Population:
4,270,480
Capital:
Zagreb
Area:
56,594 sq km
Language:
Croatian, Serbian
Religion:
Muslim, Orthodox, Roman Catholic
Currency:
Kuna
Life Expectancy:
76
GDP per Capita:
$ 24,700
Literacy Percent:
99
ECONOMY
Industry: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum, food and beverages, tourism
Agriculture: Wheat, corn, barley, sugar beet, apples, plum, mandarins, olives, grapes for wine, livestock, dairy products
Exports: transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
Information taken from CIA Factbook.
Croatia was part of the Roman Empire
7th Century - Slavs settled the region
11th & 12th centuries - The nation of Hungary controlled Croatia
1463 - Ottoman Turks conquered the region
1868 - Croatia gained domestic autonomy while remaining under Hungarian authority
1918 -1928 -Following World War I Croatia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
1929 - Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes becomes Yugoslavia
1940-1945 - Croatia was named the Independent State of Croatia
1945 - Establishment of the Communist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito
1991 - Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia and Croatian national flag adopted
1992-1995 - Inter-ethnic Croatian civil strife for three years between the Bosnians, Serbs and Croats
1995 - Peace agreement was signed in Paris on December 14.
1996 - Croatia restores diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia and joins the Council of Europe
2009 - Croatia joins NATO
2010 - In what is seen as significant act of reconciliation between Croatia and Serbia, Serbian President Boris Tadic visits Vukovar, where he apologises for 1991 massacre of 260 Croat civilians by Serb forces.
Timeline information taken from BBC News.
Image from Encyclopedia Britannica.
The Europa World Plus entry for Croatia provides a strong introductory overview to the history of the country, starting in the fifth century.
Additionally, this Encyclopedia Article provides a thorough history of Croatia. The references informing this article are helpfully documented.
While UCLA’s previously wonderful resource, the Language Materials Project, is unfortunately currently unfunded, the UCLA Slavic, East European & Eurasian Languages & Cultures website provides a wonderful overview of the history of the Croatian language. Beyond history, this page covers linguistic affiliation, language variation orthography, the language’s role in society and provides a linguistic sketch.
A language of Croatia
| Population | 3,980,000 in Croatia (2001 census). Population total all countries: 5,546,590. |
| Region | Also in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United States. |
| Alternate names | Hrvatski |
| Dialects | Kaykavski, Chakavski, Shtokavski (Ijekavski). Shtokavski official dialect, but others recognized as valid dialects, with much literature. Chakavski in western and northern Croatia, Dalmatian coast, and Adriatic Islands; Kaykavski in northeastern Croatia and Zagreb; dialects in other countries, like Burgenland Croatian in Austria, less intelligible. |
| Classification | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western A member of macrolanguage Serbo-Croatian [hbs] (Serbia). |
| Language use | Official language. Also use English or German. |
| Language development | Literacy rate in L2: 90%. Fully developed. Bible: 1804–1968. |
| Writing system | Latin script. |
| Comments | Formerly considered part of the Serbo-Croat language. SVO. Christian. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 19,400 in Austria (2001 census). |
| Region | Burgenland and Vienna. |
| Dialects | Burgenland Croatian. |
| Language use | National language. About 40 primary schools teach bilingually through Croatian and German. Rapid assimilation with the German-speaking population. |
| Language development | Literacy rate in L1: Low. |
| Comments | Croatian spoken in Burgenland differs extensively from that spoken in the Republic of Croatia and intelligibility is difficult. Some dialects heavily influenced by German. Christian. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 469,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2004). |
| Dialects | Croatian, Serbian. |
| Language use | Official language. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 14,300 in Hungary (2001 census). Ethnic population: 19,175. |
| Region | South border area. |
| Dialects | Croatian, Serbian. |
| Comments | Christian. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 3,500 in Italy (Vincent 1987). |
| Region | South Molise, Montemitro, San Felice del Molise, Acquaviva-Collecroce villages. |
| Dialects | Croatian. |
| Language use | Official in one municipality. There are efforts to revive the use of Croatian literature. |
| Comments | Descendants of 15th and 16th century refugees. Christian. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 6,810 in Montenegro (2006). |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 114,000 in Serbia (2006). |
| Language use | Official language. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 890 in Slovakia (2001 census). |
| Dialects | Croatian. |
| Comments | Christian. |
| Language name | Croatian |
| Population | 58,400 in United States (2000 census). |
| Dialects | Croatian. |
From Ethnologue.com
