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Curiously enough, the Croats were never obliged to use Latin - rather, they held masses in their own language and used the Glagolitic alphabet. This was officially sanctioned in 1248 by Pope Innocent IV, and only later did the Latin alphabet prevail. The Latin Rite prevailed over the Byzantine Rite rather early due to numerous interventions from the Holy See.

The population of Croatia has been stagnating over the last decade. The natural growth rate is minute or negative (less than +/- 1%), as the demographic transition has been completed half a century ago. Life expectancy rate is around 75 years, and the literacy rate is at 98.5%, both of which are reasonably high.

The country has experienced faster economic growth and has been preparing for membership in the European Union.

The National Judicial Council (Državno Sudbeno Vijece) of the Republic appoints all judges. It is a body consisting of a president and 14 members proposed and elected by the Parliament for 4-year terms, maximum 2 terms.

In the middle Paleolithic period, Neandertals lived in modern Zagorje, northern Croatia. Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger discovered bones and other remnants of a Neandertal, subsequently named Homo krapiniensis, on a hill near the town of Krapina.

The Sabor meets in public sessions in two periods: January 15 to June 30, and September 15 to December 15. Extra sessions can be called by the President of the Republic, by the President of the Parliament or by Government.

Croatia is inhabited mostly by Croats, while minority groups include Serbs, Bosniaks, Hungarians, Italians and others. Catholicism is the predominant religion, while there's also Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam.

Despite the successful value-added tax program, planned privatization of state controlled businesses, and a revised budget with a 7% across that board cut in spending, the government still projected a $200 million deficit for 1999.

Croatia is situated between central, southern and eastern Europe. It has a rather peculiar shape that resembles a crescent or a horseshoe which helps account for its many neighbours: Slovenia, Hungary, Serbian part of Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegrin part of Serbia and Montenegro, and Italy across the Adriatic. Its mainland territory is split in two non-contiguous parts by the short coastline of Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum.

The Racan Government carried out a large number of structural reforms and with tourism as the main factor, the country emerged from recession in 2000. Due to overall increase in stability, the economic rating of the country improved and interest rates dropped. As a result of coalition politics and resistance from the unions and the public, many reforms are still overdue, esp. in the legal system.

The area known as Croatia today has been inhabited throughout the prehistoric period, ever since the Stone Age.

De Administrando Imperio book mentions a version of the events, where the Croats weren't actually invited by Heraclius, but instead defeated the Avars and settled on their own accord after migrating from an area near today's Silesia. This record is supported by the writings of one Thomas the archdeacon, Historia Salonitana from the 13th century.

Croatian lands became subject to the Carolingian Empire around 800, and regained independence after the death of Charlemagne in 814. The first written mention of Croats dates from 852, a statute by Duke Trpimir, the founder of the Trpimirovic ruling dynasty. The country was recognized by Pope John VIII as an independent dukedom under Branimir in 879 (dux Chroatorum).