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The population of Croatia has been stagnating over the last decade. The 1991-1995 war in Croatia had previously displaced large parts of the population and increased emigration. The natural growth rate is minute or negative (less than +/- 1%), as the demographic transition has been completed half a century ago. Average life expectancy is approximately 75 years, and the literacy rate is 98.5%. The official and common language, Croatian, is a South Slavic language, using the Latin alphabet. Other languages are spoken by less than 5% of the population. The ethnic structure of Croatia is as follows: Croats 87.98% minorities 7.74% other nations 2.64%. Religions: Catholic 87.98% Orthodox 4.42% Muslim 1.28% Atheist 5.21 Parts of the Croatian nation are historically and culturally deeply rooted to the territories of the neighbouring Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and also to Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Romania. The Croats are represented by: Bunjevci and Sokci (many of them live also in Hungary and in the north of today"s Yugoslavia), Slavonci, Zagorci, Medimurci, then the Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Gorani, Istrani (a part of them is in Slovenia), Gradiscanci (in Austria and Hungary), Licani, Dalmatinci, Dubrovcani, Bokelji (in Boka kotorska, in 1945 annexed to Montenegro), Janjevci in Kosovo, etc. All these Croatian groups and regions provide a great richness of dialects, national costumes, habits, folk songs. The present capital of Croatia is the city of Zagreb (population about 1,000,000), very old and pleasant city, mentioned for the first time in 1094. |
