Government type

parliamentary republic
Capital

name: Zagreb

geographic coordinates: 45 48 N, 16 00 E

time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology: the name seems to be related to "digging"; archeologists suggest that the original settlement was established beyond a water-filled hole or "graba" and that the name derives from this; "za" in Slavic means "beyond"; the overall meaning may be "beyond the trench (fault, channel, ditch)"
Administrative divisions

20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular) and 1 city* (grad - singular) with special county status; Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska (Bjelovar-Bilogora), Brodsko-Posavska (Brod-Posavina), Dubrovacko-Neretvanska (Dubrovnik-Neretva), Istarska (Istria), Karlovacka (Karlovac), Koprivnicko-Krizevacka (Koprivnica-Krizevci), Krapinsko-Zagorska (Krapina-Zagorje), Licko-Senjska (Lika-Senj), Medimurska (Medimurje), Osjecko-Baranjska (Osijek-Baranja), Pozesko-Slavonska (Pozega-Slavonia), Primorsko-Goranska (Primorje-Gorski Kotar), Sibensko-Kninska (Sibenik-Knin), Sisacko-Moslavacka (Sisak-Moslavina), Splitsko-Dalmatinska (Split-Dalmatia), Varazdinska (Varazdin), Viroviticko-Podravska (Virovitica-Podravina), Vukovarsko-Srijemska (Vukovar-Syrmia), Zadarska (Zadar), Zagreb*, Zagrebacka (Zagreb county)
Independence

25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia); notable earlier dates: ca. 925 (Kingdom of Croatia established); 1 December 1918 (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) established)
National holiday

Independence Day, 8 October (1991) and Statehood Day, 25 June (1991); note - 25 June 1991 was the day the Croatian parliament voted for independence; following a three-month moratorium to allow the European Community to solve the Yugoslav crisis peacefully, parliament adopted a decision on 8 October 1991 to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia
Constitution

history: several previous; latest adopted 22 December 1990

amendments: proposed by at least one fifth of the Assembly membership, by the president of the republic, by the Government of Croatia, or through petition by at least 10% of the total electorate; proceedings to amend require majority vote by the Assembly; passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly; passage by petition requires a majority vote in a referendum and promulgation by the Assembly; amended several times, last in 2014 (2021)
Legal system

civil law system influenced by legal heritage of Austria-Hungary; note - Croatian law was fully harmonized with the European Community acquis as of the June 2010 completion of EU accession negotiations
International law organization participation

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship

citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Croatia

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Suffrage

18 years of age; universal
Executive branch

chief of state: President Zoran MILANOVIC (since 18 February 2020)

head of government: Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC (since 19 October 2016); Deputy Prime Ministers Damir KRSTICEVIC (since 19 October 2016), Predrag STROMAR (since 9 June 2017), Marija Pejcinovic BURIC (since 19 June 2017), and Tomislav TOLUSIC (since 25 May 2018)

cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the Assembly

elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 22 December 2019 with a runoff on 5 January 2020 (next to be held in 2024); the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president and approved by the Assembly

election results: Zoran MILANOVIC elected president in second round; percent of vote - Zoran MILANOVIC (SDP) 52.7%, Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 47.3%
Legislative branch

description: unicameral Assembly or Hrvatski Sabor (151 seats; 140 members in 10 multi-seat constituencies and 3 members in a single constituency for Croatian diaspora directly elected by proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method with a 5% threshold; an additional 8 members elected from a nationwide constituency by simple majority by voters belonging to minorities recognized by Croatia; the Serb minority elects 3 Assembly members, the Hungarian and Italian minorities elect 1 each, the Czech and Slovak minorities elect 1 jointly, and all other minorities elect 2; all members serve 4-year terms

elections: early election held on 5 July 2020 (next to be held by 2024)

election results: percent of vote by coalition/party - HDZ-led coalition 37.3%, Restart coalition 24.9%, DPMS-led coalition 10.9%, MOST 7.4%, Green-Left coalition 7%, P-F-SSIP 4%, HNS-LD 1.3%, People's Party - Reformists 1%, other 6.2%; number of seats by coalition/party - HDZ-led coalition 66, Restart coalition 41, DPMS-led coalition 16, MOST 8, Green-Left coalition 7, P-F-SSIP 3, HNS-LD 1, People's Party - Reformists - 1, national minorities 8; composition - men 116, women 35, percent of women 23.2%

note: seats by party as of June 2019 - HDZ 55, SDP 29, MOST-NL 10, HNS 4, HSS 4, GLAS 4, IDS 3, SDSS 3, BM365-SRS 3, Human Shield 2, HDS 2, NHR 2, other 8, independent 21
Judicial branch

highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of the court president and vice president, 25 civil department justices, and 16 criminal department justices)

judge selection and term of office: president of Supreme Court nominated by the president of Croatia and elected by the Sabor for a 4-year term; other Supreme Court justices appointed by the National Judicial Council; all judges serve until age 70

subordinate courts: Administrative Court; county, municipal, and specialized courts; note - there is an 11-member Constitutional Court with jurisdiction limited to constitutional issues but is outside of the judicial system
Political parties and leaders

Bloc for Croatia or BZH [Zlatko HASANBEGOVIC]
Bridge of Independent Lists or Most [Bozo PETROV]
Civic Liberal Alliance or GLAS [Ankar Mrak TARITAS]
Croatian Christian Democratic Party or HDS [Goran DODIG]
Croatian Conservative Party or HKS [Marijan PAVLICEK]
Croatian Democratic Congress of Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Branimir GLAVAS]
Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Andrej PLENKOVIC]
Croatian Democratic Union-led coalition (includes HSLS, HDS, HDSSB)
Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Kreso BELJAK]
Croatian Pensioner Party or HSU [Silvano HRELJA]
Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats or HNS-LD [Ivan VRDOLJAK]
Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Dario HREBAK]
Croatian Sovereignists coalition (includes HK, HRAST)
FOKUS [Davor NADI]
Green-Left coalition (includes MOZEMO!, RF, NL)
Homeland Movement or DPMS [Miloslav SKORO]
Homeland Movement-led coalition (includes DPMS, Croatian Sovereignists coalition, BZH)
Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Boris MILETIC]
Movement for Successful Croatia or HRAST [Ladislav ILCIC]
New Left or NL [Dragan MARKOVINA]
Pametno [Marijana PULJAK]
Pametno, FOKUS, SSIP coalition
Party with a First and Last Name or SSIP [Ivan KOVACIC]
People's Party - Reformists [Radimir CACIC]
Restart Coalition (includes HSLS, HDS, HDSSB)
Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Zlatko KOMADINA, acting leader]
We Can! or MOZEMO! [collective leadership]
Workers' Front or RF [collective leadership]