Croatia Introduction - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Background

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 consisting of six socialist republics under the strong hand of Marshal Josip Broz, aka TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before Yugoslav forces were cleared from Croatian lands, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013. In January 2023, Croatia further integrated into the EU by joining the Eurozone and the Schengen Area.

Tip

Visit the Definitions and Notes page to view a description of each topic.

Definitions and Notes

NOTE: The information regarding Croatia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Croatia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Croatia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.