Land use: arable land: 23.55% permanent crops: 2.24% other: 74.21% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land:
30 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
destructive earthquakes

Environment - current issues: air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and reconstruction of infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil strife

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note:
controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and
Turkish Straits

People Croatia

Population:
4,422,248 (July 2003 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.3% (male 415,873; female 394,414)
15-64 years: 66.1% (male 1,465,488; female 1,454,778)
65 years and over: 15.6% (male 258,943; female 432,752) (2003 est.)

Median age:
total: 38.9 years
male: 37.1 years
female: 40.7 years (2002)