Croatia: A new family member for the European Union

Wednesday, 26 June 2013 - 01:13 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, EU blog post series, European Union
Reading Time:  5 minutes

Split © DIREKTOR

Split © DIREKTOR

Croatia is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatia’s Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The country’s population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, with the most common religious denomination being Roman Catholicism.From July 1th, 2013 on Croatia will be the 28th member country of the European Union.

Because of its geographic position, Croatia represents a blend of four different cultural spheres. It has been a crossroad of influences of the western culture and the east – ever since division of the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire – as well as of the Mitteleuropa and the Mediterranean culture. The Illyrian movement was the most significant period of national cultural history, as the 19th century period proved crucial in emancipation of the Croatian language and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of art and culture, giving rise to a number of historical figures. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia is tasked with preserving the nation’s cultural and natural heritage and overseeing its development. Further activities supporting development of culture are undertaken at local government level. The UNESCO inscribed seven sites in Croatia on the World Heritage List. The country is also rich with Intangible culture and holds ten of UNESCO’s World’s intangible culture masterpieces, surpassing all countries in Europe except Spain which possesses an equal number of the listed items. A global cultural contribution from Croatia is the necktie, derived from the cravat originally worn by the 17th century Croatian mercenaries in France.

Dubrovnik © Bracodbk/cc-by-sa-3.0 Makarska Shore © Sole/cc-by-sa-3.0 Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site © Gaetano56/cc-by-sa-3.0 Pula - Aerial view © Orlovic/cc-by-3.0 Rijeka © László Szalai Split © DIREKTOR Trakošćan Castle is one of the best preserved historic buildings in the country © Maxman/cc-by-sa-3.0 Zagreb Collage © Mconti94/cc-by-sa-3.0 Croatian National Theatre © Jajaniseva Istria, seen from Motovun, wine is produced in nearly all regions of Croatia © Ivana/cc-by-sa-3.0 Pula - Veruda Marina © Hrvach/cc-by-sa-3.0 Rijeka - Riva Promenade © Roberta F./cc-by-sa-3.0 Rovinj © Markus Bernet/cc-by-sa-2.0
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Trakošćan Castle is one of the best preserved historic buildings in the country © Maxman/cc-by-sa-3.0
Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector and accounts for up to 20% of Croatian GDP. Annual tourist industry income for 2011 was estimated at €6.61 billion. Its positive effects are felt throughout the economy of Croatia in terms of increased business volume observed in retail business, processing industry orders and summer seasonal employment. The industry is considered an export business, because it significantly reduces the country’s external trade imbalance. Since the conclusion of the Croatian War of Independence, the tourist industry has grown rapidly, recording a fourfold rise in tourist numbers, with more than 10 million tourists each year. The most numerous are tourists from Germany, Slovenia, Austria and the Czech Republic as well as Croatia itself. Length of a tourist stay in Croatia averages 4.9 days.

The bulk of the tourist industry is concentrated along the Adriatic Sea coast. Opatija was the first holiday resort since the middle of the 19th century. By the 1890s, it became one of the most significant European health resorts. Later a large number of resorts sprang up along the coast and numerous islands, offering services ranging from mass tourism to catering and various niche markets, the most significant being nautical tourism, as there are numerous marinas with more than 16 thousand berths, cultural tourism relying on appeal of medieval coastal cities and numerous cultural events taking place during the summer. Inland areas offer mountain resorts, agrotourism and spas. Zagreb is also a significant tourist destination, rivaling major coastal cities and resorts. Croatia boasts unpolluted sea nature reflected through numerous nature reserves and 116 Blue Flag beaches. Croatia is ranked as the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world. About 15% of these visitors (over one million per year) are involved with naturism, an industry for which Croatia is world famous. It was also the first European country to develop commercial naturist resorts.

Read more on Croatia Tourism, Croatia Airlines, lonelyplanet.com – Croatia, Wikitravel Croatia and Wikipedia Croatia (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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