Croatian Hrvatska, officially Republic of Croatia, republic (1995 est. pop. 4,666,000), 21,824 sq mi (56,524 sq km), in the northwest corner of the Balkan Peninsula. Croatia is bounded by Slovenia in the northwest, by Hungary in the northeast, by Yugoslavia in the east, by Bosnia and Hercegovina in the south and east, and by the Adriatic Sea in the west.
Land, People and Economy
The republic includes Croatia proper, Slavonia , Dalmatia , and most of Istria . Western Croatia lies in the Dinaric Alps; the eastern part, drained by the Sava and Drava rivers, is mostly low lying and agricultural. The Pannonian plain is the chief farming region. More than one third of Croatia is forested, and lumber is a major export. There are oil fields and deposits of bauxite, copper, and iron ore.
The Croats, who make up some 80% of the population, are Roman Catholic. The Serbs, who  belong largely to the Orthodox Church, were the largest minority before forced evictions during the early 1990s reduced their numbers. Both Croats and Serbs speak Serbo-Croatian. Croatia is, excepting Slovenia, the most industrialized and prosperous of the former republics of Yugoslavia. Tourism, especially along the Adriatic coast, is important to the economy. Severely curtailed during the warfare of the early 1990s, the tourist trade had largely recovered by 2000.
Government
Croatia is a parliamentary democracy with an elected president who appoints a council of ministers and a prime minister. The legislative branch consists of a unicameral assembly, the Sabor. Croatia is divided into 21 administrative districts. |