Croatia is a tourist country on the Adriatic Sea. In this article, we will talk in more detail about the population of Croatia, its language and features.
What kind of country is this?
Croatia is located in the southern part of Central Europe. It is surrounded by Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro. The western side is washed by the waters of the Adriatic Sea. The area of Croatia is 56,542 square kilometers. In addition to the mainland, the country owns more than a thousand islands. Krk, Cres, Brac, Hvar, Pag are the largest.
Before gaining independence in 1991, Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. Now it is an independent republic with a parliamentary form of government. Croatia is a member of several organizations, including the UN, European Union, NATO, OSCE. Paper money in Croatia is called kuna, coins are called linden.
The main and largest city is Zagreb. Osijek, Rijeka, Split are also among the big cities. Recently, the state has been successfully developing its tourism potential, presenting both architectural and natural sights to travelers. There are about 20 national and natural parks in the country, as well asmany cities with medieval streets and buildings.
Population of Croatia
The number of inhabitants in the country is approximately 4.3 million. In terms of population, the country ranks 120th in the world. 51% of the Croatian population is represented by women. In terms of density, the country is in 94th place, with 79 people living in one square kilometer.
Total life expectancy averages 75 years. Croatia is the most developed among the countries formerly part of Yugoslavia. However, the state's economy is still recovering after the war in 1991. Therefore, the country has a fairly high unemployment rate, it is 17%. The urban population is almost 60%.
Croatia is an industrial-agrarian country. But due to the actively developing tourism, most of the population (53%) works in the service sector. About 30% of the population is involved in the industrial sector, and only 17% of the population is engaged in agriculture.
Ethnic composition, religion, language
The population of Croatia is homogeneous in ethnic composition, 90% of the inhabitants are Croats. They represent the indigenous population, one of the branches of the southern Slavs, who settled the modern territory of the country in the 7th century. The appearance of this people is characterized by high growth and black hair. Red and white-haired Croats are extremely rare.
Serbs represent the largest national minority. Their number is about 190 thousand. They mostly live in Lika,Gorski Kotar and Slavonia. The Czechs are concentrated mainly in Daruvar, the Italians in Istria. The remaining national minorities are settled throughout the country. They include Bosnians, Hungarians, Gypsies, Germans, Slovenes, Albanians.
Croatian based on the Latin alphabet is official. In addition to Croatian, many residents of the country also speak English, German, and Italian. The main part of the population professes Catholicism. Approximately 5% of the inhabitants are Orthodox, the same number of people are atheists. About 2% are Protestants and Muslims.
Serbian or Croatian?
Croatian is the official language not only for Croatia. At the state level, it is adopted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian Vojvodina, as well as in the Austrian federal state of Burgenland. It is one of the official languages in the European Union. It has over 6 million speakers.
Croatian belongs to the group of Slavic languages. The closest to it are Serbian, Montenegrin and Bosnian. There are three main dialects of the Croatian language, which are common in certain areas of the country. Many people do not see the difference between them. They are really very similar, and the inhabitants of the two Balkan countries in 90% of cases will easily understand each other. The literary variant is based, like the Serbian one, on the Shtokavian dialect. However, it has a number of grammatical and lexical differences with Serbian.
For a long time there was no single language on the territory of the state,there were three literary languages at the same time, which were based on Church Slavonic or on some dialects of Croatian. In the 19th century, a decision was made to merge the language together with Serbian. At the same time, instead of the Cyrillic alphabet, the Croats adopt the Latin alphabet. In the 20th century, active actions are being taken to delimit the Croatian language. Many neologisms are introduced.
The delimitation was greatly facilitated by the arrival of the rural population in the cities. Thus, the living language of the local population was introduced into the accepted literary version. For years, the government led by Tito Broz tried to artificially merge the two languages by calling the common variant Serbo-Croatian. It did not last long, and in the end, Croatia again set a course for the independent development of language and culture.
Conclusion
The Republic of Croatia is one of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Until 1991, it was part of Yugoslavia along with Serbia, Montenegro and other Balkan countries. Most of the population is made up of native Croats. Only 10% of all residents belong to national minorities, mostly from neighboring countries. Despite the similarities with neighboring states, Croatia confidently retains its independence, national, linguistic and religious identity.
