REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

• Official name: Republika Hrvatska (Republic of Croatia)
• Location: Central Europe
• International organisations: Council of Europe, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, United Nations, World Trade Organisation
• Borders: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia
• Coastline: Adriatic Sea
• Land area: 56,542 Km2
• Population: 4,500,000
• Annual GDP (PPP) per capita: US$17,600 (2009 CIA estimate). World ranking: 54
• Ethnicity: Croatian 78.1%, Serbian 12.2%. There are small minorities of Hungarians, Italians, Czechs and Albanians.
• Languages: Croatian is the official language and is spoken by over 80% of the population. The Serb minority speak Serbian, which is similar to Croatian but written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
• Religion: Nearly 90% of the population are at least nominally Christians. The Croats are Catholics and the Serbs are Orthodox. There is a small Moslem minority.
• Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Croatia is divided into 20 counties and the capital city.
• Capital: Zagreb
• Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia came into effect on 22 December 1990.
• Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The President's functions are largely ceremonial. President Ivo Josipovic took office on 18 February 2010.
• Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
• Legislature: Croatia has a unicameral legislature, the Assembly (Sabor). The House of Representatives (Zastupnieki Dom) has 151 members, elected for four-year terms. Of these, 140 members are elected from multi-member constituencies. Six members are elected by proportional representation to represent Croatians living abroad and five members are elected to represent ethnic minorities. The upper house of the parliament, the House of Counties, was abolished in March 2001.
• Electoral authority: The State Electoral Commission administers national elections
• Freedom House 2011 rating: Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 2
• Transparency International Corruption Index: 41% (62 of 178 countries rated)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom 2010 Index: 82.5% (62 of 178 countries rated)
• Heritage Foundation Economic Freedom 2010 Index: 61.1% (82 of 179 countries rated)

Political history

The mediaeval Kingdom of Croatia was united with Hungary in 1102. After the battle of Mohacs in 1526, most of Croatia was occupied by the Ottomans. During the early 17th century it was brought under Hapsburg rule as the Ottomans retreated. Croatian nationalism emerged in 19th century, and when the Hapsburg Empire collaped in 1918, Croatia joined with the Serbs and Slovenes to form a South Slav state, called Yugoslavia from 1929.

When Yugoslavia was overrun by the Germans in 1941, a fascist movement seized power in Zagreb and declared a Croatian state under German protection. This regime massacred Jews and Serbs and its crimes discredited Croatian nationalism for a generation. In 1945 Croatia became a republic of the re-established Yugoslavia, under Communist rule until 1990. When Communist rule disintegrated, Croatia declared its independence in June 1991.

Under its first president, the nationalist leader Franjo Tudjman, Croatia fought a war with the Serb-controlled Yugoslav army in eastern Slavonia, then became involved in the prolonged civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tudjman's extremism isolated Croatia from the European mainstream, but since his death in 1999 Croatia has followed a more moderate course. Croatia is likely to be the next country admitted to the European Union.

Croatian politics are now dominated by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) and the right-wing nationalist Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). Since Franjo Tudjman's death the HDZ has abandoned his extreme nationalism, becoming a mainstream conservative party. At the 2007 elections the HDZ won a plurality of seats, allowing first Ivo Sanader and then Jadranka Kosor to form coalition governments. At the 2010 presidential elections, however, the HDZ suffered a serious split, allowing the SDP's Ivo Josipovic an easy victory. The Social Democrats followed through by winning the December 2011 legislative elections, with Zoran Milanovic becoming Prime Minister.

Freedom House's 2011 report on Croatia says: "Croatia is an electoral democracy. Both the 2009-2010 presidential poll and the 2007 parliamentary elections were deemed free and fair... Corruption was a major problem in 2010. Investigations into corruption allegations were opened on a variety of fronts, including HDZ misappropriation of funds from state enterprises, customs duties, and the privatization of state-owned enterprises... The constitution guarantees freedoms of expression and the press. While these rights are generally respected in practice, reporters remain vulnerable to political pressure... The constitution provides for freedoms of association and assembly. A variety of both international and domestic nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) operate in Croatia without governmental interference or harassment... Judicial independence and the overall functioning of the judiciary remain problematic... Respect for minority rights in Croatia has improved over the past decade, but various forms of harassment and discrimination persist."

Updated January 2012