est coast

Airports: airstrip constructed in 1937 for scheduled refueling stop
on the round-the-world flight of Amelia EARHART and Fred NOONAN - they
left Lae, New Guinea, for Howland Island, but were never seen again;
the airstrip is no longer serviceable

Transportation - note: Earhart Light is a day beacon near the middle
of the west coast that was partially destroyed during World War II, but
has since been rebuilt; named in memory of famed aviatrix Amelia EARHART

Military Howland Island

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the US; visited
annually by the US Coast Guard

Transnational Issues Howland Island

Disputes - international: none

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Croatia

Introduction

Croatia

Background: In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed 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.

Geography Croatia

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 water: 128 sq km land: 56,414 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries: total: 2,185 km border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina
932 km, Hungary 329 km, Yugoslavia 254 km, Slovenia 670 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, clay