Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed)
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Stjepan (Stipe) MESIC (since 18 February
2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ivo SANADER (since 9 December
2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Jadranka KOSOR (since 23 December
2003) and Damir POLANEC (since NA February 2005)
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;
election last held 16 January 2005 (next to be held January 2010);
the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority
coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president and
then approved by the Assembly
election results: Stjepan MESIC reelected president; percent of vote
- Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 66%, Jadranka KOSOR (HDZ) 34%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added
in the November 2003 parliamentary elections; members elected from
party lists by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Assembly - last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in
2007)
election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; number
of seats by party - HDZ 66, SDP 34, HSS 10, HNS 10, HSP 8, IDS 4,
Libra 3, HSU 3, SDSS 3, other 11
note: minority government coalition - HDZ, DC, HSLS, HSU, SDSS
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts
appointed for eight-year terms by the Judicial Council of the
Republic, which is elected by the Assembly
Political parties and leaders:
Croatian Bloc or HB [Ivic PASALIC]; Croatian Christian Democratic
Union or HKDU [Anto KOVACEVIC]; Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ
[Ivo SANADER]; Croatian Party of Rights or HSP [Anto DJAPIC];
Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Zlatko TOMCIC]; Croatian Pensioner
Party or HSU [Vladimir JORDAN]; Croatian People's Party or HNS
[Vesna PUSIC] (in 2005 party merged with Libra to become Croatian
People's Party-Liberal Democrats or NS-LD [Vesna PUSIC]); Croatian
Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Ivan CEHOK]; Croatian True Revival
Party or HIP [Miroslav TUDJMAN]; Democratic Centre or DC [Vesna
SKARE-OZBOLT]; Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Vojislav
STANIMIROVIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC];
Liberal Party or LS [Zlatko BENASIC]; Party of Liberal Democrats or
Libra [Jozo RADOS] (in 2005 merged with HNS); Social Democratic
Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
ABEDA, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM
(observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNOCI, UPU,
WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Neven JURICA
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 Ralph FRANK
embassy: 2 Thomas Jefferson, 10010 Zagreb
mailing address: use street address
telephone: [385] (1) 661–2200
FAX: [385] (1) 661–2373
Flag description:
red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms
(red and white checkered)
Economy Croatia
Economy - overview:
Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia,
after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area,
with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav
average. The economy emerged from a mild recession in 2000 with
tourism, banking, and public investments leading the way.
Unemployment remains high, at about 14 percent, with structural
factors slowing its decline. 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. Growth, while impressively about 4% for the last
several years, has been achieved through high fiscal and current
account deficits. The government is gradually reducing a heavy back
log of civil cases, many involving land tenure. The EU accession
process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$50.33 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.7% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $11,200 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 8.2% industry: 30.1% services: 61.7% (2004 est.)
Labor force:
1.71 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 2.7%, industry 32.8%, services 64.5% (2004)
Unemployment rate:
13.8% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line:
11% (2003)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 24.5% (2003 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
29 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.5% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
28.6% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $14.14 billion