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

The beginnings of the Christianization are also disputed in the historical texts: the Byzantine texts talk of duke Porin who started this at the incentive of emperor Heraclius, then of duke Porga who mainly Christianized his people after the influence of missionaries from Rome, while the national tradition recalls Christianization during the rule of Dalmatian duke Borna. It is possible that these are all renditions of the same ruler's name.

Unemployment reached a peak of circa 22% in late 2002 due to many overdue bankruptcies. It has since been steadily decreasing, powered by growing industrial production and rising GDP rather than only seasonal changes (tourism). The GDP rose to the level it had in 1990 only 2003.

The Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud) of the Republic of Croatia is the highest court. Court hearings are open, and judgments are made publicly, except in issues of privacy of the accused. Judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council and judicial office is permanent (until 70 years of age). President of the Supreme Court is elected on 4-year term by the Croatian Parliament at the proposal of the President of the Republic.

The first King of Croatia, Tomislav of the Trpimirovic dynasty, was crowned in 925. Tomislav, rex Chroatorum, united the Pannonian and Dalmatian duchies and created a sizeable state. The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak during the reign of King Petar Krešimir IV (1058-1074).

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 most commonly accepted facts about the origin of the Croats are that they originate from Slavic tribes that lived in and around today's Poland. The early Croat people, as well as the Serb people, is believed to have been mixed Slavs and the Iranian-speaking Alans according to many modern scholars. It is unclear whether the Alans contributed much more than a ruling caste or a class of warriors; the evidence on their contribution is mainly philological and etymological.

Pope Leo X called Croatia the forefront of Christianity in 1519, given that several Croatian soldiers made significant contributions to the struggle against the Turks. Among them there were ban Petar Berislavic who won a victory at Dubica on the Una river in 1513, the captain of Senj Petar Kružic who defended the Klis fortress for 15 years, captain Nikola Jurišic who deterred by a magnitude larger Turkish force on their way to Vienna in 1532, or ban Nikola Šubic Zrinski who helped save Pest from occupation in 1542 and fought in the Battle of Szigetvar in 1566.

The official entering of Croatia into personal union with Hungary, becoming part of the Kingdom of Hungary, had several important consequences.

The consequences of the change to the Hungarian king included the introduction of feudalism and the rise of the native noble families such as Frankopan and Šubic. The later kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by giving certain privileges to the towns. The primary governor of Croatian provinces was the ban.

The Lombards and the Huns made an incursion from the north. After 476 the area was subject to Odoacer and then to Ostrogoth rulers beginning with Theodoric the Great. Justinian claimed the old province of Dalmatia to the Eastern Roman Empire in 535. Forebears of Croatia's current Slav population settled there in the 7th century following the Avars, partly under instructions from Byzantine emperor Heraclius.

The President of the Republic of Croatia is the head of state and is elected by popular vote for a five-year term.

The Croatian people trace their origins to Slavic peoples which moved into the territory of the former Roman provinces Pannonia and Dalmatia between the 7th and 8th centuries. No contemporary written records about these events have been preserved, especially not about the events as a whole and from the area itself. Instead, historians rely on records written several centuries after the facts, and even those records may be based on oral tradition.