Croatia
Article
August 13, 2022
Croatia (old name Croatia, Croatian Hrvatska), full name Republic of Croatia (Croatian Republika Hrvatska), is a European country that is geographically located on the border of Central and Southern Europe; it is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia. Its neighbors are Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Croatia is a member of the OSCE (since 24/03/1992), UN (since 22/5/1992), Council of Europe (since 6/11/1996), WTO (since 30/11/2000), NATO (since 1/4 2009) and the European Union (from 1 July 2013). The capital is Zagreb, which is also one of the 21 regions (žup, Croatian counties). The area of Croatia is 56,594 km², the majority of this territory lies in a continental climate, the rest in a Mediterranean climate. The area also includes the surface of more than 1,000 Croatian islands of various sizes, from the largest with an area of over 400 km² (Krk, Cres), to smaller ones (Brač, Hvar) to very small reefs. 3.9 million people live in Croatia, most of them claim Croatian nationality. The first Slavs arrived in the territory of today's Croatia at the beginning of the 7th century, and at the beginning of the 9th century they created a state unit with two duchies. Tomislav became the first Croatian king in 925 (from 910 to 925 the duke). Croatia existed as an independent kingdom until 1102, after which it joined the personal union with the Hungarians, i.e. with today's Hungary. In 1527, due to the ongoing Hundred Years' War (1493–1593) with the Turks (Ottoman Empire), Ferdinand I. Habsburg was elected as the head of Croatia, and the country thus became part of the Habsburg Monarchy until 1918. After the end of the First World War, Croats, Slovenes and Serbs created an internationally unrecognized state - the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which existed for less than a month. After that, Croatia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since October 3, 1929, the name of the state was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). During the Second World War, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia fell apart and the so-called Independent State of Croatia was created. After the war, Croatia, together with other countries, established the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in which it remained until 1991, when it declared independence, which was internationally recognized in 1992. However, the declaration of independence resulted in the Croatian War of Independence, which lasted until 1995, and which Croatia won. Modern Croatia is a parliamentary republic. It is the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world. Tourism is also one of the most important sources of state income, accounting for 20% of GDP. Its most important trading partners are Italy, Slovenia and Germany.