The population of Croatia. Religion, language, brief description of the country

Croatia is a tourist country on the Adriatic coast. 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 Adriatic Sea. The area of Croatia is 56 542 square kilometers. In addition to the continental part, the country has more than a thousand islands. Krk, Cres, Brac, Hvar, Pag are the largest.

Prior to 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, the European Union, NATO, the OSCE. Paper money in Croatia is called kunami, coins are lindens.

The main and largest city is Zagreb. Among the large cities are also Osijek, Rijeka, Split. Recently the state successfully develops its tourist potential, presenting to travelers both architectural and natural sights. There are about 20 national and natural parks in the country, as well as many cities with medieval streets and buildings.

The population of Croatia

The number of residents in the country is about 4.3 million. By population, the country occupies the 120th place in the world. 51% of the population of Croatia is represented by women. In terms of density, the country is at 94 places, on one square kilometer there are 79 people.

The average life expectancy is 75 years on average. Croatia is the most developed among the countries formerly part of Yugoslavia. However, the economy of the state is still recovering after the war in 1991. Therefore, the country has a rather high unemployment rate, it is 17%. The urban population is almost 60%.

Croatia is an industrial-agrarian country. But in connection with actively developing tourism, the majority of the population (53%) works in the service sector. About 30% of the population is involved in the industrial sphere, and only 17% of the population are engaged in agriculture.

Ethnic composition, religion, language

The population of Croatia is homogenous 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. For the appearance of this people is characterized by high growth and black hair color. Red and white-haired Croats are extremely rare.

Serbs represent the largest national minority. Their number is about 190 thousand. Mostly they 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 are Bosnians, Hungarians, Gypsies, Germans, Slovenes, Albanians.

Croatian with the Latin alphabet in the basis is official. In addition to Croatian, many residents of the country also speak English, German, Italian. The bulk of the population professes Catholicism. Approximately 5% of residents are Orthodox, as many people are atheists. About 2% are Protestants and Muslims.

Serbian or Croatian?

The Croatian language is official not only for Croatia. At the state level, it was adopted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian Vojvodina, as well as in the Austrian federal state of Burgenland. This is one of the official languages in the European Union. The number of speakers on it is more than 6 million people.

Croatian belongs to the group of Slavic languages. The closest to him 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 really are very similar, and the residents of the two Balkan countries will easily understand each other in 90% of cases. The literary variant is based, like the Serbian version, on the Stockman dialect. Nevertheless, with the Serbian language, he has a number of grammatical and lexical differences.

For a long time there was no single language on the territory of the state, at the same time there were three literary languages based on Church Slavonic or in some dialects of Croatian. In the 19th century, the decision was made to combine the language together with the Serbian language. In this case, instead of Cyrillic, Croats accept the Latin alphabet. In the twentieth century, active action is being taken to delineate the Croatian language. Many neologisms are introduced.

Delimitation significantly contributed to the sinking of the rural population. So, in the accepted literary variant the living language of the local population was introduced. For many years, the government, led by Tito Broz, attempted to artificially combine the two languages, calling the general option Serbo-Croatian. For a long time he did not hold out, and in the end Croatia again took the 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. The majority of the population is indigenous Croats. Only 10% of all residents belong to national minorities, mostly from neighboring countries. Despite the similarity with neighboring states, Croatia confidently retains its independence, national, linguistic and religious identity.