Croatia (Geography)
Croatia extends north and west of Bosnia and Herzegovina with borders to both
the Federation of Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims and the Republic of
Serbia (Republika Srpska). Croatia also borders Slovenia and Hungary to the
north and Serbia to the east. Both the southern and eastern borders run through
areas where before 1991 there was an ethnically composed population. Larger
areas are ethnically homogeneous after wars and ethnic cleansing, but there are
still tensions between Croats and other ethnic groups in Eastern Slavonia.
Population
More than 80% of Croatia's residents were Croats in 1991, while about 12%
were Serbs, mainly living in Krajina.and in Eastern and Western Slavonia. About
250,000 Serbs fled or were expelled in the autumn of 1995, and in 2001 the
Croatian Serbs made up approximately 4.5% of the population. Some of the displaced
Croatian Serbs have begun to return, but the return is still happening at a slow
pace; since 1996, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has
assisted 18,000 Croatian-Serbian refugees from Serbia and Montenegro and 7,500
from Bosnia-Herzegovina to return. The Croatian government estimates that a
further 107,000 have returned on their own. The UNHCR estimates that the rest of
the approximately 250,000 Croatian Serbs who fled in 1995 are either still
considering returning or have taken up permanent residence elsewhere. Croatia
also houses a small number of Muslims, Slovenes and Italians (43,000, 22,000 and
21,000 respectively). In 1996 there were also approximately 180.
- Countryaah:
Do you know how many people there are in Croatia? Check this site to see
population pyramid and resident density about this country.
Landscapes and professions
The western part of the country is dominated by the up to 1500 m high system
of mountain ranges the Dinarids or the Dinaric Alps along the Adriatic Sea and
includes the landscape of Dalmatia. These karst landscapes have short
rivers, large depressions as well as numerous caves and grottoes. The area's
forests are the basis for a well-developed timber and wood industry. Agriculture
is largely linked to the often irrigated terraces, and olives, wine and fruit
are grown, in the southern part also citrus fruit. Along the Adriatic coast
there are approximately 600 islands. The geological fault lines follow roughly the
coast, which is rich in natural harbors, and delimit islands, straits and
fjords. Bauxite is found between Obrovac and Split and is extracted into
aluminum in Šibenik. Dalmatia's many ancient and much visited towns and seaside
resorts form a Riviera with a highway from north to south. The cities are
reminiscent of Habsburg, Venetian, Byzantine and even older colonization. In the
northwesternmost corner of Croatia lies the Istrian peninsula with important
tourist areas, bauxite deposits at Rovinj and the country's largest coal
deposits towards the SE.
Plitvice National Park on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina was created
in 1949 and includes a 192 km2 mountain landscape with lakes and
beech forests. In the hill country around Zagreb, forests alternate with
intensively cultivated arable land with cereals and root vegetables. At
Sisak is one of the country's large iron and steel works.
Slavonia, the fertile plain between the Danube, Drava and Sava, is divided
by low tributaries from the Alps, by the Papuk Mountains and by individual
horsts. The climate is drier and the steppe areas are mainly used for grain
cultivation. There is oil and natural gas immediately east of Sava.
More than half of Croatia's employees are employed in the service sector,
while industry and agriculture account for respectively. 40% and 5%. Not least
the tourism industry on Croatia's long and beautiful coast of the Adriatic is
central to the country's economy. The tourism industry experienced catastrophic
declines in activity during the wars of the former Yugoslavia 1991-95 and 1999,
but is now largely back to the level from before 1991. Croatia has also from
1991 had to go through a difficult transition from planned economy with large,
unprofitable state enterprises to a more market-oriented economy with small and
medium-sized private companies. The process still in the early 2000-t. Among
other things, for structural reasons has not yet been completed, has led to a
high unemployment rate of around 18% of the labor force.
Infrastructure
The topography refers railways and major roads to river valleys and
lowlands; only a few traffic routes connect the coast with the interior of the
country, and sea transport along the Adriatic coast is of great importance. The
main rail and motorway connections between Central Europe and the Southern
Balkans run through Zagreb and Slavonia. The vital connections from the Croatian
core area around Zagreb to Dalmatia and the southern Balkans were only
re-established with Croatia's recapture of Krajina and Western Slavonia in 1995.
Cities
Nearly 2/3 of the population lives in
cities. Zagreb (German: Agram) has been the episcopal see since 1093 and the
capital of Croatia since 1557. It is also an important industrial city with
an extensive textile industry, metal and machine industry, pharmaceutical
and chemical industry as well as paper and porcelain manufacturing. In Slavonski
Brod there is an oil refinery and the manufacture of railway
equipment. Rijeka (Italian: Fiume), Italian from 1924-47, is an
ancient fortress town and naval port and Croatia's most important port city with
shipyards, oil refineries and a diverse industry. The port city
of Split (Italian: Spalato) has shipyards, aluminum production and the
chemical industry.
Climate
Along the coast and in Istria the summers are hot and often dry, and the
winters mild with some rainfall; for example, the average temperature in Split
is 8 °C in January and 26 °C in July. The central and eastern parts of Croatia
have a more temperate climate, and the difference between winter and summer
temperatures increases to the east. Zagreb, for example, has 0 °C in January
and 22 °C in July. There is a lot of precipitation on the west-facing mountain
slopes.
Croatia (Religion)
The Roman Catholic Church with its archbishopric in Zagreb is by far the
largest denomination in Croatia. Since Croatia's secession from socialist
Yugoslavia, close links have existed between the Catholic Church and the
state. The Orthodox populations, especially in Krajina and Slavonia, are greatly
reduced after Serbian emigration and flight. There are also smaller Protestant
and Muslim denominations.
Croatia - language
Ethnic Croats speak one of three Croatian dialects: štokavisk, kajkavisk or
čakavisk, spoken by a total of 96% of the population (2001). The default
language is based on štokavisk. Until the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991,
Croatian was considered a variant of Serbo-Croatian. In addition, a number of
ethnic minority languages are spoken in the country. Most important
is Serbian, which is spoken by approximately 44,500 (2001) and until 1995 was
particularly prevalent in Krajina. Istro-Romanian is spoken by approximately 1000
people in Istria.
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