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Croatia

Croatia
General information
Common nameCroatia
Local name 
Name 
AnthemLijepa naša domovino
Our beautiful homeland

CapitalZagreb
Largest citycapital
Official languagesCroatian1
Ethnic groups89.6% Croats,
4.5% Serbs,
5.9% others and unspecified (2001)
DemonymCroat, Croatian
Government
GovernmentParliamentary republic
PresidentIvo Josipović
Prime MinisterJadranka Kosor
Speaker of ParliamentLuka Bebić
Principality9th century2
Independent Principalityc. 8403
Kingdom925
Union with Hungary1102
Joined Habsburg Empire1 January 1527
Independence of SHS from Austria � Hungary29 October 1918
Yugoslavia becomes Republic429 November 1943
Decision on independence25 June 1991
Declaration of independence8 October 1991
Geography
Total Area21851 sq mi (56594.1 km2) (126th)
Water %1.09
Demography
Population census4290612 (2011)
Density (pop.)75.7/km2 (196/sq mi)
Economy
GDP PPP$78.687 billion (2010)
GDP (PPP) per capita$17,818
GDP (nominal)$60.834 billion (2010)
GDP (nominal) per capita$13,776
Other information
Gini33.7 (2008) (medium)
HDI0.767 (2010) (high) (51st)
CurrencyKuna (HRK)
Time zoneCET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on theright
Internet TLD.hr
Calling code385

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Croatia (c-enaudio=en-us-Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia ), is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers 56594 km2 (21851.1 sqmi) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatia's Adriatic Sea coast is long and traced by more than a thousand islands. Population of the country consists of 4.29 million, most of them Roman Catholic Croats.

In the early 7th century the Croats arrived in area of present-day Croatia. They organised the state into two dukedoms by the 9th century. Tomislav became the first king by 925 AD, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir. Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs that declared independence from Austria � Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. A Croatian state briefly existed during World War II as a fascist puppet state. After the war, Croatia became a founding member and a federal constituent of the Second Yugoslavia. In June 1991, Croatia declared independence, which came into effect on 8 October of the same year. The Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration.

Since the fall of communism and the end of the war of independence, Croatia has achieved high human development and income equality, and ranks high amongst Central European nations in terms of education, health, quality of life and economic dynamism. The International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high income economy. Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, CEFTA and a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia is an acceding state of the European Union, with full membership expected in July 2013. As an active participant in the UN peacekeeping forces, Croatia has contributed troops to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and took a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2008 � 2009 term.

The service sector dominates Croatia's economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a notable source of income during the summers, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world. The state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is the most important Croatian trading partner. Since 2000, the Croatian government has invested in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia; the rest is imported. Croatia provides a universal health care system and free primary and secondary education, while supporting culture through numerous public institutions and through corporate investments in media and publishing. The nation prides itself in its cultural, artistic and scientific contributions to the world, as well as in its cuisine, wines and sporting achievements.


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