Top Croatia Resources

Whether its a holiday, or on business Croatia is increasing in popularity amongst us Brits - and rightly so!

The Croatian people will tell you that there is so much more to see and do in Croatia, than just what you see in the brochures.

Thats why its important to get your travel plans sorted out properly, and in our opinion, flight, holiday and hotel specialists Opodo offer the best service online - but you can find that out for yourself here...

The main executive power of Croatian state is the Government (in Croatian: "vlada"), presided by the Prime Minister.

Main problems include massive structural unemployment followed by an insufficient amount of economic reforms. Of particular concern is the gravely backlogged judiciary system combined with inefficient public administration, especially involving land ownership.

The Chamber of Counties or Županijski Dom used to be composed of three deputies from each of the 21 counties (županije). However, as it had no practical power over the Chamber of Representatives, in 2001, the Chamber was abolished and whatever powers it had were transferred directly to the county governments.

The Christianization of the Croats began after their arrival, probably in the 7th century, influenced by the proximity of the old Roman cities in Dalmatia. The process was completed in the north by the beginning of the 9th century.

The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak during the reign of King Petar Krešimir IV (1058-1074) when it was composed of twelve counties and was slightly larger than in Tomislav's time, also including the four southern Dalmatian duchies (Pagania, Zahumlje, Travunia and Duklja). The end of Petar Krešimir IV also marked the de facto end of the Trpimirovic ruling dynasty which had ruled the Croatian lands for over two centuries.

Empress Maria Theresia ignored and eventually disbanded the Croatian Parliament and in 1779, Croatia was relegated to just one seat in the governing council of Hungary, held by the ban of Croatia.

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.

Following the disappearance of the major native dynasty by the end of the 11th century, the Croats eventually recognized the Hungarian ruler Coloman as the common King for Croatia and Hungary in a treaty of 1102 (often referred to as the Pacta Conventa).

Most economic indicators remained positive in this period, except for the external debt. The Croatian National Bank had to take steps to curb further growth of indebtedness of local banks with foreign banks (commonly the same foreign banks that own the local ones). The dollar debt figure is quite adversely affected by the EUR/USD ratio — over a third of the increase in debt since 2002 is due to currency value changes.