Two Croatian sailors, Ivan Malogrudic
from Senj and Marino Masalarda from Dubrovnik, came to Canada
with the expedition of Jacques Cartier in 1534.
Government Information
Chief
of State: President Stjepan (Stipe) MESIC (since
18 February 2000) Head of Government: Prime Minister
Ivo SANADER (since 9 December 2003) Government Type: presidential/parliamentary
democracy
Population Demographics
Population:
4,494,749 (July 2006 est.) Languages: Croatian 96.1%, Serbian
1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian,
Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census) Religion: Roman Catholic 87.8%,
Orthodox 4.4%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 1.3%, other
and unspecified 0.9%, none 5.2% (2001 census) Life Expectancy: 74.68
Economic Information
Currency:
kuna (HRK) GDP(per capita): $11,600 (2005
est.)
Overview: Before the dissolution
of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia,
was the most prosperous and industrialized area with
a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav
average. The economy emerged from a mild recession in
2000 with tourism, banking, and public investments leading
the way. Unemployment remains high, at about 18%, with
structural factors slowing its decline. While macroeconomic
stabilization has largely been achieved, structural
reforms lag because of deep resistance on the part of
the public and lack of strong support from politicians.
Growth, while impressive at about 3% to 4% for the last
several years, has been stimulated, in part, through
high fiscal deficits and rapid credit growth. The EU
accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural
reform.
Exports: transport equipment,
textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
Import: machinery, transport
and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants;
foodstuffs
Sponsored Ads
Geography
Information
Location:
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia Area: total: 56,542 sq km
land: 56,414 sq km
water: 128 sq km
Background:
The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War
I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a
kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World
War II, Yugoslavia became a federal 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.
