Basic information:
Land surface 56610 km2
Number of inhabitants 4.784.265
Coast length (land) 1778 km
Coast length (islands) 4012 km
Total number of islands 1185 (66 inhabited)
Biggest islands:
Krk 410 km2
Cres 404 km2
Brač 396 km2
Hvar 298 km2
Pag 287 km2
Korčula 273 km2
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Croatian, written with Latin alphabet.
RELIGION
Religion: most inhabitants are Catholics, second biggest group are Greek Catholics, followed by Muslims and members of Protestant churches.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
German, Italian and English are foreign languages mostly used by tourist workers and local inhabitants on the coast.
TIME ZONE
Croatia is in time zone GMT +1. The zone changes to GMT +2 from last Saturday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October.
Climate: There are two climate zones in Croatia; in the interior there is mostly a temperate continental climate, partially also mountain climate, while in the area along Adriatic coast there is a pleasant Mediterranean climate with lots of sunny days, dry and hot summers, mild and rainy winters; average temperature in the interior: January 0 to 2 0 C, August 19 to 23°C; average temperature in the littoral: January 6 to 11°C, August 21 to 27°C; sea temperature in winter amounts to 12°C, and in summer to around 25°C.
Adriatic sea: The Adriatic or Adria is named after former port of the same name. The Adriatic includes the area between Balkan or Apennines penisula. The part belonging to the Republic of Croatia is the area of east coast, stretching from Prevlaka on the south to the cape of Savudrija on the west, including all islands, small islands and cliffs alongside the coast, as well as the archipelago of Palagruža (number of islands, small islands and cliffs is over 1816).
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Croatia has democratic, multiparty political system.
The parliament consists of House of the members of parliament.
President: Stipe Mesić, since February 2000, elected for five year term.
Prime minister: Ivo Sanader.
