James Baquet The Republic of Croatia is yet another “crossroads country” at the juncture of Central Europe and Southeast Europe. The capital and largest city, Zagreb, is located in the northwest of the country; about a quarter of Croatia’s population live in its urban area. The city’s foundation dates to the Roman era. The Croat people first settled in the area in the 6th or 7th century, part of the second wave of Slavic migrations from the east, following the westward departure of the Germanic peoples who had been fleeing the Huns. The first King of Croatia ascended the throne in 925; the kingdom became allied with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria became their king to protect them from the Ottoman Empire. After the vicissitudes of the 19th century, near the end of World War I they formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. This became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (later a socialist republic); in 1991, Croatia declared independence, and subsequently fought a four-year war against Serbian forces to remain independent. Croatia is surrounded by the Adriatic to the west, Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, and the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the south and east. Its southern exclave — only slightly separated from the country’s main area by an extrusion of Serbia — has a tiny (19-kilometer) border with Montenegro. The long Adriatic coastline is said to have over 1,000 islands and islets varying in size, though only 48 of these are inhabited permanently. Croatian is the official language, which can also be found in Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of Serbia. It is the most common dialect of Serbo-Croatian (called Shtokavian) and is thus closely related to Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. There are roughly 4.15 million people in the country, over 86 percent of whom are Roman Catholic; a small number are Eastern Orthodox, Muslim and others. Today, Croatia is a developed country and has a very high standard of living. The economy is dominated by service, industry and agriculture. Croatia also ranks among the world’s top 20 most-popular tourist destinations. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. running away from 2. all the time 3. creation, starting 4. changes, ups and downs 5. therefore, in this way 6. leave-taking, act of going away 7. having a higher GDP 8. small islands 9. of a city 10. on the same side as | 