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 Croatia Travel Tips Government
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CROATIA TRAVEL TIPS
"Here you will find the most important information about CROATIA "
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Croatia is a former Yugoslav republic on the Adriatic Sea. It is about the size of West Virginia. Part of Croatia is a barren, rocky region lying in the Dinaric Alps. The Zagorje region north of the capital, Zagreb, is a land of rolling hills, and the fertile agricultural region of the Pannonian Plain is bordered by the Drava, Danube, and Sava Rivers in the east. Over one-third of Croatia is forested.
Croatia, at one time the Roman province of Pannonia, was settled in the 7th century by the Croats. They converted to Christianity between the 7th and 9th centuries and adopted the Roman alphabet under the suzerainty of Charlemagne. In 925, the Croats defeated Byzantine and Frankish invaders and established their own independent kingdom, which reached its peak during the 11th century. A civil war ensued in 1089, which later led to the country being conquered by the Hungarians in 1091. The signing of the Pacta Conventa by Croatian tribal chiefs and the Hungarian king in 1102 united the two nations politically under the Hungarian monarch, but Croatia retained its autonomy.
Following the defeat of the Hungarians by the Turks at the battle of Mohács in 1526, Croatia (along with Hungary) elected Austrian archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg as their king. After the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom in 1867, Croatia became part of Hungary until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 following its defeat in World War I. On Oct. 29, 1918, Croatia proclaimed its independence and joined in union with Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. |
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Under the 1990 constitution, legislative power rests with the bicameral Sabor, both houses of which are directly elected for 4-year terms. The lower house, the Chamber of Representatives (Zastupnicki Dom), has 127 seats, of which 80 are elected by proportional representation, 28 in single-seat constituencies, with the remainder variously earmarked for recognized ethnic minorities and Croats who are resident abroad. The upper house, the Chamber of Districts (Zupanijski Dom), has 68 members – 63 elected in three-seat constituencies, plus five appointees. Executive power is held by the President, elected for five years, who appoints a cabinet of ministers. |
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