Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Croatia
conventional short form:
Croatia
local long form:
Republika Hrvatska
local short form:
Hrvatska
former:
People's Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Croatia
Government type:
parliamentary democracy
Capital:
name: Zagreb
geographic coordinates:
45 48 N, 16 00 E
time difference:
UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular) and 1 city* (grad - singular) with special county status; Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska, Brodsko-Posavska, Dubrovacko-Neretvanska (Dubrovnik-Neretva), Istarska (Istria), Karlovacka, Koprivnicko-Krizevacka, Krapinsko-Zagorska, Licko-Senjska (Lika-Senj), Medimurska, Osjecko-Baranjska, Pozesko-Slavonska (Pozega-Slavonia), Primorsko-Goranska, Sibensko-Kninska, Sisacko-Moslavacka, Splitsko-Dalmatinska (Split-Dalmatia), Varazdinska, Viroviticko-Podravska, Vukovarsko-Srijemska, Zadarska, Zagreb*, Zagrebacka (Zagreb county)
Independence:
25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 8 October (1991) and Statehood Day, 25 June (1991); note - 25 June 1991 was the day the Croatian parliament voted for independence; following a three-month moratorium to allow the European Community to solve the Yugoslav crisis peacefully, Parliament adopted a decision on 8 October 1991 to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia
Constitution:
several previous; latest adopted 22 December 1990; amended several times, last in 2010 (2012)
Legal system:
civil law system influenced by legal heritage of Austria-Hungary; note - Croatian law was fully harmonized with the the European Community acquis as of the June 2010 completion of EU accession negotiations
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age, 16 if employed; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ivo JOSIPOVIC (since 18 February 2010)
head of government:
Prime Minister Zoran MILANOVIC (since 23 December 2011); First Deputy Prime Minister Vesna PUSIC (since 16 November 2012)
cabinet:
Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the parliamentary assembly
elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 10 January 2010 (next to be held in December 2014); the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president and then approved by the assembly
election results:
Ivo JOSIPOVIC elected president; percent of vote in the second round - Ivo JOSIPOVIC 60%, Milan BANDIC 40%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Assembly or Sabor (151 seats; members elected from party lists by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections:
last held on 4 December 2011 (next to be held in late 2015)
election results:
percent of vote by party - Kukuriku 40%, HDZ 23.5%, Laborists-Labor 5.1%, HSS 3%, HDSSB 2.9%, Independent list of Ivan Grubisic 2.8%, HCSP-HSP 2.8%, other 19.9%; number of seats by party - Kukuriku 80, HDZ 47, Laborists-Labor 6, HDSSB 6, Independent list of Ivan Grubisic 2, HSS 1, HCSP-HSP 1, other 8
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president and vice president, 25 civil department justices, and 16 criminal department justices)
judge selection and term of office:
president of Supreme Court nominated by president of Croatia and elected by Croatian Sabor for a 4-year term; other Supreme Court justices appointed by National Judicial Council; all judges serve until age 70
subordinate courts:
Administrative Court; county, municipal, and specialized courts; note - there is an 11-member Constitutional Court with jurisdiction limited to constitutional issues but is outside Croatia's judicial system
Political parties and leaders:
Croatian Civic Party or HGS [Zeljko KERUM]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
other: human rights groups
International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, EU, FAO, G-11, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Josko PARO (since 20 April 2012)
chancery:
2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 588-5899
FAX:
[1] (202) 588-8936
consulate(s) general:
Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Kenneth MERTEN (since 3 October 2012)
embassy:
2 Thomas Jefferson Street, 10010 Zagreb
mailing address:
use street address
telephone:
[385] (1) 661-2200
FAX:
[385] (1) 661-2373
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue - the Pan-Slav colors - superimposed by the Croatian coat of arms; the coat of arms consists of one main shield (a checkerboard of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields) surmounted by five smaller shields that form a crown over the main shield; the five small shields represent five historic regions, they are (from left to right): Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia
note:
the Pan-Slav colors were inspired by the 19th-century flag of Russia
National symbol(s):
red-white checkerboard
National anthem:
name: "Lijepa nasa domovino" (Our Beautiful Homeland)
lyrics/music: Antun MIHANOVIC/Josip RUNJANIN
note: adopted 1972; "Lijepa nasa domovino," whose lyrics were written in 1835, served as an unofficial anthem beginning in 1891
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Croatia on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Croatia Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Croatia Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 06-Nov-14