Teamassistent

1. General information

Total area - 87609 sq. km (Land area 56542 sq.km; Sea area 31067 sq.km);
Population - 4 437 460;
Language - Croatian;
Capital - Zagreb (779 145);
Biggest cities - Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek, Split;
Ethnic groups - Croat (78%); Serb (12%); Bosniak (1%); others (9%) (1991).
Currency - Kuna (HRK), divided into 100 lipa. 1 HRK is about € 0,12.

Visit the web site of larger Croatian cities - links are at the bottom of the page.

2. Political development

History

• the arrival of the Croats to the Balkan peninsula at the beginning of the 7th century,
• the period of Croatian Princes and Kings of native birth (until 1102),
• Croatia sharing with Hungary a new state under common Hungarian and Croatian Kings (1102-1526),
• Croatia ruled by the Habsburgs, as a member of the Habsburg Crown (1527-1918, Austrian-Hungarian Empire from 1867 to 1918), parts of Croatia under Venice, Turkish Ottoman Empire and France,
• Croatia in the first Yugoslavia (1918-1941),
• The Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945),
• Croatia as a republic in Tito's (or second) Yugoslavia (1945-1991),
• internationally recognized Republic of Croatia (January 1992).

Government

• presidential/parliamentary democracy;
• President of the Republic: Stjepan Mesic;
• Prime Minister: Ivo Sanader;
• Speaker of the Parliament: Vladimir Seks.

Political parties

HDSSB	Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja
HDZ	Croatian Democratic Union
HSU	Croatian Party of Pensioners
HSP	Croatian Party of Rights
HSS	Croatian Peasant Party
HNS	Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats
HSLS	Croatian Social Liberal Party
DC	Democratic Centre
MDS	Democratic Union of Međimurje
SDSS	Independent Democratic Serbian Party
IDS-DDI	Istrian Democratic Assembly
SDA Hrvatske	Party of Democratic Action of Croatia
PGS	Primorje - Gorski Kotar Alliance
S-BHS	Slavonia and Baranja Croatian Party
SDP	Social Democratic Party of Croatia

3. Economic 

Main industries	chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages; tourism.
Infrastructure:	highways, ports, airports
Airports:	Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Pula, Bol
Ports:
Major transport seaports:	Omisalj, Ploce, Rijeka, Sibenik
Other seaports:	Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Pula, Split, Zadar
Highways:	According to recent statements of European traffic experts, Croatian highways belong to the most modern and safest in Europe. This is also due to the fact that the largest part of the Croatian motorway system has recently been constructed, and construction works are rapidly continuing.

	2005*
Poverty headcount ratio at $2 a day (PPP) (% of population)	..
GDP (current US$) (billions)	38.51
GDP growth (annual %)	4.3
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$)	8290
Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)	3.3
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)	4.6
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)	12.7
Time required to start a business (days)	49
Internet users (per 1,000 people)	327
Source: World Development Indicators (2006)

4. Typical for country

Plitvice Lakes	Sinj’s Alka	National costume Djakovo
	The Golden Cape

5. Main Phrases

Hi - Bok;
Good-bye - Dovidjenja;
Yes - Da;
No - Ne;
Thank you - Hvala;
Please - Molim;
Sorry – Oprosti.