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Official name: Republika Hrvatska (Republic of Croatia) Head of State: President Stipe Mesic (HNS) (sworn in Feb 2000; re-elected 16 Jan 2005) Head of government: Prime Minister Ivo Sanader (HDZ) (appointed by the President 9 Dec 2003) Ruling party: Coalition government from Dec 2003: Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ) (Croatian Democratic Community) and Hrvatska Socialna Liberalna Stranka-Demokratski Centar (HSLS-DC) (Croatian Social Liberal Party-Democratic Centre) Area: 56,538 square km Population: 4.38 million (2004) Capital: Zagreb Official language: Croatian Currency: Kuna (K) = 100 lipas Exchange rate: K5.87 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$6,240 (2003) GDP real growth: 3.70% (2003) Labour force: 1.70 million (2003) Unemployment: 21.90% (2003) Inflation: 2.00% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$7.90 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$16.50 billion (2003)

 

Historical profile

The Croats formed an independent kingdom during the tenth century.

1089 Inner Croatia came under the control of Hungary and then the Habsburg empire, remaining that way for eight centuries.

1529 After Hungary's defeat by the Ottoman Turks, a militarised border was formed between Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina.

1918 The defeat of the Austro-Hungarian empire during the First World War saw the creation of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, encompassing Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, parts of Dalmatia and Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slavonia and Slovenia.

1921 Prince Alexander, Regent of Serbia, became King.

1929 Following disputes between Serbs and Croats, King Alexander assumed dictatorial powers in January and the country was renamed Yugoslavia.

1934 King Alexander of Yugoslavia was assassinated in France by Croatian extremists. Power passed to Prince Paul, acting as Regent to 11-year-old King Peter II. He ruled with the support of the armed forces.

1939 Croatia was granted internal autonomy.

1941 A coup by air force officers replaced Prince Paul and the pro-Nazi Germany government with the 17-year-old King Peter II and established a pro-Allied government. In response, German and Italian forces invaded Yugoslavia in April, forcing the royal family and government into exile. The fascist Ustasha movement, led by Ante Pavelic, created the Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska (NDH) (Independent State of Croatia).

1943 Civil war ensued between two rival groups, the communist partisans, led by General Tito, and the Royalist Chetniks. In November, the partisans proclaimed their own government in liberated areas.

1944 King Peter II was deposed.

1945 The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in November, with Josip Broz Tito as prime minister – a Croat opposed to expressions of Croat (or any other) nationalism. Croatia became a constituent republic of the federation. The other republics were: Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia and the two autonomous regions of Vojvodina and Kosovo.

1953 Constitutions were adopted and Tito became president of Yugoslavia. Increased autonomy for the constituent republics was extended in 1963 and 1974.

1971 A mass movement in favour of Croatian nationalist revival was crushed by Tito.

1989 Following the death of Tito in 1980 and the fall of communism elsewhere in Eastern Europe, friction between the wealthier republics, Slovenia and Croatia, and the different ethnic groupings intensified.

1990 Following Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia, Croatia held its own free elections which were won by the nationalist Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ) (Croatian Democratic Community). Franjo Tudjman became the first president of the Republic of Croatia. In August, the Croatian Serbs held their own referendum, which resulted in a vote in favour of maintaining their cultural autonomy. Rebel Serbs took control of the Krajina region and two other regions in Croatia -- Eastern Slavonia and Western Slavonia.

1991 Independence from Yugoslavia was unilaterally declared.

1992--94 Croatia was recognised as an independent state by the then European Community (EC) on 15 January and became a member of the UN. Franjo Tudjman was re-elected president. Croatia's declaration of independence was followed by several months of war, first against the Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija (JNA) (Yugoslav National Army) and then against local rebel ethnic Serbs. The Croatian government began to finance and support Bosnian Croat attempts to separate from Bosnia-Hercegovina. This worsened the civil war in Bosnia with hostilities between the Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats until a cease-fire was achieved and the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Hercegovina was established in 1994.

1995 After nearly four years of Serb control, western Slavonia and Krajina were recaptured by the Croatian army. Franjo Tudjman's ruling nationalist HDZ won the parliamentary elections and Zlatko Matesa became prime minister. President Tudjman of Croatia, along with President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia-Hercegovina, agreed to end the Bosnian civil war.

1996 Yugoslavia (consisting of Serbia and Montenegro and the two autonomous regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina) and Croatia signed an agreement on mutual recognition, formally ending five years of hostility.

1997 The HDZ won a majority in the upper house of the Sabor and President Franjo Tudjman was re-elected.

1998 Eastern Slavonia (some 5 per cent of Croatia's total territory) was handed back to Croatia by the UN Transition Authority for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES).

1999 Due to Franjo Tudjman's deteriorating health, the president of the House of Representatives, Vlatko Pavletic, took over as acting Croatian president in November. Franjo Tudjman died on 10 December.

2000 The Socialdemokratska Partija (SDP) (Social Democratic Party) won the general election. A centre-left coalition government was formed, led by the SDP, with Ivica Racan (SDP) as prime minister. Stipe Mesic of the Hrvatska Narodna Stranka (HNS) (Croatian People's Party) and regarded as an ally of the SDP, was sworn in as president.

2001 A constitutional amendment resulted in the abolition of the upper house of parliament, the Zupanijski dom (House of Counties). Croatia agreed to extradite several suspected war criminals to the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague in The Netherlands. War veteran groups protested strongly at the government's co-operation.

2002 Ivica Racan resigned as prime minister, but was reappointed by President Mesic and formed a new centre-left coalition government, comprising the SDP, HNS, Hrvatska Seljacka Stranka (HSS) (Croatian Peasant Party), Liberalna Stranka (LS) (Liberal Party) and Libra.

2003 In February, Croatia submitted its formal application for EU membership.The HDZ – Croatian nationalists – defeated the pro-Western parties in the 23 November parliamentary elections. On 9 December, President Stipe Mesic appointed Ivo Sanader (HDZ) as prime minister and a coalition government was formed by the HDZ and the Hrvatska Socialna Liberalna Stranka-Demokratski Centar (HSLS-DC) (Croatian Social Liberal Party-Democratic Centre).

2004 The construction of Croatia's first wind farm is to be completed by the end of November.

2005 In the run-off presidential elections on 16 January, Stipe Mesic won 66 per cent of the vote, defeating Jadranka Kosor with 34 per cent.

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