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Croatia

Facts and stats about Croatia

chris.lockyer781

Author: chris.lockyer781

A country by the Adriatic Sea with whopping 5,835 km of coastline, which is all the more surprising given just 57 thousand km^2 of total area, Croatia is known to most Europeans only by amazing summer resorts and good but unsuccessful Eurovision contestants. Since this pocket of land by the Adriatic Sea is blessed with Mediterranean climate and culture, including the heart-protective Mediterranean diet, the life expectancy of Croatians is rather high - 73 years for men and 80 years for women in 2013 - although the area itself is not among the most developed in Europe. Croatia joined European Union only in 2013, and has thus only recently begun to exploit EU directives and funds to supplement its health care: the number of physicians per 1.000 is still only 2.4 and thus ranks among the bottom three countries with least doctors per 1.000 (other two are Slovenia and United Kingdom). This is in part also due to the relatively poor economic status, with trained experts leaving to seek better wages either in Slovenia, which remains the richest countries of ex-Yugoslavia - a desirable destination for expat Croatians especially for the similarity in language - further north in Austria and Germany; or overseas, for example in United States and Chile, due to Croatian communities established in those countries in the past century.

4.48 million

Population. Ranked 124th in 2013.

$13,227.47

GDP per capita. Ranked 47th in 2012.

Borders

Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia 241 km, Montenegro 25 km, Slovenia 455 km
Largest city Zagreb - 930,753
Capital city Zagreb - 930,753
Major language Croatian
Major religion Christianity
Monetary unit kuna
Prime minister Zoran Milanovic
Alternative names Republic of Croatia, Republika Hrvatska, croatia/hrvatska, Hrvatska, Croatia
Groups Group object, Group object, Group object, Group object, Group object, Group object, Group object, Group object, Group object

Interesting observations about Croatia

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A country by the Adriatic Sea with whopping 5,835 km of coastline, which is all the more surprising given just 57 thousand km^2 of total area, Croatia is known to most Europeans only by amazing summer resorts and good but unsuccessful Eurovision contestants. Since this pocket of land by the Adriatic Sea is blessed with Mediterranean climate and culture, including the heart-protective Mediterranean diet, the life expectancy of Croatians is rather high - 73 years for men and 80 years for women in 2013 - although the area itself is not among the most developed in Europe. Croatia joined European Union only in 2013, and has thus only recently begun to exploit EU directives and funds to supplement its health care: the number of physicians per 1.000 is still only 2.4 and thus ranks among the bottom three countries with least doctors per 1.000 (other two are Slovenia and United Kingdom). This is in part also due to the relatively poor economic status, with trained experts leaving to seek better wages either in Slovenia, which remains the richest countries of ex-Yugoslavia - a desirable destination for expat Croatians especially for the similarity in language - further north in Austria and Germany; or overseas, for example in United States and Chile, due to Croatian communities established in those countries in the past century.

Posted on 24 Mar 2014

chris.lockyer781

chris.lockyer781

396 Stat enthusiast

3

The Republic of Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 after Slovenia. This period was followed by four years of hostilities and another decade of authoritarian nationalism under President Franjo Tudjman. Within 13 years, Croatia was able to gain a little stability and sought membership in the European Union. The approval of its membership was delayed primarily because the country's notorious war crimes suspect, General Ante Gotovina remained free until 2005. He was finally sentenced by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague in April of 2011, and shortly after this, Croatia successfully completed its EU accession negotiations. It became the 28th member of the Union last year.

Croatia joined the World Trade Organisation and promised to open up its economy to the world. Nevertheless, the problem of organised crime and internal violence continues to be a primary issue. Likewise, the government still has to show that it is serious in resolving problems that plagues the nation. Croatia also had a clash with Slovenia because of sea and land borders which lasted until June of 2010.

Croatia’s economy grew at five percent per annum before the global economic crisis overwhelmed the EU. The outlook remains fragile because of the dependence of Croatia on economic phases in Europe. ½ of the nation trade is confined to the continent and most of these are with Italy and Germany. The EU is also its primary source of foreign direct investments. Unemployment is a problem especially after it went up by 14 percent at the start of 2013. Croatia has the highest rate of youth unemployment in the entire European continent.

Posted on 03 Apr 2014

jaacosta47

jaacosta47

423 Stat enthusiast

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