Croatia is the newest, 28th member of the European Union. Situated in South-Eastern Europe at the crossroads of the Adriatic Sea and the Panonian Plain, Croatia is a country of rich historical heritage and natural beauty. These characteristics contributed to strong and continuous development of the tourism which made Croatia well known throughout the world. Multinational companies have been present in Croatia for decades. For example IBM has been present in different ways since 1935 and Coca-Cola opened its first bottling plant in 1968. EU accession additionally made Croatia attractive for investments and a hub for doing business in SE Europe.

Statistical Information

• Area: 56.594 km2, with an additional 31,067 km2 of territorial waters.
• Territorial sea: 12 nautical miles
• Coastline: 6.278 km (mainland 1.880 km, islands 4.398 km).
• Number of islands, islets and reefs: 1.244. The largest islands are those of Krk and Cres. There are 47 inhabited islands.
• Independence: June, 1991 (from Yugoslavia); Independence Day: October 8, 1991
• Trade routes: Republic of Croatia controls most land routes from Western Europe and to the Aegean Sea and the Turkish Straits; most Adriatic Sea islands lie off the coast of Croatia
• Population: 4.204.000 (mid-2015 estimate); 67.5% between 15 and 65 years of age; with the average density of 74,3 inhabitants/km2.
• Capital: Zagreb (population: 800.000 – 2015 mid-year estimate; the administrative, cultural, academic and communication center of the country).
• Climate: Northern Croatia has a continental climate; Central Croatia has a semi-highland and highland climate, while the Croatian coast has a Mediterranean climate. Winter temperatures range from -1 to 3°C in the continental region, -5 to 0°C in the mountain region and 5 to 10°C in the coastal region. Summer temperatures range from 22 to 26°C in the continental region, 15 to 20°C in the mountain region and 26 to 30°C in the coastal region.
• Ethnic groups: The majority of the populations are Croats (89.6%). National minorities include Serbs (4.5%), and others (5.9%) including Bosnian, Hungarian, Slovenes, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks and Italians.
• Official language and alphabet: Croatian language and Latin alphabet.
• Currency: Kuna (1 Kuna = 100 Lipa).
• Religions: The majority of the population are Roman Catholics (87.8%), and in addition there are a number of those of Orthodox faith(4.4%), as well as Muslims (1,3%), and Christians of other denominations (0,4%), other (0.9%), none (5.2%).

Economic Indicators

CROATIAN NATIONAL BANK
Main macroeconomic indicators
Foreign Direct Investments

CROATIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS
www.dzs.hr