BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In 1102, the last Croatian king died and Croatia entered into a union with Hungary. Later in 1847, Croatian was named the official language, replacing German, Hungarian and Latin. As the First World War was ending, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was breaking up and Croatia claimed independence in 1918. That same year, it joined a new state called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. But in 1929, King Alexander introduced royal dictatorship and renamed the state Yugoslavia. During the beginning of the Second World War, Croatians were neutral but, in 1941 Yugoslavia was taken over by the Germans. In 1991, the Croatians sought independence, but were denied because of all the Serbs living there. The Yugoslav army invaded and began a war. The EU recognized Croatia as independent in 1991 and the war ended in 1995. Since then, Croatia has joined the NATO in 2009 and the EU in 2013. |
GEOGRAPHY
Croatia is located in Southeastern Europe, next to the Adriatic Sea, and between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. THE PEOPLE
The population of Croatia is 4,292,095, and most people live in the northern part of the country. More than 80 percent of the population is Roman Catholic and over 90 percent speak Croatian, the official language of Croatia. |
Pfeifer, Fall 2017