Croatia << kroh AY shuh >> is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered on the south and east by Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the west by the Adriatic Sea, on the north by Slovenia and Hungary, on the northeast by Serbia, and on the southeast by Montenegro.
Zagreb is Croatia’s capital and largest city and the center of the country’s cultural and political life. Other important towns in Croatia include Dubrovnik, Osijek, Rijeka, and Split.
Most of the people are Croats << KROH ats >>. Croatia’s population also includes a number of Bosnians and Serbs.
In 1918, Croatia became part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia. In 1946, Yugoslavia became a federal state consisting of six republics, one of which was Croatia.
From 1945 to 1990, Communists held a monopoly on power in all of Yugoslavia. In the 1960’s, some Croats began to call for independence for Croatia. In the 1980’s, the demands grew. In 1990, Croatia held its first multiparty elections, and non-Communists won a majority of seats in the legislature. In 1991, Croatia declared its independence. War then broke out in Croatia between Croats and Serbs. A cease-fire in early 1992 ended most of the fighting. However, some fighting continued. In late 1995, the government of Croatia and the leaders of the Croatian Serbs made an agreement to end the war.
Government.
Croatia adopted its first democratic constitution in December 1990, while it was still a Yugoslav republic. The Constitution has been amended several times since then. It guarantees freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion. It also promises the right to form political parties and the right of minority groups to cultural independence.
The voters elect a president to a five-year term. A single-house parliament makes the laws of the country. The people elect the members of parliament to four-year terms. A prime minister heads the parliament.
The Supreme Court is Croatia’s highest court. Supreme Court judges are appointed by a judicial council and may serve until they reach the age of 70. Croatia also has a Constitutional Court. Constitutional Court judges are elected by parliament to eight-year terms..
People.
Croats make up most of the population. Croatia also has a small percentage of Bosnians and Serbs. The Bosnians sought refuge in Croatia in the first half of the 1990’s, when a war was being fought in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Most of the people of Croatia speak Croatian. The Serbian language is similar to the Croatian language, but Croatian is written in the Roman alphabet. Serbian usually employs a form of the Cyrillic alphabet, the system used in writing Russian and other Slavic languages. In the early 1990’s, during the war, Croats began a campaign to further distinguish Croatian from Serbian. They sought to restore ancient Croatian words and to invent new words with Croatian roots. Many Croats, especially those in the major cities or along the Adriatic coast, speak either German or English in addition to Croatian.
Most Croats are Roman Catholics. The traditional religion of the Serbs is the Serbian Orthodox faith. Bosniaks (sometimes called Bosnian Muslims) have traditionally practiced the Islamic faith.
Most of Croatia’s rural families live in stone houses. Many suburban residents have homes in modern high-rise apartment buildings. City dwellers often live in older houses or apartment buildings.
Croats value close family ties. Traditionally, the father holds the most authority in the family. Since the mid-1970’s, however, a women’s rights movement has grown in Croatia, especially in Zagreb. The movement has challenged the traditional ideas about authority in the family and called for women to have economic, political, and social equality with men.
Croatian cooking is similar to that of other central European countries. One of Croatia’s best-loved dishes is Zagreb veal cutlet, breaded veal slices. Another traditional dish is gibanica << GIHB bah niht sa >>, a layered cheese pastry that may be eaten alone or with a meat dish. Croatia also makes some excellent wines.
Almost all adults in Croatia can read and write. Children are required to attend school between the ages of 6 and 14. Croatia has universities in Rijeka, Split, and Zagreb, and many other institutions of higher education. Loading the player...
Croat love song
Croatia has a lively cultural tradition. During the early 1900’s, Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović became famous for his highly patriotic and religious works. Traditional dances of the Croats include the kolo, a fast-paced dance performed in a circle. Jazz festivals attract large audiences in Croatia, and classical music is also popular. Rock music, too, is extremely popular and has served as a means of expressing strong political views. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, many Croatian rock groups performed songs that criticized the Communist system or its policies. In the 1990’s, many rock groups promoted Croatian pride and desire for independence.
Land and climate.
Croatia consists of two land regions: (1) Dalmatia and (2) the Pannonian Plains. Dalmatia, a coastal region between the Adriatic Sea and Bosnia-Herzegovina, has rocky cliffs and little fertile soil. The fertile Pannonian Plains, which include the historic region of Slavonia, border on Hungary. The Dinaric Alps extend through the center of Croatia. Croatia’s two main rivers, the Drava and the Sava, flow into the Danube, one of the most important waterways in Europe.
Dalmatia has a mild climate. In winter, the temperature rarely falls below freezing. However, a cold, gusty wind called a bora sometimes blows down from the mountains into the northern areas in autumn and winter. Summers are sunny, hot, and dry.
The Pannonian Plains have cold winters with a freezing wind called a košava. Summers are dry and hot. Temperatures often rise to about 100 °F (38 °C). Heavy rains in spring and autumn frequently cause floods along the Danube River and its tributaries.
Economy.
After World War II (1939-1945), Croatia developed a more industrialized economy. The country’s economy suffered in the early 1990’s, as a result of the war between the Serbs and Croats. In the early 2000’s, Croatia’s economy grew steadily. Today, the state controls much of Croatia’s economy. However, the country is moving toward more private ownership.
Croatia’s chief crops are apples, corn, grapes, olives, potatoes, soybeans, sugar beets, tobacco, and wheat. Farmers also raise beef and dairy cattle, chickens for eggs and meat, and hogs.
Zagreb is Croatia’s leading manufacturing center. The country’s major products include cement, chemicals, food products, petroleum products, ships, steel, and textiles. The country mines clays, natural gas, and petroleum.
Croatia imports much more than it exports. Croatia’s major trading partners include Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia.
Croatia has a good system of roads and railroads. The country has international airports in Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, and Zagreb. The country’s major seaports are Dubrovnik, Ploče, Rijeka, Šibenik, Split, and Zadar.
Radio and television stations operate under both private and state ownership. The leading daily newspapers in Croatia include Jutarnji list, Slobodna Dalmacija, and Večernji list. Most Croatian households have internet access.
History.
Slavic tribes began to settle in what is now Croatia during the A.D. 600’s. In 803, Croatian tribes accepted the rule of Charlemagne, a Germanic ruler who united much of western Europe to form a great empire. The Croats soon converted to Christianity. Croatia was an independent kingdom in the 900’s and 1000’s.
In 1102, Kálmán, the king of Hungary, also became king of Croatia, thus creating a political union between Croatia and Hungary that lasted for more than 800 years. Despite this union, the Croats always kept their own parliament, called the Sabor.
In 1526, the Ottoman Empire, based in present-day Turkey, defeated a Hungarian army in the Battle of Mohács. As a result, much of both Hungary and Croatia came under Ottoman rule. The Habsburgs, an Austrian royal family, gained control of the rest of Croatia at about the same time. Most of Croatia remained under Ottoman rule until it was transferred to the Habsburgs by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699.
In 1809, Croatia became part of the Illyrian Provinces of Emperor Napoleon I of France. In 1815, the Habsburgs once again took over Croatia. In 1867, the Habsburg Empire was restructured as the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Austria and Hungary had equal political status within the restructured monarchy. Hungary took over Croatia, except for Dalmatia, which came under Austrian rule. The following year, Croatia signed the Nagodba (agreement) with Hungary. The agreement guaranteed Croatia some of its historic rights.
Austria-Hungary fought on the side of the defeated Central Powers in World War I (1914-1918). After the war, it was broken into a number of pieces. In 1918, Croatia became part of a new state called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The Croats hoped they would have full equality and regional autonomy (self-rule) within the kingdom. Instead, the Serbs used their greater military power to enforce centralized rule from Belgrade, the Serbian capital. In addition, taxation, military promotions, and banking policies discriminated against the Croats in favor of the Serbs. 
In 1921, the Serbs passed a new constitution despite objections by the Croats. The Croatian Peasant Party—then the largest political party in Croatia—boycotted sessions of the legislative assembly held to draft the Constitution. The party continued its boycott of the assembly for several years. King Alexander I of Serbia took the throne of the combined kingdom under the Constitution. In 1929, the king changed the name of the kingdom to Yugoslavia and began to rule as dictator. He was assassinated in 1934 by a Macedonian from Bulgaria who was supported by Croatian revolutionaries. Hostility between the Croats and Serbs continued. 
In 1939, an agreement granted Croatia much control over its own affairs and those of Bosnia-Herzegovina. World War II broke out later that year. In 1940, Serbian military officers opposed to the agreement seized control of the government, and the agreement ended.
In 1941, during the war, the Axis powers—led by Germany and Italy—invaded and occupied Yugoslavia. Croatia was proclaimed an independent state, but it was actually controlled by the Axis. Croatia was forced to turn over much of its coastal territory to Italy but was given control of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Communist rule.
After the war ended with the defeat of the Axis in 1945, Communists came to power in Yugoslavia. Josip Broz Tito, secretary-general of the Communist Party, became the country’s prime minister and later became president. Under a constitution passed in 1946, Yugoslavia was organized as a federal state—that is, one in which the powers of government were shared between a central government and republics. Croatia then became one of Yugoslavia’s six republics, as did Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1947, most of Istria, which had belonged to Italy, became part of Croatia. 
In 1963, a new constitution was enacted. It gave the republics some control over their own affairs. After its passage, Croats began to press for greater independence. Many liberal Croatian leaders openly resented Serbia’s influence in the federal government and demanded more control over Croatian affairs. In 1971, Tito forced many Croatian liberals to leave their posts, and conservatives took control of Croatia.
After Tito’s death in 1980, the federation that made up Yugoslavia began to unravel. Many Croats called for complete independence from Yugoslavia. They complained that the federal government took too much of Croatia’s income and that Serbia sought to control Croatia and the other republics.
Croatia’s relations with Serbia worsened dramatically in the late 1980’s with the rise to power of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic, a strong supporter of Serbian unity and the expansion of Serbia’s borders, began to rally the Serbian minority in Croatia against the Croatian government.
In 1990, the Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power in Yugoslavia. Croatia held multiparty elections, and non-Communists won control of the legislature. Croatia abandoned Communism and began to establish a free enterprise system, in which businesses could operate without government control.
Independence and war.
Croatia and another Yugoslav republic, Slovenia, sought political reforms that would have transformed Yugoslavia into a union of independent states. Serbia and Montenegro, on the other hand, aimed to make Yugoslavia into a centralized state. After negotiations failed, Croatia and Slovenia each declared independence in June 1991.
In 1990, Milosevic had begun smuggling large quantities of arms and other military equipment to Serbs living in Croatia. In 1991, after Croatia declared its independence, war broke out between Serbs and Croats in Croatia. The Yugoslav National Army fought alongside the Serbs against the Croats. Croatia lost more than 30 percent of its territory to the Serbs within a few months. The war also destroyed about 40 percent of Croatian industry, as well as many historic buildings and monuments. About 10,000 people were killed.
In early 1992, the Yugoslav National Army and the Croatian forces signed a cease-fire agreement. The United Nations sent a peacekeeping force to Croatia, but scattered fighting continued. In April 1992, Serbia and Montenegro formed a new state of Yugoslavia, thus seeming to accept Croatia’s independence. (Serbia and Montenegro separated into independent countries in 2006.) In mid-1995, Croatian forces began taking back the territory that had been seized by the Serbs. In late 1995, the Croatian government and the leaders of the Croatian Serbs made peace. In January 1998, the remaining land that had been seized by Croatian Serbs was reunited with Croatia.
Recent developments.
In the early 2000’s, international courts charged several Croatian military leaders with war crimes for their actions during the wars of the 1990’s. The issue of sending the leaders to trial caused much controversy in Croatia, and the country refused to send some of those charged. A number of prominent military and civilian leaders were eventually arrested and convicted.
Croatia gained membership to the European Union (EU) on July 1, 2013. The EU is an organization of European countries that promotes economic and political cooperation among its members. Croatia’s population declined in the following decade, however, as many citizens sought economic opportunities in other EU countries. In 2023, Croatia adopted the euro, the basic monetary unit used by most EU members, as its currency.
