ormed a
kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II,
Yugoslavia became an independent communist state under the strong
hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence
from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often
bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared
from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision the last Serb-held enclave
in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.

Croatia Geography

Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia

Geographic coordinates: 45 10 N, 15 30 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 56,542 sq km

land: 56,414 sq km

water: 128 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries: total: 2,028 km

border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km,
Yugoslavia 266 km, Slovenia 501 km

Coastline: 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km)

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation

territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: Mediterranean and continental; continental climate
predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry
summers along coast

Terrain: geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border,
low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m

highest point: Dinara 1,830 m

Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore,
calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower

Land use: arable land: 21%

permanent crops: 2%

permanent pastures: 20%

forests and woodland: 38%

other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 30 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes

Environment - current issues: air pollution (from metallurgical
plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal
pollution from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and
reconstruction of infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil strife

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto