Croatia General Information

MAIN CROATIA REGIONS ARE:
• South Dalmatia (Dubrovnik),
• Central Dalmatia (Split),
• North Dalmatia (Sibenik),
• North Dalmatia (Zadar),
• Kvarner,
• Istria,
• Central Croatia,
• Slavonia & Baranja,
• Zagreb.

GENERAL INFO:
• NAME: Croatia,
• OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Croatia,
• LOCAL NAME: Hrvatska,
• LOCAL OFFICIAL NAME: Republika Hrvatska,
• AREA: 89 810 square kilometres,
• CAPITAL: Zagreb,
• INDEPENDENCE: 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia),
• NATIONAL HOLIDAY: Republic Day, 30 May,
• CONSTITUTION: 22 December 1990,
• POPULATION: 4 784 000,
• SUFFRAGE: 18 years of age, universal (16 years of age, if employed),
• ETHNICITY: Croat (78 %), Serb (12 %), Bosniak (1 %), others (9 %) from (1991),
• LANGUAGES: Croatian & other minority ethnic languages (Italian, Bosnian, ...),
• RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic (77%), Orthodox (11%), Muslim (1%).

GEOGRAPHY:
• LOCATION: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia,
• GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES: 45 10 N, 15 30 E,
• MAP PREFERENCES: Europe,
• AREA: Total: 56 542 sq km, land: 56 414 sq km, water: 128 sq km,
COASTLINE: 5 835 km (mainland 1 777 km, islands 4 058 km),
• MARITIME CLAIMS: Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM,
• 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 coastline and islands,
• ELEVATION EXTREMES: 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, hydropower.

POLITICS:
• POLITICAL SYSTEM: The Republic of Croatia is a parliamentary democracy. Croatia political system is like most countries in Western & Central Europe.
• PRESIDENT: The President of the Republic is Head of State. He is directly elected for a term of five years. The President is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces (HV), and represents the Republic of Croatia. Current president is Stjepan Mesic (since 18.02.2000.)
• EXECUTIVE: The Government initiates general policies and activities related to interior & foreign policies. He co-ordinates and directs the work of the state administration. The Government implements laws and other regulations, passes decrees in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
• LEGISLATIVE: The Government is headed by the Prime Minister. It is politically responsible only to the Croatian Parliament, which is comprised of two chambers, the House of Counties and the House of Representatives. Members of both chambers serve 4 year terms.
• JUDICIARY: The judicial system includes district, constitutional and supreme courts. The supreme court and constitutional court judges are elected for 8 year terms by the Judicial Council of the Republic, which is elected by the House of Representatives.

MISCELANIOUS:
• PHONE CALL NUMBER: Phone call number for Croatia is 00385 or +385.
• TIME ZONE: GTM +01:00 (+ one hour during the winter time and GTM + two hours during the summer time).
• CROATIAN INTERNET DOMAIN: hr (for example: www.croatia.hr)
• TAX RETURN: Keep your bills of each shopping you made in Croatia and ask for tax-free form for each shopping that is higher of 500 HRK (except for oil derivatives). That way you can ask for tax return when you go home. Ask for seal at the border! If you plan to shop works of art, ask for export approval before shopping.
• ELECTRICITY: Voltage on city current net is 220 V, frequencies 50 Hz, so that visitors from USA have to use transformer, and visitors from England adapter for European current net so that they can use their electric devices.

HOLIDAYS:
CROATIAN NATIONAL HOLIDAYS AND NON-WORKING DAYS:
- 1th of January, New Year,
- 6th of January, Holy Three Kings,
- 23th – 24th of March, Easter and Easter Monday,
- 1th of May, Labor Day,
- 22nd of May, Solemnity of the Most Holy Body (40 days after Easter),
- 22nd of June, Day of Antifascist Struggle,
- 25th of June, Statehood Day,
- 5th of August, Homeland Thanksgiving Day,
- 15th of August, Assumption of Mary,
- 8th of October, The Independence Day,
- 1th of November, All Saint's Day,
- 25th and 26th of December, Christmas holidays.

During the national holidays all public institutions are closed.