorje region north
of the capital, Zagreb, is a land of rolling hills, and the fertile
agricultural region of the Pannonian Plain is bordered by the Drava,
Danube, and Sava Rivers in the east. Over one-third of Croatia is
forested.
GovernmentPresidential/parliamentary democracy.
HistoryCroatia, at one time the Roman province of
Pannonia, was settled in the 7th century by the Croats. They converted to
Christianity between the 7th and 9th centuries and adopted the Roman
alphabet under the suzerainty of Charlemagne. In 925, the Croats defeated
Byzantine and Frankish invaders and established their own independent
kingdom, which reached its peak during the 11th century. A civil war
ensued in 1089, which later led to the country being conquered by the
Hungarians in 1091. The signing of the
Pacta Conventa
by Croatian
tribal chiefs and the Hungarian king in 1102 united the two nations
politically under the Hungarian monarch, but Croatia retained its
autonomy.
Following the defeat of the Hungarians by the
Turks at the battle of Mohács in 1526, Croatia (along with Hungary)
elected Austrian archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg as their king. After the
establishment of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom in 1867, Croatia became part
of Hungary until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 following its
defeat in World War I. On Oct. 29, 1918, Croatia proclaimed its
independence and joined in union with Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia to
form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The name was changed to
Yugoslavia in 1929.
When Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, Croatia
became a Nazi puppet state. Croatian Fascists, the Ustachi, slaughtered
countless Serbs and Jews during the war. After Germany was defeated in
1945, Croatia was made into a republic of the newly reconstituted
Communist nation of Yugoslavia; however, Croatian nationalism persisted.
After Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito's death in 1980, Croatia's demands for
independence increased in intensity.
In 1990, free elections were held, and the
Communists were defeated by a nationalist party led by Franjo Tudjman. In
June 1991, the Croatian parliament passed a declaration of independence
from Yugoslavia. Six months of intensive fighting with the
Serbian-dominated Yugoslavian army followed, claiming thousands of lives
and wreaking mass destruction.
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