The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal 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
| 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: 2,197 km border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro (north) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south) 25 km, Slovenia 670 km |
| Coastline: | 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km) |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| 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, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower National Anthem of: Croatia |
Our Beautiful Homeland
Beautiful is our homeland,
O so fearless, o so gracious,
Our fathers' ancient glory,
May God bless you, live forever!
You are our only glory,
You are our only treasure,
Yes, we love your plains and valleys,
Yes we love your hills and mountains.
Sava, Drava, keep on flowing,
Danube, do not lose your vigor,
Deep blue sea go tell the whole world,
That a Croat loves his homeland.
When his oaks are whipped by wild winds,
When his dear ones go to heaven,
Still his heart beats for Croatia!
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