Discover the culture and country of Croatia

1. REPUBLIC OF
CROATIA
KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY
KNOW YOUR WORLD
A PROGRAM OF GLOBAL TIES
AKRON

2. Speaker:

3. Croatia is located in Southeastern Europe in a region that is
known as the West Balkans. The western part of the country
runs along the Adriatic Sea. Croatia has a diverse geography
with beaches, mountains, and plains.

4. Country Quick Facts
Full name: Republic of Croatia
Population: about 4.076 million people (2019)
Capital: Zagreb
Largest city: Zagreb
Official language: Croatian
Major religion: Roman Catholic (86.3%)
Life expectancy: Male- 73, Female- 80
Monetary unit: Croatian Kuna
Main exports: transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals,
foodstuffs, fuels
GNI per capita: $20,830

5. Croatian History in Brief
• Romans ruled the land today known as Croatia until the 5th
century and there are still ruins around the country today
• Around the middle of the 7th century, Croat tribes arrived in
the land
• Shortly after, they came under Frankish rule and much
conversion to Christianity resulted, which is still evident
today, with 90% of the population identifying as Catholic
• In 925, a king was crowned and Croatia the Kingdom was
created
• The Kingdom of Croatia eventually merged with Hungary in
the Middle Ages

6. History continued
• Croatia became part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire in the
19th century until it fell in 1918
• Croatia then became part of
communist Tito’s Yugoslavia in
the 1950s
• Croatia declared independence
from Yugoslavia in June 1991
• A civil war resulted from the
breakup of Yugoslavia and
Croatia faced many casualties
• Croatia joined the European
Union in 2013
Bombing of the coastal city of
Dubrovnik during the civil war in the
1990s

7. Language
• HELLO: Dobar dan
• GOODBYE: Dovidenja
• YES: Da
• NO: Ne
• THANK YOU: Hvala
• YOU’RE WELCOME: nema na čemu
• PLEASE: Molim
• I LOVE YOU: Volim te
• HOW ARE YOU?: Kako si?

8. Government
• President- Kolinda Grabar-
Kitarovic (since 2015)
• Prime Minister- Andrej Plenković
(since 2016)
• Parliamentary democracy
• Voting age- 18 years old, 16 if
employed

9. Zagreb, the CapitalSt. Mark’s Church
Old Town
Dolac Market
Main Square

10. Current issues
• Still some corruption in the government
• High unemployment rates
• Struggling to keep Foreign Direct
Investment
• Protection of minorities such as Serbs
and Roma
• Disagreements over territory claims with
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia

11. Economy
• Has been doing well economically
despite being part of the
communist Yugoslavia until 1991
and the damaging war that
followed independence
• Became a member of the
European Union in 2013 (newest
member)
• Heavily relies on tourism,
especially on its Adriatic Coast,
which is 15% of the GDP (10
million foreign visitors/year)
• Major industries: shipbuilding,
construction, petrochemicals, and
food processing

12. Currency
• Croatian Kuna, Lipa (coins)
• “Kuna” is the Croatian word for
marten, a ferret-like rodent
• 1 US Dollar= 6.77 Croatian Kuna

13. Traditional Clothing

14. Traditional dance

15. Traditional food
• Food varies depending on where
you are in Croatia: the mainland
or the coast
• The mainland dishes have Slavic,
Hungarian, and Turkish influence,
while the coast has more
Mediterranean influence like from
Italy and Greek, for example
• Pasta dishes and seafood are
common along the coast
• Goulash and stew dishes are
common in the mainland
• Popular dessert, fritule, is like little
donut holes with powdered-sugar
on top

16. Fun facts
• The necktie was created in Croatia in the 17th century
• The first ball-point pen was invented in Croatia
• There is hardly any security outside the government buildings,
such as the parliament building, in Zagreb, Croatia
• Croatia has over 1,000 islands!
• Even though he was ethnically Serbian, Nikola Tesla, the
famous scientist and inventor, was born in a small village in
Croatia
• The dog breed Dalmatian, got its name from Dalmatia, a south
coastal region in Croatia
• The smallest town in the world, according to the Guiness World

17. Hum, Croatia
Tesla
City of Split on the
Dalmatian Coast

18. Links
• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/hr.html
• http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europ
e/hr.htm
• http://zagreb.usembassy.gov/
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries
/croatia/