NAVIGATION
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NAVIGATION
Republic of Croatia
Republika Hrvatska
INTRODUCTION
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Background:
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In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became an 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. |
GEOGRAPHY
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Location:
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Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia |
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Geographic coordinates:
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45 10 N, 15 30 E |
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Map references:
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Europe |
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Area:
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total: 56,542 sq km
water: 128 sq km land: 56,414 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than West Virginia |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 2,197 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro (north) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south) 25 km, Slovenia 670 km |
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Coastline:
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5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km) |
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Maritime claims:
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continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Climate:
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Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast |
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Terrain:
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geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m |
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Natural resources:
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oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower |
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Land use:
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arable land: 23.55%
permanent crops: 2.24% other: 74.21% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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30 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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destructive earthquakes |
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Environment - current issues:
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air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and reconstruction of infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil strife |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
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Geography - note:
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controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits |
PEOPLE
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Population:
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4,390,751 (July 2002 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 18.3% (male 411,847; female 390,797)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male 1,461,305; female 1,448,973) 65 years and over: 15.4% (male 252,970; female 424,859) (2002 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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1.12% (2002 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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12.8 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Death rate:
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11.31 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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9.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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7.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 74.13 years
female: 77.96 years (2002 est.) male: 70.52 years |
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Total fertility rate:
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1.93 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.02% (1999 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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350 (1999 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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less than 100 (1999 est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)
adjective: Croatian |
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Ethnic groups:
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Croat 78.1%, Serb 12.2%, Bosniak 0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovene 0.5%, Czech 0.4%, Albanian 0.3%, Montenegrin 0.3%, Roma 0.2%, others 6.6% (1991) |
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Religions:
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Roman Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%, others and unknown 10.8% (1991) |
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Languages:
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Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97% male: 99% female: 95% (1991 est.) |