Republic of Croatia

Republika Hrvatska Republic of Croatia


Anthem Lijepa naša domovino Our beautiful homeland
Location of Croatia

Capital	Zagreb

Government	Republic and parliamentary democracy
President
- From 2010	Ivo Josipović
Prime Minister
- From 2009	Jadranka Kosor

Legislature	Sabor

History
- October 8, 1991	Declaration of independence

EU accession	July 1, 2013

NATO accession	April 1, 2009

Area	56,594 km²

Population
- 2010	4,486,881
Density	79.2/km²

GDP	2010 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 79 billion
- Per capita	US$ 17,609

Currency	Kuna

NUTS Region	HR0

Yugoslavia Croatia
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The Republic of Croatia is a parliamentary democracy in the Balkans.

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 Josip Broz, aka 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, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013.^[1]

Economy

Once one of the wealthiest of the Yugoslav republics, Croatia's economy suffered badly during the 1991-95 war as output collapsed and the country missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Between 2000 and 2007, however, Croatia's economic fortunes began to improve slowly, with moderate but steady GDP growth between 4% and 6% led by a rebound in tourism and credit-driven consumer spending. Inflation over the same period has remained tame and the currency, the kuna, stable. Nevertheless, difficult problems still remain, including a stubbornly high unemployment rate, a growing trade deficit and uneven regional development. The state retains a large role in the economy, as privatization efforts often meet stiff public and political resistance. 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. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform. While long term growth prospects for the economy remain strong, Croatia will face significant pressure as a result of the global financial crisis. Croatia's high foreign debt, anemic export sector, strained state budget, and over-reliance on tourism revenue will result in higher risk to economic stability over the medium term.^[2]