Part 186

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

International disputes: Eastern Slavonia, which was held by ethnic Serbs during the war, is currently being overseen by the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia; reintegration of Eastern Slavonia into Croatia will occur in 1997; although Croatia does not recognize the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," both countries have agreed to open consular sections in each other's capitals; Croatia and Italy have not resolved a bilateral issue dating from WWII over property and ethnic minority rights; a border dispute with Slovenia is unresolved

Climate: Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast

Terrain: geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coast, coastline, and islands lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Dinara 1,830 m

Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt

Land use: arable land: 32% permanent crops: 20% meadows and pastures: 18% forest and woodland: 15% other: 15%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment: current issues: air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; widespread casualties and destruction of infrastructure in border areas affected by civil strife natural hazards: frequent and destructive earthquakes international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea

Geographic note: controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits

People ------

Population: 5,004,112 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 18% (male 453,142; female 431,118) 15-64 years: 69% (male 1,731,200; female 1,716,824) 65 years and over: 13% (male 252,897; female 418,931) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.58% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 9.83 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 11.33 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 7.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: 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 all ages: 0.95 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 10.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.81 years male: 69.13 years female: 76.72 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality: noun: Croat(s) adjective: Croatian

Ethnic divisions: Croat 78%, Serb 12%, Muslim 0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovenian 0.5%, others 8.1% (1991)

Religions: Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Slavic Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%, others and unknown 10.8%

Languages: Serbo-Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czechoslovak, and German)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1991 est.) total population: 97% male: 99% female: 95%

Government ----------

Name of country: conventional long form: Republic of Croatia conventional short form: Croatia local long form: Republika Hrvatska local short form: Hrvatska

Data code: HR