The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I.

In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal Tito.

Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands.

Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 4,493,312 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 16% (male 368,639/female 349,703) 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 1,499,354/female 1,515,932) 65 years and over: 16.9% (male 292,526/female 467,158) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 40.6 years male: 38.6 years female: 42.3 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: -0.035% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 9.63 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 11.57 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.054 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.989 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.626 male(s)/female total population: 0.926 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 74.9 years male: 71.26 years female: 78.75 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.41 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 200 (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 10 (2001 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s) adjective: Croatian

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Ethnic groups: Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, other 5.9% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, and Roma) (2001 census)

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Religions: Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.9%, none 5.2% (2001 census)

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Languages: Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.1% male: 99.3% female: 97.1% (2001 census)

Once one of the wealthiest of the Yugoslav republics, Croatia's economy suffered badly during the 1991-95 war as output collapsed and the country missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since 2000, however, Croatia's economic fortunes have begun to improve slowly, with moderate but steady GDP growth between 4% and 5% led by a rebound in tourism and credit-driven consumer spending. Inflation over the same period has remained tame and the currency, the kuna, stable. Nevertheless, difficult problems still remain, including a stubbornly high unemployment rate, a growing trade deficit and uneven regional development. The state retains a large role in the economy, as privatization efforts often meet stiff public and political resistance. While macroeconomic stabilization has largely been achieved, structural reforms lag because of deep resistance on the part of the public and lack of strong support from politicians. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $60.26 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $37.42 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 4.6% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $13,400 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 6.8% industry: 30.9% services: 62.3% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 1.72 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 2.7% industry: 32.8% services: 64.5% (2004)

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Unemployment rate: 17.2% official rate; labor force surveys indicate unemployment around 14% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 11% (2003)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 24.5% (2003 est.)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 29 (2001)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.4% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 28.5% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $17.78 billion expenditures: $19.06 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 56.2% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products

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Industries: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages, tourism

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Industrial production growth rate: 5% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 12.95 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 16.53 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 600 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 5.086 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 20,500 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 93,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 75.28 million bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 1.64 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 2.75 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 1.11 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 24.64 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: -$2.892 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $11.17 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels

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Exports - partners: Italy 22%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 13.8%, Germany 9.7%, Slovenia 9%, Austria 7.4% (2006)

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Imports: $21.79 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery, transport and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants; foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Italy 16.7%, Germany 15.1%, Russia 8.9%, Austria 6.2%, Slovenia 5%, China 4.7% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $11.07 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $33.09 billion (30 June 2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $166.5 million (2002)

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Currency (code): kuna (HRK)

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Exchange rates: kuna per US dollar - 5.8625 (2006), 5.9473 (2005), 6.0358 (2004), 6.7035 (2003), 7.8687 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year