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Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. Privatization under the new Croatian Government had barely begun when war broke out. As a result of the Croatian war of independence, the economic infrastructure sustained massive damage in the period 1991-92.

The area known as Croatia today has been inhabited throughout the prehistoric period, since the Stone Age. In the middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals lived in Krapina. In the early Neolithic period, the Starcevo, Vinca, Sopot and Hvar cultures were scattered around the region. The Iron Age left traces of the Hallstatt culture (proto-Illyrians) and the La Tčne culture (proto-Celts).

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

In the early Neolithic period, the Starcevo, Vinca and Sopot cultures were scattered between and around the Sava, the Drava and the Danube. Notable are the excavation sites of Šcitarjevo near Zagreb, Sopot near Vinkovci, Vucedol near Vukovar, Nakovanj on Pelješac. Traces of a somewhat isolated Hvar culture were found on the Adriatic island of Hvar.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Roman roads and the Illyrian population speaking Romance languages (such as Istro-Romanian or Dalmatian) remained. With the increasing amount of human migration, this population entrenched in the cities along the whole Dalmatian coast.

In the 4th century BC the northern parts of modern-day Croatia were also colonized by the Celts, the Scordisci tribe. Other Celtic peoples may also have been found elsewhere integrated among the Illyrians. The islands of Issa and Pharos as well as the locality of Tragurion became Greek colonies since the same period.

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

Croatia was one of the crown lands that supported Emperor Karl's Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and supported Empress Maria Theresia in the War of Austrian Succession of 1741-1748. Subsequently, the empress made significant contributions to Croatian matters, by making several changes in the administrative control of the Military Frontier, the feudal and tax system. She also gave the independent port of Rijeka to Croatia in 1776.

The Austrian royal army was victorious against the Turks in 1664 but Emperor Leopold failed to capitalize on the success when he signed the Peace of Vasvar in which Hungary and Croatia were prevented from regaining territory lost to the Ottoman Empire.

The president has limited executive powers, he is still commander-of-chief of the armed forces, he cooperates in formulation and execution of the foreign policy and the national security policy, represents Croatia home and abroad, convenes Parliament and can bring issues at Government. Main and the most essential duty of the President is that he is granted power to issue decress with the force of law during war time.

As the Turkish incursion into Europe started, Croatia was once again a border area between two major forces in this part of the world. While Croats under fra Ivan Kapistran contributed to the Christian victory over the Ottomans in the siege of Belgrade of 1456, they suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Krbava Field (in Lika, Croatia) in 1493 and gradually lost increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Empire.

Croatia has an economy based mostly on various services and some, mostly light industry. Tourism is a notable source of income. The Gross Domestic Product per capita in purchasing power parity terms for 2002 was USD 9,800 or 42.7% of the EU average.

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.