Country Summary: Croatia
Country Name: Croatia
Capital: Zagreb
Government Type: parliamentary republic
Background: The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end 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 consisting of six socialist republics, including Croatia, under the strong hand of Josip Broz, aka TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before Yugoslav forces were 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 2009 and the EU in 2013. In January 2023, Croatia further integrated into the EU by joining the Eurozone and the Schengen Area.
Continent: Europe
Population: 4,169,239 (2023 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Croat 91.6%, Serb 3.2%, other 3.9% (including Bosniak, Romani, Albanian, Italian, and Hungarian), unspecified 1.3% (2021 est.)
Languages: Croatian (official) 95.2%, Serbian 1.2%, other 3.1% (including Bosnian, Romani, Albanian, and Italian) unspecified 0.5% (2021 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 79%, Orthodox 3.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other Christian 4.8%, Muslim 1.3%, other 1.1%, agnostic 1.7%, none or atheist 4.7%, unspecified 3.9% (2021 est.)
Economic Overview: tourism-based economy that was one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 economic disruptions; newest euro user since 2023, helping recover from a 6-year recession; public debt increases due to COVID-19 and stimulus packages; weak exports; continuing emigration; new liquefied natural gas import terminal
Currency: European Euro (EUR)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: $29.726 billion (2022 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $132.256 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars
Real GDP Growth Rate: 6.35% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency
Real GDP per Capita: $34,300 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars
Exports:
$41.953 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Comparison Ranking: 72
Export Commodities: refined petroleum, crude petroleum, packaged medicines, electricity, electrical transformers (2021)
Export Partners: Italy 13%, Germany 13%, Slovenia 10%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 9%, Austria 6%, Serbia 5% (2019)
Imports:
$46.307 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Comparison Ranking: 70
Import Commodities: crude petroleum, cars, refined petroleum, packaged medicines, electricity (2019)
Import Partners: Italy 14%, Germany 14%, Slovenia 11%, Hungary 7%, Austria 6% (2019)
Natural Resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower
Agricultural Products: maize, wheat, sugar beet, milk, barley, soybeans, potatoes, pork, grapes, sunflower seed
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
Industrial Production Growth Rate:
2.69% (2022 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency
Comparison Ranking: 124
Labor Force: 1.732 million (2022 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 6.96% (2022 est.)
Natural Hazards: destructive earthquakes
Geography:
Total: 56,594 sq km
Land: 55,974 sq km
Water: 620 sq km
(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)
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