You are here:
  1. Homepage
  2. » Croatia
Croatia Flag Icon

Croatia Country Guide

Explore Croatia in Europe

Croatia with the capital city Zagreb is located in Europe (Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea). It covers some 56,542 square kilometres (slightly smaller than West Virginia) with 4,491,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Croatia

The landscape offers geographically diverse with flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands. The average density of population is approximately 79 per km². The notable climate conditions in Croatia can be described as Mediterranean and continental with continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters and mild winters, dry summers along coast. Potential threats by nature are destructive earthquakes.

To reach someone in Croatia dial +385 prior to a number. There are 1,859,000 installed telephones. And there are 6,035,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".hr". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 230V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Croatia

Croatia Flag Icon

Three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue - the Pan-Slav colors - superimposed by the Croatian coat of arms; the coat of arms consists of one main shield (a checkerboard of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields) surmounted by five smaller shields that form a crown over the main shield; the five small shields represent five historic regions, they are (from left to right): Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia note: the Pan-Slav colors were inspired by the 19th-century flag of Russia.


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, 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. In April 2009, Croatia joined NATO; Croatia signed the EU Accession Treaty in December 2011 and ratified the Treaty in January, 2012. Croatia will become a member after all 27 EU members ratify the treaty, with a target date of July 2013.



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Europe
Neighbours: Hungary, Slovenia, , Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia
Capital: Zagreb
Size56,542 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 21,830 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly smaller than West Virginia
Population4,491,000
CurrencyName Kuna, Currency Code:HRK
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).hr
Telephone Country Prefix+385
Mobile Phone Connections6,035,000
Landline Phone Connections1,859,000

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area56,594 (sq km)127

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population4,475,611 124
Population growth rate-0.11 (%)206
Birth rate9.53 (births/1,000 population)200
Death rate12.06 (deaths/1,000 population)28
Net migration rate1.47 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)49
Maternal mortality rate17.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)142
Infant mortality rate5.96 (deaths/1,000 live births)173
Life expectancy at birth76.20 (years)81
Total fertility rate1.45 (children born/woman)197
Health expenditures7.80 (% of GDP)65
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.10 (%)133
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS1,000 144
HIV/AIDS - deaths100 134
Obesity - adult prevalence rate24.20 (%)66
Education expenditures4.40 (% of GDP)97
Unemployment, youth ages 15-2436.10 (%)15

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)79,690,000,000 82
GDP - real growth rate-2.00 (%)209
GDP - per capita (PPP)18,100 76
Labor force1,745,000 127
Unemployment rate20.40 (%)162
Distribution of family income - Gini index32.00 105
Investment (gross fixed)18.40 (% of GDP)115
Taxes and other revenues33.80 (% of GDP)70
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-3.00 (% of GDP)110
Public debt52.10 (% of GDP)60
Inflation rate (consumer prices)4.70 (%)135
Central bank discount rate7.00 (%)42
Commercial bank prime lending rate7.67 (%)120
Stock of narrow money9,330,000,000 78
Stock of broad money43,470,000,000 70
Stock of domestic credit51,860,000,000 63
Market value of publicly traded shares22,440,000,000 61
Industrial production growth rate-5.30 (%)163
Current account balance-560,000,000 98
Exports12,340,000,000 87
Imports20,760,000,000 76
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold14,890,000,000 67
Debt - external59,750,000,000 56
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home34,270,000,000 58
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad6,074,000,000 63

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production9,281,000,000 (kWh)97
Electricity - consumption16,700,000,000 (kWh)73
Electricity - exports1,380,000,000 (kWh)48
Electricity - imports8,799,000,000 (kWh)25
Electricity - installed generating capacity4,021,000 (kW)79
Electricity - from fossil fuels47.20 (% of total installed capacity)162
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants44.70 (% of total installed capacity)48
Electricity - from other renewable sources0.80 (% of total installed capacity)72
Crude oil - production28,230 (bbl/day)68
Crude oil - imports53,620 (bbl/day)55
Crude oil - proved reserves2,960,000 (bbl)97
Refined petroleum products - production77,020 (bbl/day)81
Refined petroleum products - consumption74,410 (bbl/day)90
Refined petroleum products - exports33,870 (bbl/day)66
Refined petroleum products - imports31,250 (bbl/day)87
Natural gas - production1,850,000,000 (cu m)58
Natural gas - consumption2,755,000,000 (cu m)77
Natural gas - exports222,000,000 (cu m)44
Natural gas - imports1,127,000,000 (cu m)58
Natural gas - proved reserves24,920,000,000 (cu m)75
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy21,460,000 (Mt)81

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use1,761,000 63
Telephones - mobile cellular5,115,000 103
Internet hosts729,420 50
Internet users2,234,000 73

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports69 75
Railways2,722 (km)60
Roadways29,343 (km)98
Waterways785 (km)74
Merchant marine77 57

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures1.50 (% of GDP)94

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Poreč
The group of religious monuments in Porec, where Christianity was established as early as the 4th century, constitutes the most complete surviving complex of its type. The basilica, atrium, baptistery and episcopal palace are outstanding examples of ...
1997
Historic City of Trogir
Trogir is a remarkable example of urban continuity. The orthogonal street plan of this island settlement dates back to the Hellenistic period and it was embellished by successive rulers with many fine public and domestic buildings and fortifications. ...
1997
Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
The ruins of Diocletian's Palace, built between the late 3rd and the early 4th centuries A.D., can be found throughout the city. The cathedral was built in the Middle Ages, reusing materials from the ancient mausoleum. Twelfth- and 13th-century Roman ...
1979
Old City of Dubrovnik
The 'Pearl of the Adriatic', situated on the Dalmatian coast, became an important Mediterranean sea power from the 13th century onwards. Although severely damaged by an earthquake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its beautiful Gothic, Renaissan ...
1979
Plitvice Lakes National Park
The waters flowing over the limestone and chalk have, over thousands of years, deposited travertine barriers, creating natural dams which in turn have created a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls. These geological processes continue toda ...
1979
Stari Grad Plain
Stari Grad Plain on the Adriatic island of Hvar is a cultural landscape that has remained practically intact since it was first colonized by Ionian Greeks from Paros in the 4th century BC. The original agricultural activity of this fertile plain, mai ...
2008
The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik
The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik (1431-1535), on the Dalmatian coast, bears witness to the considerable exchanges in the field of monumental arts between Northern Italy, Dalmatia and Tuscany in the 15th and 16th centuries. The three architects wh ...
2000