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		Statistics
		National name Republika Hrvatska Area 56,538 sq km/21,829 sq mi Capital Zagreb Major towns/cities Osijek, Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Zadar, Pula Major ports chief port: Rijeka (Fiume); other ports: Zadar, Sibenik, Split, Dubrovnik Language Croat (official), Serbian	Physical features Adriatic coastline with large islands; very mountainous, with part of the Karst region and the Julian and Styrian Alps; some marshland Political system emergent democracy Administrative divisions 21 counties Population 4,428,000 (2003 est) Religion Roman Catholic (Croats) 76.5%; Orthodox Christian (Serbs) 11%, Protestant 1.4%, Muslim 1.2%

Chronology

early centuries AD Part of Roman region of Pannonia.
AD 395 On division of Roman Empire, stayed in western half, along with Slovenia and Bosnia.
7th century Settled by Carpathian Croats, from northeast; Christianity adopted.
924 Formed by Tomislav into independent kingdom, which incorporated Bosnia from 10th century.
12th–19th centuries Autonomy under Hungarian crown, following dynastic union in 1102.
1526–1699 Slavonia, in east, held by Ottoman Turks, while Serbs were invited by Austria to settle along the border with Ottoman-ruled Bosnia, in Vojna Krajina (military frontier).
1797–1815 Dalmatia, in west, ruled by France.
19th century Part of Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire.
1918 On dissolution of Habsburg Empire, joined Serbia, Slovenia, and Montenegro in ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes’, under Serbian Karageorgevic dynasty.
1929 The Kingdom became Yugoslavia. Croatia continued its campaign for autonomy.
1930s Ustasa, a Croat terrorist organization, began a campaign against dominance of Yugoslavia by the non-Catholic Serbs.
1941–44 Following German invasion, a ‘Greater Croatia’ Nazi puppet state, including most of Bosnia and western Serbia, formed under Ustasa leader, Ante Pavelic; more than half a million Serbs, Jews, and members of the Romany community were massacred in extermination camps.

1945 Became constituent republic of Yugoslavia Socialist Federation after communist partisans, led by Croat Marshal Tito, overthrew Pavelic. 1970s Separatist demands resurfaced, provoking a crackdown. late 1980s Spiralling inflation and a deterioration in living standards sparked industrial unrest and a rise in nationalist sentiment, which affected the local communist party. 1989 The formation of opposition parties was permitted. 1990 The communists were defeated by the conservative nationalist Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ; Croatian Democratic Union) led by ex-Partisan Franjo Tudjman in the first free election since 1938. Sovereignty was declared. 1991 The Serb-dominated region of Krajina in the southwest announced its secession from Croatia. Croatia declared independence, leading to military conflict with Serbia, and civil war ensued.		1992 A United Nations (UN) peace accord was accepted; independence was recognized by the European Community (EC) and the USA; Croatia joined the UN. A UN peacekeeping force was stationed in Croatia. Tudjman was elected president. 1993 A government offensive was launched to retake parts of Serb-held Krajina, violating the 1992 UN peace accord. 1994 There was an accord with Muslims and ethnic Croats within Bosnia, to the east, to link the recently formed Muslim–Croat federation with Croatia. 1995 Serb-held western Slavonia and Krajina were captured by government forces; there was an exodus of Croatian Serbs. The offensive extended into Bosnia-Herzegovina to halt a Bosnian Serb assault on Bihac in western Bosnia. Serbia agreed to cede control of eastern Slavonia to Croatia over a two-year period. Zlatko Matesa was appointed prime minister.		1996 Diplomatic relations between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro from 2003) were restored. Croatia entered the Council of Europe. 1997 The opposition was successful in local elections. The constitution was amended to prevent the weakening of Croatia's national sovereignty. 1998 Croatia resumed control over East Slavonia. 2000 In parliamentary elections, the ruling HDZ lost heavily to a centre-left coalition. The reformist Stipe Mesic was elected president. The leader of the Socijaldemokratska Partija Hrvatske (SPH; Social Democratic Party of Croatia), Ivica Rajan, became prime minister. Constitutional changes reduced the powers of the president and turned Croatia into a parliamentary democracy. 2003 The HDZ became the largest party with 66 seats in the 151-member legislature, ousting the centre-left governing coalition headed by the SPH.