Stjepan Mesic
President

(pronounced "stee-YEH-puhn MEH-sitch")

"Croatia has committed itself to Europe democracy, civil society and the rule of law. This commitment has not been forced upon us; it reflects our awareness that united Europe is not only our wish but also our destiny, because it is only within united Europe that we shall achieve the Croatia we want and the Croatia we are building."

The Republic of Croatia, one of the successor states to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, is bordered by Slovenia on the north, Hungary on the northeast, and Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina to the east. Croatia has a 5,790 km (3,590 mi) coastline along the Adriatic Sea.

The entire country covers an area of 56,542 sq km (21,830 sq mi), and had an estimated population of 4.4 million in 2002, of whom 78% are Croats and 12% are Serbs. The remainder of the...