Croats (Croatian: Hrvati) are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have migrated throughout the world, and established a notable Croatian diaspora. Large Croat communities exists in The United States, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Serbia, New Zealand and South Africa. Croats are noted for their culture, which has been influenced by a number of other neighbouring cultures through the ages. The strongest influences came from Central Europe and the Mediterranean where, at the same time, Croats have made their own contribution. The Croats are predominantly Catholic with minor groups of Protestants, Muslims, Ortodox, Jews and secular non religious atheists, agnostics and their language is Croatian. Croatia is the nation state of the Croats, while in the adjacent Bosnia and Herzegovina they are one of the three constituent peoples alongside Bosniaks and Serbs. Native Croat minorities exist in or among: Vojvodina, the northern autonomous province of Serbia, where the Croatian language is official (along with five other languages); the vast majority of the Šokci consider themselves Croats, as well as many Bunjevci (the latter, as well as other nationalities, settled the vast, abandoned area after the Ottoman retreat; this Croat subgroup originates from the south, mostly from the region of Bačka). Autonomous Province of Vojvodina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vojvodina Croatian: Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina Vojvodina has a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural identity, with a number of mechanisms for the promotion of minorities; there are more than 26 ethnic groups in the province, which has six official languages. Throughout history, the territory of present day Vojvodina has been a part of Dacia, the Roman Empire, the Hun Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Gepid Kingdom, the Avar Khanate, the Frankish Kingdom, the Pannonian Croatia, the Great Moravia, the Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Serbian Empire of Jovan Nenad, the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbia, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Nedić's Serbia, the Independent State of Croatia, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, and, since 2006, the independent Serbia (from 1945 to 2006, Serbia, which included autonomous Vojvodina, was a republic within Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro). Croatia was the first owner of Vojvodina, before all nations from ex-Yugoslavia. Other nations that had ownership over Vojvodina mostly don't exist today. Conclusion: Vojvodina is Croatian historic region. Principality of Pannonian Croatia was founded in 7th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannonian_Croatia Vojvodina is more diverse than the rest of Serbia with more than 25 ethnic groups and six official languages. The largest ethnic groups are Serbs (65%) and Hungarians (14%). TOTAL 2,031,992 100 Serbs 1,357,320 65.05 Hungarians 290,207 14.28 Slovaks 56,637 2.79 Croats 56,546 2.78 Yugoslavs 49,881 2.45 Montenegrins 35,513 1.75 Romanians 30,419 1.5 Roma 29,057 1.43 Bunjevci (Croats) 19,776 1.05 Pannonian Rusyns 15,626 0.77 Macedonians 11,785 0.58 Ukrainians 4,635 0.23 Muslims (by nationality) 3,634 0.18 Germans 3,154 0.16 Slovenes 2,005 0.1 Sokci (Croats) 1,864 0.1 Albanians 1,695 0.08 Bulgarians 1,658 0.08 Czechs 1,648 0.08 Russians 940 0.05 Gorani 606 0.03 Bosniaks 417 0.02 Vlachs 101 0 Others 5,311 0.26 Regional identity 10,154 0.5 Undeclared 55,016 2.71 Unknown 23,774 1.17 Serbia divided Croats by gaving them three names, even though they are one nation. Bunjevci and Sokci are Croats also. Bunjevci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunjevci Sokci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokci Also there are a lot of people who are afraid to declare themselves. Almost 80 000 people don't want to declare themselves. Croatian government invested a lot of effort so that Croats declare themselves as Croats on upcoming Serbian census. In 2005, several international organizations including the European Parliament and Human Rights Watch have expressed concern about rising levels of ethnic tension and related violent incidents in Vojvodina. Again, Serbia failed in exam of human rights. Croats – There are 56,546 Croats in Vojvodina or 2.78% of the population. Croatian is one of six official languages of Vojvodina. The largest concentration of Croats could be found in the municipalities of Apatin (11.47%) and Subotica (11.24%). In censa, some of the Bunjevci and most of Šokci of Vojvodina declare themselves as Croats. Also one part of Yugoslavs of Vojvodina were declaring themselves as Croats before 1971. About two thirds of all Croats in Vojvodina have Bunjevci or Šokci origins. Those of Bunjevci origin constituting the largest part of population in several villages in the Subotica municipality: Bikovo, Gornji Tavankut, Donji Tavankut, Đurđin, Mala Bosna, and Stari Žednik. Croats of Šokci origin constituting the largest part of population in three villages: Sonta (in the municipality of Apatin), Bački Breg and Bački Monoštor (both in the municipality of Sombor). About one third of the Croats in Vojvodina are neither of Šokac nor Bunjevac origin. During 17th century, Roman Catholic Bunjevci from Dalmatia and Western Herzegovina migrated to Vojvodina, where Šokci had been living since the 8th century, and between 1689, when the Habsburg empire conquered parts of Vojvodina, and the end of the 19th century, a small number of Croats from Croatia migrated to the region. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats_of_Vojvodina Before the 20th century, most of the Bunjevac and Šokac populations living in Hungary (Vojvodina was at that time "southern Hungary") haven't been nationally awakened yet. Their leaders (like Ivan Antunović, Blaško Rajić, Pajo Kujundžić, Mijo Mandić, Lajčo Budanović, Stipan Vojnić Tunić, Vranje Sudarević, Petar Pekić) worked hardly to awake their Croatian national feelings. According to 1851 data, the population of the Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat, the historical province that was predecessor of present-day Vojvodina, included, among other ethnic groups, 62,936 Bunjevci and Šokci and 2,860 Croats. But, Hungarian statistics in 19th century tried to minimize the number of Croats in Hungary by presenting them as different cathegories or even categorizing them as "others" (in 1910 Hungarian census, 70,000 Bunjevacs were categorized as "others"). Croats were always "danger" for radical nations. The 1910 Hungarian census also showed large differences in the numbers of those who considered themselves Bunjevci and Šokci, and those who considered themselves Croats. According to the census, in the city of Subotica there were only 39 citizens who declared Croatian as their native language, while 33,390 citizens were listed as speakers of "other languages" (most of them declared Bunjevac as their native language). All infromations are visibile in references. In the city of Sombor, 83 citizens declared Croatian language, while 6,289 citizens were listed as speakers of "other languages" Croats were forced to not declare themselves as Croats. When someone does that for centuries it's natural that Croats could lose their heritage and integrity. In the municipality of Apatin, 44 citizens declared Croatian and 7,191 declared "other languages" (mostly Bunjevac, Šokac and Gypsy). Romani people are "Gypsies" in Serbia and Croats are on Romani people level. This means that Croats almost don't have any rights in Vojvodina. "In the 20th century, most of the Šokci and part of the Bunjevci began to consider themselves Croats. During the war in Croatia Serbian extremists organized and participated in the expulsion of the Croats of Vojvodina. The President of the Serbian Radical Party, Vojislav Šešelj is indicted for those crimes. The number of Croats which have left Vojvodina under political pressure is between 20,000 and 40,000." The Croats of Vojvodina are politically represented by the Democratic League of Croats in Vojvodina. The Croatian President Stjepan Mesić has urged the Serbian Government to make Croats a recognized minority with a seat in Parliament, as part of the new Constitution of Serbia. Other parties of Croats in Vojvodina are Demokratska zajednica Hrvata (Democratic Union of Croats), Hrvatska bunjevačko-šokačka stranka (Croatian Bunjevac-Šokac Party), Hrvatski narodni savez (Croatian national alliance) and Hrvatska srijemska inicijativa (Croatian Syrmian Initiative). Hrvatsko nacionalno vijeće Republike Srbije (National Council of Croats of Republic of Serbia) is, according to its Statute, a body of self-government of Croat minority in Serbia. Other ethnic groups in Vojvodina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_of_Vojvodina Area Bačka in Vojvodina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bačka Bács-Kiskun County in Hungary: The population of the county is almost homogeneous, with a Hungarian majority (94.1%). Some Croatian and German people live around Hajós and Baja. Vojvodina is agricultural region, very fruitful, that's why Croats aren't accepted there, same is with other non-Serbian people, but this region will be independent soon, after that Serbia will be the land of cliffs and woods, nothing else: http://www.google.hr/search?q=vojvo...a=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CC0Q_AUoAQ Croats are a recognized people in Montenegro, where the Croatian language is in use; they mostly live in the Bay of Kotor. Bay of Kotor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Kotor Kotor has been fortified since the early Middle Ages, and was one of the more influential Dalmatian city-states of the romanized Illirians throughout the period. It later passed to Bulgaria and then to Serbia before becoming a part of the medieval Bosnian state. Its merchant fleet and importance gradually increased, and after the fall of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th century, Dalmatia is today's Croatian region, another proof that Bay of Kotor is Croatian historic region, they were the first owners from that space. Kotor was seized by the Venetian Republic. Part of the Bay of Kotor area was conquered by the Turks at the end of the 15th century, and the Venetian Republic held the south-western part with the city of Kotor. The Turkish part was retaken at the end of the 17th century and the whole area became part of the Venetian Republic, with the name of Albania Veneta. Until the 20th century the difference between the two parts was visible because the former Turkish part had an Orthodox majority, and the part that was under Venetian rule had a Croat Catholic majority. The Bokelj Croats had a very strong fleet, which counted as many as 300 ships in the 18th century. The Bay was a major rival to Dubrovnik and Venice. At the beginning of the 19th century the region around the Bay of Kotor was included in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and later in the Illyrian provinces, which were a part of the French Empire. The region was later conquered by Montenegro with Russian help by Episcop of Cetinje Petar I Petrović Njegoš and in 1813 a union of the bay area with Montenegro was declared. Motenegrins got this bay in year 1813. What a tradition. In 1815, the bay was annexed by the Austrian Empire (Austro-Hungary since 1867) and was included into the province of Dalmatia (part of Cisleithania since 1867). In 1848 Montenegrin Prince-Bishop Petar II Petrović-Njegoš advised the denizens to fight in the Revolutions of 1848 for Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić in an attempt to unite Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia under the Habsburg crown. Contrary to this the Serb National Guard of Kotor refused the proposition of Petar II Petrović Njegoš to unite with Croatia-Slavonia, stating that Serbs have to be unified first before uniting with other Slavs. Another proof that Serbs always had the first thought on Serbia and Serbians, others weren't important. The Bay was attempted to be taken by the Kingdom of Montenegro during World War I, it was bombarded from Lovćen, but by 1916 Austro-Hungary defeated Montenegro. On 7 November 1918 the Serbian Army enters the bay and is greeted by the people as liberators. It becomes a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs joined the Kingdom of Montenegro and the Kingdom of Serbia. Within a month, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is formed, renamed to Yugoslavia in 1939. The Bay was a municipality of Dalmatia until it was, like all historic entities, re-organized into smaller districts in 1922. It was incorporated into the Zeta Area, from 1939 Zeta Banate. According to a list of Christians from the Kotor Catholic Bishopric from 29 October 1625, the Bay had a total of 3,430 residents. 2,350 were Orthodox and 1,080 were Catholic. In the year 1625. there were 1,080 Croats Catholic people. Because Croats were smaller nation there, others could manipulate with them. According to 1818 data, the area had 29,899 inhabitants, of whom 21,310 were Orthodox Christians and 8,589 Roman Catholics. At that time municipalities with an Orthodox majority were Kotor, Risan, Grbalj, Budva, and Herceg Novi, while municipalities with a Catholic majority were Dobrota, Prčanj, Stoliv, Kontada of Kotor, and Perast. In the year 1818 there were 8,589 Croats Catholic people. Herceg-Novi = 3,314 Orthodox Christians, 1,469 Catholics Kotor = 7,051 Catholics, 3,077 Orthodox Christians Risan = 1,910 Orthodox Christians, 860 Catholics According to the 1900 population census, the Bay of Kotor had 37,096 inhabitants. Religion: 24,130 (65.05%) Eastern Orthodox 12,777 (34.44%) Roman Catholics 189 (0.51%) other The region of the Bay of Kotor was occupied by the Italian Army in April 1941, and was included in the Italian Governatorato di Dalmazia until September 1943. Since 1945, it has been part of the Republic of Montenegro. Most inhabitants of the Bay of Kotor area are Serbs (41.89%) and Montenegrins (34.68%) with some Croats (7.61%). The three municipalities making up the Bay of Kotor region have a total population of 71,443 (2003 census): Herceg-Novi = 33,971 (17,818 Serbs; 9,651 Montenegrins; 831 Croats) Kotor = 23,481 (11,002 Montenegrins; 7,197 Serbs; 1,842 Croats) Tivat = 13,991 (4,911 Serbs; 4,126 Montenegrins; 2,761 Croats) Of these, 76% are Orthodox Christians and 11% are Catholics. Croats The towns of Kotor, Perast, Tivat, Dobrota, Prčanj, Herceg-Novi and Budva had a Croatian Roman Catholic majority in 1910. The Bokelj Marine 809 (Bokeljska mornarica 809) is a Croat fraternal society whose aim is to preserve maritime tradition. In 1893, the Croatian Home (Hrvatski dom) was opened in Kotor. In 1991 Croats comprised 8% of the Bay of Kotor, and according to the 2003 Census the percent of Croats was 6.41%. Less Croats again. I hope that it's visible here why is Bay of Kotor desirable, Croatia always had most beautiful regions in that North-Western Balkan Peninsula, other parts of Balkan, except of Greek part are less beautiful: http://www.google.hr/search?q=Bay+o...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1152&bih=773 Video: Bay of Kotor: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=018l_fHJo-8"]Boka Kotorska - The Bay of Kotor - YouTube[/ame] Croats are a very small community in the Carso and Trieste area, in Italy. This is the northwesternmost area populated by Croats. They are mostly assimilated, but traces remain in surnames and some place names. Carso: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carso Carso also has a very beautiful panorama: http://www.google.hr/search?q=Carso...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBUQ_AUoAQ&biw=1152&bih=773 Trieste: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste The top countries of origin of the inhabitants of Trieste with foreign citizenship at December 31, 2008 were: Serbia 5741 Romania 1457 Croatia 1368 The dominant local dialect of Trieste is called Triestine ("Triestin", pronounced [triɛsˈtin]), influenced by a form of Venetian. This dialect and the official Italian language are spoken in the city, while Slovene is spoken in some of the immediate suburbs. The Triestin is considered an autochthonous of the area (along with Slovenian, German, and Istro-Romanian). There are also small numbers of Serbian, Croatian, German, and Hungarian speakers. Here is visible influence of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy where people were re-settled to a new territories so that these areas would become multicultural. Trieste: http://www.google.hr/search?q=Tries...a=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCEQ_AUoAQ Trieste is different city when you compare him with other Italian cities. It feels large influence of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, less temperament, calmer residents,very beautiful city. Croats also live in Primorska, Prekmurje and in the Metlika area in Dolenjska regions in Slovenia. Slovenian Littoral: Primorska http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian_Littoral Prekmurje: means "over the Mura" (preko Mure). Mura is river in Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary I think. Metlika: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metlika Lower Carniola (Dolenjska): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Carniola Croats live in Zala, Baranya and Somogy counties in Hungary, which are border areas with Croatia Zala County: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zala Baranya County: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baranya_(county) Somogy County: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somogy_County Krashovans in Romania mostly consider themselves Croatian - see Croats of Romania. Croats of Romania: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats_of_Romania The Croats (Croatian: Hrvati, Romanian: croaţi) are an ethnic minority in Romania, numbering 6,786 people according to the 2002 census. Croats mainly live in the southwest of the country, particularly in Caraş-Severin County. Declared Croatians form a majority in two Romanian localities: the communes of Caraşova and Lupac. In these communes, Croatian is an officially recognised language, with signage, education and access to justice and public administration being provided in Croatian alongside Romanian. Most Croats in Romania are Krashovani, even though only around 200 people declared themselves Krashovani in the census, the rest declaring Croatian ethnicity. Due to some political, economic, social and cultural factors, most of them started identifying themselves with Croats, and some still continued to call themselves Krašovani. Today, many Krashovani chose the Croatian ethnicity, partly due to the attention given to them by the Croatian state (which also awards them the Croatian citizenship). As an officially recognized ethnic minority, Croats have one seat reserved in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. Krashovani: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krashovani The Krashovani (Croatian: Krašovani, Karašovani or Krašovanje, Karaševci and Koroševci, Karaševski Hrvati; Bulgarian: Крашовени, transliterated: Krashoveni; Romanian: Caraşoveni, Cârşoveni, Cotcoreţi or Cocoşi, also known in English as Krashovans) are a South Slavic people indigenous to Caraşova and other nearby locations in Caraş-Severin County within the Romanian Banat. It is estimated that around 5,000 people compose the Krashovani community in Romania. At the 2002 census, only 207 persons identified as Krashovans at a national level. The vast majority identify today as Croatian. Some of the Krashovani allegedly originate from Turopolje region of present-day Croatia (they are being referred as Turopoljci). Because of the long-time influence of other Krashovani, who speak the variant Torlakian dialect, the supposed original (Kajkavian) dialect of this group also became Torlakian. Other groups are supposedly Croats from the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. * Croatian region Turopolje: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turopolje * Kajkavian dialect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajkavian_dialect Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscan_Province_of_Bosna_Srebrena Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena (also Bosna Argentina; officially Latin: Provincia OFM Exaltationis S. Crucis - Bosna Argentina) is a province of the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their headquarters are currently in Sarajevo. The Province includes the monasteries: Franciscan monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscan_monastery_in_Kraljeva_Sutjeska Franciscan monastery in Fojnica - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciscan_monastery_in_Fojnica Guča Gora Monastery - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guča_Gora_Monastery Another proof that Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina have long history. The dialect of the Krashovani is based on the specific variant dialect as traditionally spoken in the area of eastern and southern Serbia and in the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, the Torlakian dialect of the Timok valley around Zaječar. Torlakian as a linguistic entity forms a part of the Balkan Linguistic Union; the Krashovani are the only speakers of a language - belonging to this union for having developed many shared features with the adjacent languages - which is detached from the main section. The population however, declare their language as Croatian, probably along religious lines. However, their Roman Catholic religion has more recently set them apart from Eastern Orthodox Serbs in the Banat, despite the common language and a long history of solidarity (partly continued to this day through joint Serb-Krashovan organizations). Torlakian dialect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torlakian_dialect Minorities of Romania: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minorities_of_Romania Officially, 10.5% of Romania's population is represented by minorities (the rest of 89.5% being Romanians). The principal minorities in Romania are Hungarians (Szeklers and Magyars; see Hungarians in Romania) (especially in Harghita, Covasna and Mureş counties) and Roma people, with a declining German population (in Timiş, Sibiu, Braşov) and smaller numbers of Poles in Bucovina (Austria-Hungary attracted Polish miners, who settled there from the Kraków region in Poland in the 19th century), Serbs, Croats, Slovaks and Banat Bulgarians (in Banat), Ukrainians (in Maramureş and Bukovina), Greeks (Brăila, Constanţa), Turks and Tatars (in Constanţa), Armenians, Russians (Lippovans, in Tulcea) and others. Minority populations are greatest in Transylvania and the Banat, areas in the north and west, which were possessions of Hungary (since 1867 the as part of Austria-Hungary) until World War I. Though Romanian troops participated in the destruction of the Jewish communities of Bessarabia and Bukovina, just under half of Jews from Romania survived the Holocaust. Mass emigration, mostly to Israel and United States, has reduced the surviving Jewish community from over 300,000 to less than 6,000. In recent years, more than two-thirds of the ethnic Germans in Romania have emigrated to Germany, leaving behind roughly 60,000. In the Romanian voting law, all government-recognized ethnic minorities in Romania had been granted each a seat in the Chamber of Deputies since the fall of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime. Large destruction of Jewish and German communities. Minority Population (2002) Percent of the total population Area Croats/Krašovani 6,786 0.03% Caraş-Severin Caraș-Severin County: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caraş-Severin_County Ever since the Romanian Revolution, the government of Romania has awarded special minority status and privileges to its ethnic Serb citizens. The Democratic Union of Serbs and Krashovani of Romania (Uniunea Democratică a Sârbilor si Caraşovenilor din România) was founded in 1989. Serbians an Romanians have excellent relations, because they share the Orthodox religion. During football match in Romania between Dinamo Zagreb and Timisoara, may Serbians came to support Timisoara, just because their opponent was Croatian Dinamo Zagreb. Videos of conflicts between the fans in Timisoara: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMlFP06IR7g"]Police in action - asediu in Timisoara - Bataie Poli Timisoara Dinamo Zagreb - YouTube[/ame] Fans of Dinamo Zagreb: Bad Blue Boys - BBB. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh5jz8UZhIw"]BBB divljaju u Temisvaru - YouTube[/ame] Dinamo Zagreb won here 0-3: http://www.220.ro/sport/FC-Timisoara-Dinamo-Zagreb-0-3-Europa-League/NDBJvxvPAp/ Croats also live in Kosovo, their name down there is Janjevci. They had very bad conditions when Kosovo was Serbian region. Janjevci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janjevci Janjevci (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈjaːɲeftsi]) are Croatian inhabitants of the Kosovo town of Janjevo and surrounding villages, located near Pristina as well as villages centered on Letnica near Vitina (Papare, Vrmez, Vrnavo Kolo). The Janjevci as a specific group is one of two regional communities in Kosovo who nationally identify as Croats. They belong to the Slavic ethnicities and are believed to be mostly descended from traders who settled in Kosovo during the 14th century from the Dubrovnik, Croatia. They have maintained their Catholic faith throughout the centuries. The first written mention is by pope Benedict XI in 1303, mentioning Janjevo as the center of the catholic parish of Sveti Nikola. Because of rising anti-Croat rhetorics and warmongering in Serbian media (especially in Serb media on Kosovo) in late 1980s, and all the pressure and incidents arising from that, Croats from Janjevo and Letnica and other Croat-inhabited villages were more and more forced to leave Kosovo. They mostly migrated to Croatia. And yet during 1980s Yugoslavia was land of "equal rights" for all nations, land of communist brotherhood and unity. The second wave of leaving Kosovo, came during Kosovo War. In 1992, some inhabitants from Letnica, another Croatian village in Kosovo, emigrated to Croatia and broke in, and illegally settled in abandoned homes of Serbs in the villages of Voćin, Đulovac and Varešnica in western Slavonia. Many of the Janjevci settled in Serb homes in inner Dalmatia in 1996. After the return of Serb refugees, the village became divided between two hostile communities. The Janjevci have since returned the Serb houses to their owners and instead built properties for themselves in a new part of Kistanje called Novo Naselje (lit. New Settlement). Janjevci families started migrating to Croatia in the 1950s, with most settling in Zagreb. By the beginning of the 1970s, there was a large community of Janjevci along and within the vicinity of Konjšćinska Street in Dubrava, city district of Zagreb. They have since turned this area into a vibrant shopping district. Croatian city Vocin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voćin Konjscinska Street in Zagreb: to much crowd. http://dalje.com/slike/slike_3/r1/g2008/m06/y174744975125079.jpg According to records in 2002, there are 966 families of Janjevci in Croatia, with the majority of them residing in the capital Zagreb (669 families), and the rest in other parts of Croatia (297 families). Before 1991, there were 8,062 Janjevci in Kosovo. In 1998 about 1,300 remained. After the Kosovo War, in Janjevo itself only around 350 remained, the rest fled mostly to Croatia. Another proof of pressures against Croatian minority in Serbia. The present situation for Croats in Kosovo is as described: 'With the downfall of Milošević's policy in Kosovo and with the exodus of most of the Serb population, the survival of the remaining Croat population also became uncertain. Albanian plunderers from neighbouring villages terrorised them and as a result they asked Croatia to help them leave Letnica collectively. There is an attempt in progress to find a proper place for them in Croatia, and to enable it to take them all together on secure ground. In 2007, there are only 320 Croats estimated to live in Janjevo. The community is slowly moving to Croatia, while Albanians and Roma are buying their properties in Janjevo. The remaining Croats of Janjevo have given their support for an independent Kosovo, but they have said if the conditions in Janjevo do not improve very soon they will all leave Kosovo for Croatia in one last group. In the municipality of Vitina, in which the village of Letnica is, there are only 60 Croats left according to the 2003 Kosovo population census. On 28 January 2008, the same day Amnesty International published its report on human rights abuses in Kosovo,a representative of the Croat community in Janjevo, Nikola Brkić, informed the media that the homes of two Croats, Luka Jožić and Roka Čibarlić, in the Šišarka village near Janjevo, had been demolished. Terrible behavior against Croats. Croats also live in Austrian region Burgenland in the eastern part of Austria, and the bordering areas of western Hungary (the counties of Vas and Győr-Moson-Sopron) and Slovakia - the Croats of Gradišće - Burgenland Croats. Burgenland Croats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgenland_Croats Burgenland Croats (Croatian: Gradišćanski Hrvati, German: Burgenlandkroaten, Burgenland-Kroaten) are ethnic Croats in the Austrian state of Burgenland. Although an enclave hundreds of kilometres away from their original homeland, they have managed to preserve culture and language for centuries. According to the estimation, the total number of Burgenland Croats is 50,000. The Burgenland Croats were given landrights by the Austrian Crown during the Turkish wars (1533-1584). This gave the Croats refuge and also provided Austria with a buffer zone between Vienna and the Turks in the South and East. The Croats fled the Turks from the riverland areas of Gacka, Lika and Krbava, Moslavina in Slavonia and an area of present day Northern Bosnia near Tuzla. Because many villages had been pillaged by the Turks, the Crown gave the new settlers land rights and independent ecclesiastic rights. As the Croats had been driven from their homes and farms, they were happy to take up the offer granted by the Kaiser. They subsequently stayed and the present day Burgenland Croats are direct descendants from these settlers. Gacka = Lika region: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lika Krbava - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krbava Moslavina - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moslavina Slavonia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonia Tuzla - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuzla The Burgenland Croats also developed their own orthography during the counter-reformation, however, assimilation soon followed with the language being banned from use in churches and schools. After falling under Hungarian rule in the Dual Monarchy, liberal laws regarding ethnicity enabled them to rekindle their language and heritage. However, when a 1900 census revealed that only 18.8% of the population of Burgenland spoke Hungarian, drastic measures of magyarisation were taken, thus revoking many individual and community rights. Sadly the Burgenland Croats were persecuted by Austro-German Nationalists after the WWI and by the Nazis in WWII and were exposed to attempts of assimilation. The Croats gained minority status in the Austrian Treaty of Independence of 1955. Since then they and their culture have undergone somewhat of a renaissance with the language being taught at schools and spoken in Church where there is a large enough minority. The Burgenland Croats speak Burgenland Croatian. This dialect is mutually intelligible with standard Croatian; however, Burgenland Croatian includes phrases no longer used in standard Croatian as well as certain phrases and words taken from German and Hungarian. Names are often written according to Hungarian orthography due to Magyarisation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nearly all Burgenland Croats are fluent in German. Burgenland Croatian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgenland_Croatian_language Burgenland Croatian was the language of Croatian refugees who fled Croatia during the Turkish Wars and settled in the western part of what was then Hungary, the area where they still live. Burgenland Croats included speakers of all three dialects of the Croatian language (Shtokavian, Chakavian and Kajkavian), with the majority being the Chakavians who originally stem from the northern Adriatic coast. Burgenland Croats did not take part in the shaping of the present Croatian standard language in the 19th century. Instead, they constructed their own written standard based mainly on the local Chakavian speech and adopted the Croatian alphabet, a modified Latin alphabet, as their script. It is still a matter of debate whether Burgenland Croatian should be classified as a Slavic micro-language of its own. Burgenland Croatian dialects are mostly viewed as isolated dialects of the Croatian language. The Burgenland Croatian language and the Prekmurian language (this is a Slovene language-variant in the Prekmurje and Hungary) was to press with interact. The first prekmurian works (for exampl. Old hymn-book of Martjanci) was apply to the Burgenland Croatian books. Few writer of the prekmurian language was Burgenland Croatian descent (for exampl. Jakab Szabár) and also the Burgenland Croatian language (József Ficzkó). Croats of Hungary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats_in_Hungary Croats of Slovenia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats_of_Slovenia Croats in Slovakia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats_in_Slovakia The current President of Slovakia Ivan Gašparovič is of Croat descent. Austria–Croatia relations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria–Croatia_relations Croats also live in Molise, Italy. Molise Croats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molise_Croats Molise Croats (Croatian: Moliški Hrvati) live in the Molise region of Italy in the villages Acquaviva Collecroce (Croatian: Kruč), San Felice del Molise (Croatian: Štifilić), Montemitro (Croatian: Mundimitar) and elsewhere. In these three villages they are a majority. There are about 5,000 speakers of the Molise Croatian dialect. Additionally, there are about 1,000 people in other parts of Italy and emigrants in other countries originating from these villages. These three villages are the descendants of colonies of Croat refugees (due to the Ottoman advance), that appeared in the Italian southern Adriatic hinterland (from Marche to Puglia) in the 15th century. The Molise Croat community is split on ethnic identify: they may declare Croat or Italian; the speak the Molise Croat dialect as a communal tongue, alongside Italian which is their national language. Milena Lalli, a poet born to local parents in Rome, studied Slavic languages in the 1970s and acquired a sizeable literary Croatian vocabulary to replace the numerous Italian borrowings in her dialect. These Croatian words and even whole expressions are translated in parentheses or off to the side into proper Italian; so also in translations from Croatian. The Molise Croats, in majority are Catholic. Tradition holds that the community settled "zone bane mora" (from the other side of the sea) in the 15th century, and was once much more widespread. A legend says that they came to the new country on one Friday in May carrying only the statue of Saint Lucy. Because the exact year and date of their arrival is unknown they hold processions dedicated to Saint Lucy (Sveta Luca) on every Friday in May. Scientists offer the following hypotheses about the geographical origins of Molise Croats: About the 16th century, their ancestors migrated to Molise from the valley of the river Neretva, which is partly in southern Croatia, partly in Herzegovina; At the beginning of the 16th century the Croat refugees arrived in Molise from Dalmatia, precisely from the area around the mouth of river Neretva (Reissmüller); Molise Croats came from areas around the city of Zadar (Aranza); Molise Croats originated from štokavian-morlakian part of southern Istria (Badurina); Molise Croats originated from Zadar and Šibenik hinterland (Hraste); Molise Croats originated from area of Zabiokovlje (hinterland area of mountain Biokovo) in southern Croatia, between cities of Imotski, Zagvozd and Makarska (theory based on čakavian and štokavian-čakavian features in Molise Croatian speech, found also in Zabiokovlje area) (Muljačić). Croats live also in Szentendre town in Hungary, they are magyarized, but preserving a memory of their Croat origins (from Dalmatia). Szentendre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szentendre Some Hungarian footballers have Croatian origins: Barnabás Sztipánovics (Stipanović): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnabás_Sztipánovics Imre Szabics (Sabić or Šabić): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imre_Szabics Péter Czvitkovics (Cvitković): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Péter_Czvitkovics Croats live in the area around Bratislava in Slovakia: the villages of Chorvátsky Grob, Čunovo, Devínska Nová Ves, Rusovce and Jarovce. Most have assimilated but a small minority still preserves its Croatian identity. Bratislava: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratislava Chorvátsky Grob (Croatian Grave): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorvátsky_Grob Čunovo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Čunovo Devínska Nová Ves, "Devinsko New Village": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devínska_Nová_Ves Devínska Nová Ves houses the greatest Croat minority in Slovakia and the Festival of Croatian Culture takes place annually. Rusovce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusovce Jarovce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarovce Croats live also in the Moravia region in the Czech Republic. The villages of Jevišovka (Frielištof), Dobré Pole (Dobro Polje) and Nový Přerov(Nova Prerava). Moravia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravia Jevišovka: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevišovka In the past a large Croatian community lived in the village (74% in 1930). There was also a minority of Germans (17% in 1930). The Germans were expelled after World War II and Croats were also forcibly relocated in 1948. Croats always had problems, in almost every country in the region. This was probably made from Soviet Union who had great influence on Czech Republic. After World War II problems started. Dobré Pole, probably means Good Field, in Croatian is "Dobro Polje": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobré_Pole Nový Přerov: Nový means "new", similar to Croatian word "novi" - "new". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nový_Přerov Croats in Ucraine: http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrvati_u_Ukrajini Google Translator: "Croats in Ukraine numbering several thousand people, but some of them declare in terms of ethnic Ukrainians. According to the interpretation of Ukrainian historians in Ukraine now has two streams of Croats. Some are descendants of White Croats who are qualified to research indigenous people in Ukraine. The same group of Croatians were not moved to the Adriatic after the great Hungarian in the 9th, and then the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Most of the Croats, Ukrainians, and considers himself to interpret the terms of ethnonyms same people. One of them is the famous Ukrainian writer Dmytro Pavlyčko, who is a frequent guest in Croatia. Another less power in Ukraine Croats settled with the arrival of the Turks in the Balkans. Those Croats originating from the southern Croatian territories, mostly from the neighboring areas of Dalmatia and Herzegovina." Cultural relations Croats and Ukrainians: Traces of the Croats found in all over Ukraine, especially in the western part of the country. For these and similar reasons, Ukraine has a lot of information that are indispensable in the interpretation of ethnogenesis Croats. Science is a very important aspect of novelty, and this research path totally unexplored. They are especially frequent and significant information from Slavic mythology that connect today's Ukrainian and Croatian territory. Since that ethnology is not focused on the exploration of the pre-Christian period, this is a new discovery. They discover the ancient and enduring ties between Ukraine, the countries of the steppe horsemen and warriors of fertile fields and areas that have colonized the Slavic community on the east coast. In Croatia, this topic specifically explores the art historian and expert on the history of Ukraine Evgeny Paščenko. According to the work of the great linguist Roman Jakobson, Paščenko noted that the warrior elite, the social backbone of archaic societies gave the same names, toponyms in present-day Ukraine and Croatian. Place names are then carried ideological information. At that time people are on their migration routes mitologizirali geography and place names are related pre-Christian period, called by Perun, the god of Thunder, Veles, god of the earth and the other gods, then there is the toponym "holy hill" and other similar place names found in Ukraine and Croatia. Joint are also common Iranian toponyms, as the Ukrainian researchers are not the subject of wonder, since the "Dnipro" and "Don" Iranian hidronimi. There are other similarities like those between the Statute and the laws of Rus'ke justice, then the common institutions Didic, warrior traditions, the genesis of the Glagolitic alphabet, which some researchers argue that it was Cyril created under the existing model of sarmatskih symbols, units of currency kuna and the hryvnia derived from the manner of payment of which there is testimony in the Ukrainian and Croatian documents. Special interest historians of medieval dwellings predastavljaju White Croatians around the town Ljviva and dialect speech as a specific characteristic feature of the Croats and Ukrainians. Medieval tenements of White Croatians in Ukraine Ljvivskoj field, Galichina - Stiljsko: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Stolskoe.JPG Monument of the founders of Kiev; Kij, Šček, Horiv and Libid. According to the interpretation of some historians, military leaders "Horiv" was one of the leaders of the tribe of White Croatians: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Kyiv_founders_Ukraine.jpeg The population estimates are reasonably accurate domestically: around four million in Croatia and nearly 600,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or 15% of the total population. Croatian diaspora: A large number of Croats were forced to leave their traditional homeland over the course of time, for economic or political reasons. Thus today there exists quite a large Croat diaspora outside their traditional homeland in southern Central Europe. The first large emigration of Croats took place in the 15th and 16th centuries, at the beginning of the Ottoman conquests in today's Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. People fled into safer areas in what is today Croatia, and other areas of the Habsburg Empire (today's Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and small parts of Italy, Germany and the Ukraine). This migration resulted in Croat communities in Austria and Hungary. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, larger numbers of Croats emigrated, particularly for economic reasons, to overseas destinations. These included North America (Croatian American and Canadians of Croatian ancestry); South America, above all Chile (Croatian Chilean) and Argentina (Croatian Argentine) with smaller communities in Bolivia and Peru; Australia and New Zealand; and South Africa. Croatian American: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_American Well-known Croatian-Americans past and present include Democratic politicians Mark Begich and Dennis Kucinich, Republican politicians George Radanovich and John Kasich, Republican political consultant Mary Matalin, Louis Cukela United States Marine numbered among the nineteen two-time recipients of the Medal of Honor, John J. Tominac also Medal of Honor recipient, game show host Gene Rayburn, video game developer and cryptography expert Elonka Dunin, professional basketball players George Mikan and Rudy Tomjanovich, professional baseball player Roger Maris, actors John Malkovich, Jenna Elfman, Elfman's uncle and lead singer of vocal group The Lettermen Tony Butala, bassist of Nirvana Krist Novoselic, oil industry pioneer Anthony Francis Lucas, inventor and modern fishing industry pioneer Mario Puratić, mathematician William Feller, winemaker Mike Grgich, film critic Lou Lumenick and Franjo Vlasic, founder and namesake of Vlasic Pickles, Ed Kobak, Jr., sports reference book author and publisher, John Owen Dominis, Prince Consort of Hawaii, Ron Kovic, anti-war activist, John Mayasich, hockey player, Judah Friedlander, actor and comedian, professional football coaches Nick Saban and Bill Belichick, Denny "Sharkey" Mihalinec A well known Community Activist & Honorary Mayor in Trilby Florida. List of Croatian Americans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Croatian_Americans Croatan Indians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_American Legend is that the Croatan Indians, who lived in what is today North Carolina, were partially of Croatian origin. Historians prescribing to this theory submit the story of Croatian sailors shipwrecked of Cape Hatteras in 1498 who remained to live in the vicinity, assimilating with the native Americans in the area. They also refer to the tree carving found by an English expedition in 1593, in what was at the time the Roanoke Colony. The tree had the inscription "Croatoan", which is recognized among American historians as an Algonquian Indian name. In the same time like Columbus. White Croatians: In Poland there existed an ethnic group called White Croats (Bijeli Hrvati) which emigrated to United States. The group was concentrated around Krakow and mostly emigrated due to Nazi and later Stalinist oppression in Poland. It is interesting to add that according to American documents, from the beginning of this century, there were about 100,000 immigrants to the USA born around Krakow (Poland) who declared themselves to be Bielo-Chorvats, i.e. White Croats by nationality. Croatian Canadian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians_of_Croatian_ancestry The Croatian community is present in most major Canadian cities, including the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Windsor, and Montreal. Some of the more popular Croatian Canadian events are the Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament and the Canadian-Croatian Folklore Festival. Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament The Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament is a soccer tournament established in 1964 featuring teams representing the Croatian Canadian and Croatian American communities. It is organized by the Croatian National Soccer Federation of Canada & the U.S., and hosted annually by a CNSF member club. It is traditionally played on the Labour Day weekend to accommodate teams who have to travel long distances. There is no prize money for winning the tournament. The event attracts large Croatian crowds and is intended to allow each host club to gain financially so that they can maintain stability and promote their Croatian name and heritage in their own cities. The dynasties of the competition are Toronto Croatia and Chicago CBP. Similar tournaments for Croatian diaspora teams are held in the west coast of North America and in Australia. Canadian-Croatian Folklore Festival: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian-Croatian_Folklore_Festival There are approximately 97,050 Canadians of Croatian ethnic origin as reported in the 2001 Census. Croatian-Canadians are present in most major Canadian cities. The ten largest Croatian communities are found in the following cities: Toronto, Ontario: 12,230 Mississauga, Ontario: 9,140 Hamilton, Ontario: 8,170 Calgary, Alberta: 3,690 Vancouver, British Columbia: 2,945 Oakville, Ontario: 2,830 Burnaby, British Columbia: 2,770 Edmonton, Alberta: 2,575 Windsor, Ontario: 2,520 Ottawa, Ontario: 2,505. Statistics Canada also designates Census Metropolitan Areas in the collection of its data. The ten Census Metropolitan Areas with the highest concentration of Croatian-Canadians are: Toronto CMA: 30,585 Vancouver CMA: 11,225 Hamilton CMA: 9,710 Calgary CMA: 3,900 Kitchener CMA: 3,630 Windsor, Ontario CMA: 3,495 Montreal CMA: 3,270 Edmonton CMA: 3,230 Ottawa-Gatineau CMA: 2,890 London CMA: 2,445. Most Croatian Canadians are Roman Catholic who follow the Latin Rite of their ancestors in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A very small minority of Croatians are Byzantine Rite Roman Catholics. There is also a community of Croats who follow Islam, the descendants of those who converted after the 16th century, after the conquest of much of Croatia by the Ottomans. Communities of Protestants have historically been negligible in Croatia. In Canada, the first ethnic Croatian parish was established in Windsor in 1950. Soon, parishes were established in Toronto (1951), Hamilton (1958), Vancouver (1967). Today there are ethnic Croatian parishes and missions in seventeen cities in Canada. In addition, Croats of the Muslim faith founded the Croatian Islamic Centre in 1974 in Etobicoke. Today, given changing political affiliations, the centre is now known as the Bosnian Islamic Centre. While an overwhelming percentage of Croatians in Canada remain Roman Catholic, there are significant non-Catholic populations, including Protestants (most of whom have been in Canada for more than one generation) and Eastern Orthodox (the majority of whom are of mixed ethnic background). The leading religious affiliations among Croatian-Canadians: Roman Catholic: 77,025 (79.4%) Protestant: 5,870 (6.0%) Eastern Orthodox: 2,745 (2.8%) Christian (not otherwise specified): 1,120 (1.2%) Muslim: 490 (.5%) Other: 330 (.3%) No Religious Affiliation: 9,470 (9.8%). Notable Croatian Canadians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians_of_Croatian_ancestry Croatian Chilean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Chilean Chileno-croatas (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃiˈleŋo kɾoˈata]; Hrvati: čileanski Hrvati; English: Croatian Chilean) are an important ethnic group in Chile; they are citizens of Chile who were either born in Europe or are Chileans of Croatian descent deriving their Croatian ethnicity from one or both parents. Chile has one of the largest communities of ethnic Croats outside the Balkan Peninsula and it is one of the most significant communities in the Croatian diaspora– second only to that which is found in the Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are one of the main examples of successful assimilation of a non-Spanish-speaking European ethnic group into Chilean society. Many successful entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and prominent politicians holding the highest offices in the country have been of Croatian descent. The oppression of the Croatian people and the denial of an internationally recognised nation was the principal factor leading them to embark on a constant migration to Chile. If everyone were good for Croats, why they needed to move in the far Chile? Obviously, Croats had problems on Balkan Peninsula. Croats were well accepted in South America (Chile, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia also in other Hispanic countries with smaller number of Croats. At first they were recognised and officially registered as former citizens of the countries or empires from which they had fled. For example, until 1915 they were recognised as Austrians, and since then to 1990 as Yugoslavians. Since 1990, and in accordance to the establishment of the new internationally recognised Republic of Croatia, Chilean Croats have reasserted their cultural and ethnic identity. The Croatian community first established itself in two provinces situated in the extreme ends of Chile: Antofagasta, in the Atacama desert of the north and Punta Arenas in the Patagonian region in the south. The massive arrival of Croats in Chile began in 1864 and the migration grew steadily until 1956 – reaching a number of more than 60,000. In the early part of this 1864-1956 era more Croats settled in Argentina than in Chile. For example, in Argentina the number reached 120,000, but only about 57% of these Croats remained in Argentina. Some of these returned to Europe or moved and settled in Chile where Croats had a more rapid and successful assimilation, which lead to a significant increase in the Chilean-Croat population in periods when there was no migration of Croats from Europe to the Americas. It is officially accepted that there are up to 380,000 Chileans of Croatian descent (who clearly identify themselves as Chilean-Croats). Even though the number may be much higher with some demographic analysts estimating a figure of 750,000. Dalmatian-Croatian in Chile: The first issue of the publication Sloboda was published in March 1902, in Antofagasta. It was the first newspaper of the Croatian immigrants in Latin America. The Croatian immigrants in Chile conducted extensive journalistic work since 1902, which includes more than 50 newspapers, publications and newsletters. The Dalmatian coast, with its thousands of islands of white rock covered with vineyards, pine forests and olive trees, is similar to the geographical conditions of Chile. Most families have a relative or descendant in Chile. Chile's name, unlike other parts of the world where it is almost unknown, is loved and admired by many Dalmatians as a second home. Punta Arenas, City of the "Croatian" Pacific: Punta Arenas is the most prominent settlement on the Strait of Magellan and the capital of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile. It has a population of over 146,000 inhabitants (2008). The city has its roots among the population origin of the European colonists (Croatian and Spanish) that populated the area in the mid-nineteenth century. There are also descendants of people from other countries (i.e. German, English, Italian, Swiss and others). Croatian immigration in Punta Arenas was a crucial development in the region of Magallanes and the city in particular. Currently, you can see this influence in the names of shops and many buildings. According to some references, 50% of the population of Punta Arenas are descendants of Croats. Antofagasta: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antofagasta Dalmatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_coast Punta Arenas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punta_Arenas Strait of Magellan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Magellan Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magallanes_y_la_Antártica_Chilena_Region Croatian diaspora: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_diaspora Notable Chilean Croats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Chilean Croats in Argentina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Argentine Croatians in Argentina or Croatian Argentine are Argentine of Croatian descent. Croats and their descendants have made valuable contributions to their new country. Mostly settled in Argentina capital, Buenos Aires. Argentine of Croatian descent number over 250,000. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries there were 133 settlements, with some 120,000 Croats in Argentina, for the most part hailing from the coastal regions of Dalmatia and the Croatian Littoral, who were among the first European immigrants to settle in the Argentine pampas. The pioneers from the island of Hvar were followed by emigrants from other parts of Dalmatia and the other historic Croatian lands, mostly the present-day Republic of Croatia. The most successful of all the Croats in Argentina was also almost the first to arrive: Nikola Mihanović came to Montevideo, Uruguay in 1867, and, having settled in Buenos Aires, Mihanović owned 350 vessels of one kind or another by 1909, including 82 steamers. By 1918, he employed 5,000 people, mostly from his native Dalmatia Mihanović by himself was thus a major factor in building up a Croat community which remains primarily Dalmatian to this day. The second wave of Croat immigration was far more numerous, totalling 15,000 by 1939. Mostly peasants, these immigrants fanned out to work the land in Buenos Aires province, Santa Fe, Chaco, and Patagonia. This wave was accompanied by a numerous clergy to attend their spiritual needs, especially Franciscans. Nicolás Mihanovich: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolás_Mihanovich If the first two waves had been primarily economic, the third wave after the Second World War was eminently political. Some 20,000 Croatian political refugees came to Argentina, and most became construction workers on Peron's public works projects until they started to pick up some Spanish. Argentina today has the second largest number of Croatian descendants in Latin America since Chile (380,000 Croats), and the third largest one in the world since USA. Again we see bad conditions in Yugoslavia after the World War II for Croats. Notable Croatian Argentines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Argentine Also, Diego Armando Maradona who isn't on the list has Croatian heritage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona "His parents are Diego Maradona Snr and Dalma Salvadore Franco. His father is of Native American extraction. His maternal great-grandfather Mateo Kariolić was born in Korčula, Dalmatia, today's Croatia (possibly then in the Austrian Empire), and emigrated to Argentina, where Maradona's grandmother Salvadora was born. Salvadora named her daughter Dalma after the Croatian region Dalmatia, after whom Maradona named his eldest daughter." Croatian Brazilian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Brazilian Croatian Brazilian (Portuguese: croata-brasileiro) is a Brazilian person of full, partial, or predominantly Croat ancestry, or a Croat-born person residing in Brazil. It is estimated that 45,000 Croatians live in Brazil. Unlike other Southern American countries in which the number of Croatians has stagnated or dropped after the war, Brazil is one of the few countries where the number of Croatian immigrants is constantly on the rise. The training and work qualifications of Croatian emigrants in the inter-war period remained more or less unchanged from what it had been in the earlier period; most emigrants were unskilled farmers and the number of craftsmen who emigrated increased by only a small amount. However, in the countries of South America which became very important emigration targets in the post-World War I period agricultural workers or other labourers were still in demand, and in those destinations the bulk of emigrants took up employment in agriculture (Argentina and Brazil) or in the mines (Chile and Bolivia). Zeljko Loparić: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeljko_Loparić Croatian Peruvian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Peruvian Croatian-Peruvians are Peruvians of Croatian descent. Although a small group in the European minority of Peru, Croatian-Peruvians and their descendants have made valuable contributions to their new country. Mostly settled in Peru's capital, Lima, Croatian-Peruvians have scattered throughout the vast metropolis, but are known to have established a strong community in the Miraflores District, where strong ties to the ethnic group still remain. Due to intermarriage, most Croatian-Peruvians are of mixed ancestry. Actual conversations in Croatian are common only within first generation immigrants. Although Croatian speech in Peru has been lost. Most Croatian-Peruvians are Roman Catholic and either completely Croat or of mixed European origin. The first Croatian immigrants are said to have moved to Peru shortly after independence in 1821, although the amount of immigrants was minimal, not even reaching two hundred individuals by the 1910s. However, when World War I broke out, many Yugoslavs, particularly Croatians, had no option but to leave their country to avoid political turmoil and the violence about to take place with the Serbian campaign in WWI. Once again, a heavy wave of Croatian immigration took place once World War II began. This time, however, an estimate of 152 Croatians are recorded to have arrived in Lima. Many settled in the populous Miraflores district and cultural assimilation was smooth due to similarities in religion and cooperation of the native residents. Immigrant bachelors often married the local women and settled in Lima. Few are known to have left Peru to go back to either Croatia or other countries. Today 18,000 Peruvians are of Croatian origin and most are Peruvian-born; few of the actual immigrants still remain alive. Again Croats were pressured politically in Yugoslavia, after World War I. and after World War II. They were forced to live in artificial state of brotherhood and unity, but it was always Serbian dictatorship. Many Croatian-Peruvians had humble beginnings in Peru, but have progressed greatly from then. Many became renowned in Peru's already successful fishing industry and others were able to obtain steady jobs in other trades. Croatian cuisine had relative fame in Lima and several Croatian-Peruvians opened their own restaurants, which served mostly seafood. Palachinke is a well-known pancake restaurant in Lima of Croatian origin. It owns three establishments in the city. Notable Croatian Peruvians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Peruvian Croatian-Peruvians are not a widely known ethnic group in Peru, nonetheless their contributions are noted in everyday life. Most popular among these is the sport of bocce, bochas in English and Spanish, a simple ball game known all over Europe and very popular in Croatia. Gatherings in the affluent Regatas Lima country club in the Limenian district of Chorrillos became common after bocha alleys were constructed there, and soon all over the city. Bochas is now a renowned sport for Croatians and non-Croatians alike all over Peru. Croats in Bolivia: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/world/americas/27bolivia.html http://www.workers.org/2008/world/bolivia_0515/ List of Emigrants from the Croatian island of Brac to Bolivia: http://www.croatians.com/BRAC TO BOLIVIA.htm Croatian Australian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_Australian Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006, 118,051 persons resident in Australia (0.6%) identified themselves as having Croatian ancestry. Again, Croats moved from Yugoslavia. Croats were first noticeable in Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s in the province of Victoria. At this time, Croats were coded as "Austrians" because most of Croatia was a part of the Habsburg Empire. By Australian federation in 1901, there were many Croats - mainly from Dalmatia — in Australia, counted with Czechs, Hungarians, Serbs, Slovaks and others as "Austro-Hungarians". The establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from Austria-Hungary after the First World War — and its replacement Yugoslavia in 1945 — continued to make it difficult to separate out Croats from other ethnicities in Australia. Croats were not recorded separately until the 1996 Census. Croats in New Zealand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats_in_New_Zealand There are around 2,700 Croats in New Zealand. The majority of these are located primarily in and around Auckland and Northland with small numbers in and around Canterbury and Southland. In July 2008, 800 people attended a celebration of 150 years of Croatian settlement in New Zealand hosted by Prime Minister; Helen Clark and Ethnic Affairs Minister; Chris Carter. Croats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croats Kroatofobija http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroatofobija Google Translator: (or Croatofobija or Hrvatofobija): is used to describe the irrational fear or hatred of Croats, Croatian culture Croatian history and everything associated with the Croatian and Croats. The concept exists in the Croatian dictionaries, but it is still rarely used. The term first appeared in the Croatian daily Vjesnik newspaper article in the 1999th, but later in the article published on 18 June 2005., which was translated and annotated by the BBC Media Monitor 21st June 2005. Same article describing the British resistance to the acceptance by the Croatian EU. Croatofobija is deeply rooted on the part of the Serbs, and there is today. Many Serbian ideologues refuse to acknowledge that the Croats as a nation distinct from the Serbs, Croats, but all considered part of the Serbian people, spreading ideology of "Greater Serbia". In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was under Serbian domination, there were significant ethnic tensions that erupted into the open during the Second World War. The members of the Chetnik movement (of the legitimate representatives of the Serbian king), committed atrocities against Croatian civilians, on the other side of the NDH government seemed massive atrocities against Serbs. Croatofobija, as in Serbia, and among some intellectuals, journalists, historians and political activists from the West (which in the wars of the 90s and sympathetic Serbian side) is reflected in the imposition of collective guilt over the Croatian people for crimes committed by the military formations of the Independent State Croatian (Ustasha) against Serbs, Jews and Roma. Very often, within a discourse, argues that the Croats because of Ustasha crimes are not entitled to their own state. Some go so far as to crimes committed against Croats in the war (1991-1995) in a racist manner considered retribution for the Serbs of Jasenovac. Croatofobija attitudes can be found not only at the extreme of Serbian nationalists (and supporters of Serbian nationalism among non-Serbs), but also among those who disintegration of former Yugoslavia as a negative event, civilized step backwards. Croats in this context viewed as the initiators of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the main culprits for this event, in other words, the blame for the disappearance of a multi-ethnic federation and the emergence of "a series of nationalist and state" (such as supporters of the concept say). The highlight of ethnic hatred on all sides was made immediately before, during and after the war and the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The forms: The following opinions were shared for the event kroatofobije: contemporary Croatian state is the continuation of the Croatian puppet state Independent State; - All Croats are (extreme) right-wingers and nationalists; (Ernst Bloch, Der Spiegel, 6.29. Jahrgang, 03.02.1975., page 80) - All Ustasha are Croats - supernatural thirst for killing, Bloodthirsty Ustasha - Croats have genocidal instincts - Croats are unreliable, and a subversive element in society. - Before the Second World War, was a popular defamation of someone called a communist. And the Croats at the time were portrayed as communists (HPSS was banned because of "communism") - American journalist Julia Gorin all Croats as "Nazis", without any further specification. Without any proofs they call Croats with these names?? Now you can see what they think about Croats, their South Slavic "brothers". Croats and Serbs have nothing in common, except similar language, other things are completely different. Some argue that croatofobija "no" and that term is used as a "political tool by Croatian nationalists." Specific examples: Croatian culture is out-marriage child of unnatural marriage trained monkeys and parrots. Croatian culture and artificial švindl and artificicial legacy which still kept the crown of St. Stephen. Croatian culture is "rotten egg" -matter-how you want " -Ljubomir Micic, founder of the movement "zenithism" - he is Serbian, born in Croatia, city Jastrebarsko, near of Zagreb. He couldn't stand Croatian freedom and Croatian state. http://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ljubomir_Micić Among other things, the Serbian nationalist historian Basil Krestić have expressed negative attitudes towards the Croatian people. In his book "to the great Croatian genocide" described the Croats as a pathological haters of Serbs, always jealous of their achievements, and willing to deport people as soon as the opportune moment comes. Croats don't hate Serbians, Croats just don't want Serbian rulers of Croatia, that's all. Croats don't have nothing desirable in Serbia, they don't go on Serbian sea, their music is turbo folk, Croatian natural beauties can offer everything, I have never been in Serbia. Leftist German philosopher Ernst Bloch described the Croats as "Kroaten als Faschisten, oder zumindest als Halbfaschisten" (Croats as fascists, or at least as half-fascism) in an interview with the 1975th for the political weekly "Der Spiegel" (Der Spiegel, 6.29. Jahrgang, 02.03.1975., page 80). Ernst Bloch also had doubts about the Croats left of the political spectrum, which describes on pages 92-124 of his book "Sozialismus in Eastern Europe, Jugoslawien" Kurt Heuer Herausgeber und Martin Mombaur, B.2. Göttingen, 1973. Slovenian politician Zmago Jelincic in the book "The Croats - in the light of historical truth" (slov.) Hrvati - v secreted Zgodovinski resnica) in which the polemical statements in respect of the Croatian people. Zmago Jelincic has Croatian heritage, journalists asked him about his heritage, but he doesn't want to talk about it. Bolivian President Evo Morales, his campaign is waged as "croatofobija" against his political opponents Branko Marinkovic. Marinkovic associated with the Ustasha regime, although his father was a partisan. Croats in Bolivia over Morales' media to portray as a reason for all the bad things that happened in this country. Partisan and Ustasha, how is that possible? Serbian Radical politician suspected of war crimes, Vojislav Seselj, who is currently on trial at The Hague is the author of "The Roman Catholic Criminal Project artificial Croatian nation." Apart from writing this book, there were more shots (including the Assembly of Serbia), where vulgar talking about Croats, their history and culture, or a call to physical violence against the Croats. And Vojislav Seselj has the status of war criminal in Hague, he is there now. If Croats were so violent, why did they had problems in almost every country in region of ex-Yugoslavia? These words are pure lies, I could left them from this post, because this article about kroatofobija is in Croatian language. I translated hm, so that everyone can see how Croats were well accepted in all artificial states of Yugoslavia. Serbians have achievments? Self-thought Vuk Karadzic, who became prominent linguist in Serbia, he was the best choice for them. List of Croats, I think that Croats have plenty of experts and achievers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Croats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rulers_of_Croatia List of Serbs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Serbs For example their famous persons are: Gregg Popovich - Montenegrin and Croatian heritage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Popovich Assassins and other outlaws: they have 13 prominent members of this society and yet Croats are violent. Fictional characters in books and video games: Nero Wolfe Niko Bellic These people don't exist at all. Mythological personalities & prosopopeia: they have 4 prominent members of this society. Rogue monks, imposters and pretenders: they have 5 prominent members of this society. Ottoman Empire: they took here persons that are Turkish people, sultans, begs, pashas, damats, agas, these titles are from Ottoman Empire. They have at least 20 of these people on the list of Serbs. World War II: they have here Draza Mihailovic, and Orthodox priest Momcilo Dujic, Pavle Đurišić prominent Chetnik leaders, who attacked non-Serbians, especially Croats. They found this movement 1904, way before World War II. Draza Mihailovic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draža_Mihailović Momcilo Dujic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momčilo_Đujić Pavle Đurišić: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavle_Đurišić Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro - isn't Serbian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danilo,_Crown_Prince_of_Montenegro Sokollu Mehmed Pasha - isn't Serbian, yet Ottoman Empire person. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokollu_Mehmed_Pasha Wikipedia said that all three nations (Croats, Bosniaks and Serbians) can have him. Petar II Petrović-Njegoš isn't Serbian, yet Montenegrin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petar_II_Petrović_Njegoš http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokollu_Mehmet_Pasa Ruđer Bošković is Croatian and Italian Catholic Jesuit Prieist born in Dubrovnik, Croatia and Serbs have him on their list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruđer_Bošković Luigi von Kunits: he is Austrian, not Serbian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_von_Kunits Béla Viktor János Bartók - Serbs said that his mother is Serbian, and yet nothing in his biography isn't written about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Béla_Bartók At least these persons need to have Serbian heritage, they invent their heritage as Serbian and they say that Croats hate Serbian achievement. This was joke of the day to me. You can also watch personally their prominent persons, you could maybe find more I found at least 30, 40 persons that can't belong here. On the list of Croatian rulers are mostly Austrians, but Croats also have their native line rulers, Serbs stole Montenegrin rulers. Croatia has: 4,290,612 residents Serbia has: 7,276,195 residents Serbs could have much more of prominent experts than Croatia, but they took from other nations may people. If one expert flies with plane in Serbian air territory he could become Serbian expert immediately. Is that their criteria?
Demographics of today's Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia#Demographics Croatia's 2001 census recorded a total population of 4,437,460. The first results of the 2011 census show that the total population is 4,290,612. Croatia is inhabited mostly by Croats (89.6%), while minority groups include Serbs (4.5%), Bosniaks, Hungarians, Italians, Slovenes, Germans, Czechs, Romani people and others (5.9%). For most of the 20th century, the population of Croatia has been rising from 3,430,270 in 1931 to 4,784,265 in 1991. The natural growth rate of the population is currently negative[1] with the demographic transition completed in the 1970s. During recent years, the Croatian government is pressured each year to add 40% to work permit quotas for foreign workers and in accordance with its immigration policy it is trying to entice emigrants to return. The main religions of Croatia are Roman Catholic 88%, Orthodox 4.4%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.9%, none 5.2%. During the last decade of the 20th century the population of Croatia has been stagnating because of the Croatian War of Independence. During the war, large sections of the population were displaced and emigration increased. In 1991, in predominantly Serb areas, more than 400 000 Croats and other non-Serbs were either removed out of their homes by the Croatian Serb forces or fled the violence. During the final days of the war in 1995, more than 120,000 Serbs, and perhaps as many as 200,000, fled before the victory by Croatian forces They left because Serbia promised them better lives in Serbia. Now Serbians wants to come back in Croatia because their economy is in stagnation. Serbians didn't had victims 1995, because they left before the final battles. They didn't wanted to respect Croatian state at all. One of the reasons why Serbs left. Only a small fraction of Serbs have returned to their homes since 1995, according to Human Rights Watch. Most of Croatia's remaining Serbs do not live in the highlands and inland of Dalmatia but rather in the Croatian heartland and major cities. Serbs have been only partially re-settled by the Croatian Government in the regions they previously inhabited (i.e., the blue areas of the map here). Many of the towns previously settled by Serbs were settled by Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly from Republika Srpska. Logical explenation: Serbs pressured Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, sot that they can found Republika Srpska. That state hasn't been accepted yet. Republika Srpska: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republika_Srpska Republika Srpska is Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbians just made ethnical cleansing and found state where are Serbians 99%. Republika Srpska listen (help·info) (Serbian Cyrillic: Република Српска, [rɛpǔblika sr̩̂pskaː]) is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Where is third entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Croatian entity? The Constitution of Republika Srpska defines it as a territorially unified, indivisible and inalienable constitutional and legal entity that independently performs its constitutional, legislative, executive and judicial functions. The National Assembly and the Government of Republika Srpska are based in Banja Luka, although Sarajevo remains the official capital. Radovan Karadžić, former president of Republika Srpska, and Ratko Mladić, former Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republika Srpska, are currently under trial for war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo and in the Srebrenica massacre. Croatia ethnic map: Red color - Croats Blue color - Serbs Yellov color - Czechs Pink color - Hungarians Black color - Italians Changes in the late 20th century: The census of 1991 was the last one held before the war in Croatia, marked by ethnic conflict between Serbs and Croats. In the ethnic and religious composition of the population of Croatia of that time, these two sets of numbers are quoted as important: Croats 78.1%, Catholics 76.5% Serbs 12.2%, Orthodox Christians 11.1% There was also a significant drop in people who declared Yugoslav ethnicity. Yugoslav ethnicity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslavs In Croatia exists 176 Yugoslavs. How is that possible? The term Yugoslavs refers to Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, and Montenegrins as a single people. Slovenes and Macedonians are slightly different linguistically, but were an extended and crucial part of the Yugoslav identity— their cultural differences due to empires that ruled their tribes in the past. For instance, if one wished to see the impact of Germanic, Italian, and Hungarian influences on the Yugoslavs, they would look to the (Catholic) Croatian and Slovene region, the (Muslim) Bosnian region under the Ottoman influence, and the (Orthodox) Serbian and Montenegrin region under Greek and Russian influence. Those raised in the Yugoslav spirit embrace the three nationalities as one ethnicity that speaks one language, and see this as a reason to unite as Italy did in 1861. After the end of the war of the 1990s, as a result of all which took place previously, the ethno-religious structure for the two largest nations were: Croats 89.6%, Catholics 87.8% Serbs 4.5%, Orthodox Christians 4.4% Most Croat refugees have since returned to their homes, while two thirds of the Serbs remain in exile; the other third either returned or had remained in Zagreb and other parts of Croatia not directly affected by war. Languages in Croatia: Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, German, and Istro-Romanian.) (2001 census). According to a survey ordered by the European commission, 49% of Croats speak English, 34% German, 14% Italian, 4% French and Russian and 2% Spanish language. In Istria, some 1,000 people speak Istriot as well. Istriot language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istriot Serbs of Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia Serbs of Croatia (or Croatian Serbs) constitute the largest national minority in Croatia. According to the 2001 census there were 201,631 ethnic Serbs living in Croatia, 4.5% of the total population. Their number was reduced by almost two thirds in the aftermath of the 1991–95 War in Croatia as the 1991 pre-war census had reported 581,663 Serbs living in Croatia, 12.2% of the total population. Many of them are hiding their Serbian heritage, because they are shaming of Serbian politics in 90's Some people say that during the World War II were many Serbians killed and send as refugees. Here is the proof, that everything isn't truth. Population of Croatia 1931-2001 Year Serbs % Total pop. 1931 633,000 18.45 % 3,430,270 1948 543,795 14.39 % 3,779,858 1953 588,756 14.96 % 3,936,022 1961 624,991 15.02 % 4,159,696 1971 626,789 14.16 % 4,426,221 1981 531,502 11.55 % 4,601,469 1991 581,663 12.16 % 4,784,265 2001 201,631 4.54 % 4,437,460 People are saying that 200 000 of Serbians were deported during World War II. How come if the difference is 100 000 of Serbians, when you compare with 1931. Also from 1931 until 1941 passed 10 years, 17 years without census. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_State_of_Croatia "A large number of people were displaced due to internal fighting within the former Yugoslav republic. The NDH had to accept more than 200,000 Slovenian refugees who were forcefully evicted from their homes as part of the German plan of annexing parts of the Slovenian territories. As part of this deal, the Ustaše were to deport 200,000 Serbs from Croatia military regions; however, only 182,000 had been deported when German high commander Bader stopped this mass transport of people because of the uprising of Chetniks and partisans in Serbia" How come? In census 1948. there should be 443 000 of Serbians. Religion of Serbs in Croatia: Serbs of Croatia are Serbian Orthodox. There are many Orthodox monasteries across Croatia, built since the 14th century. Most notable and historically significant are the Krka monastery, Krupa monastery, Dragović monastery, Lepavina Monastery and Gomirje monastery. Many Orthodox churches were demolished during World War II and Yugoslav war, while some were rebuilt by the EU fundings, Croatian government and Serbian diaspora donations. Serbians in Croatia could build their churches, but Serbians destroyed Croatian churches during recent wars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia Serbs in modern Croatia: Tension between Serbs and Croats were violently high in 1990s. The violence has reduced since 2000 and has remained low to this day, however, significant problems remain. The participation of the largest Serb party SDSS in the Croatian Government of Ivo Sanader has eased tensions to an extent, but the refugee situation is still politically sensitive. Croatian minority in Serbia doesn't have any member in Serbian Parliament. Serbs of Croatia have guaranteed three seats in the Croatian Parliament. The major Serb parties in Croatia are the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and the Serb People's Party (SNS). The SDSS currently holds all 3 Serbian seats in the parliament and the party is part of the ruling coalition led by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union. SDSS member Slobodan Uzelac holds the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Other smaller Serb parties include the Party of Danube Serbs, the Democratic Party of Serbs and the New Serbian Party. There are also ethnic Serb politicians who are members of mainstream political parties, such as the centre-left Social Democratic Party's MPs Željko Jovanović and Milanka Opačić. The current reasons why many Serb refugees still have not returned vary: Integration at the current place of displacement. Appalling economic conditions in areas they fled from, by and large rural ones. Fear of prosecution for war crimes. The Croatian legal system, like the ICTY, has secret lists of war crimes suspects, and many returnees were caught by surprise when the authorities arrested them upon re-entering the country. Fear of retribution. Ethnic discrimination. Unfavorable property laws. Serbians fear to come in Croatia, because many of them are war criminals. In Serbia they are safe. Poor, but safe. They could be prosecuted for killing their Croatian neighbors, that's why they won't come in Croatia. In Serbia they are safe, without prosecutions, protected. In 2004/2005, the government of Serbia had about 140,000 refugees of unsolved status from Croatia registered on its territory. About 13,000 house repair demands were pending with the Croatian authorities. Notable individuals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia Serbs of Croatia timeline: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia_Timeline Log Revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_Revolution The Log Revolution (Croatian: Balvan revolucija) was a protest which started on August 17, 1990 in areas of the Republic of Croatia which were populated significantly by ethnic Serbs. They didn't want to accept Croatian state, that's why they have putted logs on Croatian highways. Guerrilla warriors. The first democratic elections of Croatia, still within Yugoslavia, resulted in a victory for the pro-independence party of Franjo Tuđman. Tuđman's party, the Croatian Democratic Union, had already promulgated in their manifesto their intentions of recognising the non-Croatian population as minorities rather than constituent nations; and consequently, with Yugoslavia largely dysfunctional, the social status of Croatia's Serbs had been inevitably demoted overnight. In an act of protest, the Croatian Serbs in the areas where they formed a majority started to refuse authority to the new Croatian government and held several meetings and public rallies since early 1990 protesting their cause. People voted for Croatian freedom as a state. Serbians protested, couldn't accept Croatia as independent state. Led by Milan Babić and Milan Martić, the local Serbs proclaimed SAO Kninska Krajina in August 1990 and began blockading roads connecting Dalmatia to the rest of Croatia. The blockade was mostly made from logs cut down from nearby woods, which is why the event was dubbed the "Log Revolution". The organizers were armed with illegal weapons supplied by Martić. Since it was done during the Summer and severed land ties to Dalmatia, high economic damage was done to Croatian tourism. Milan Babić: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Babić Milan Martić: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Martić SAO Kninska Krajina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAO_Kninska_Krajina Serbian declined Croatian legal referendum and found their own little state in Croatia. With Log Revolution they didn't cared about the fact that Croatia is touristic country and that Croats need tourists. Pure selfish act of revolted guerrilla soldiers. Serbian Autonomous Oblast (SAO) of Kninska Krajina (Serbian Cyrillic: Српска аутономна област Книнска крајина, Croatian: Srpska autonomna oblast Kninska krajina) was a Serb self-proclaimed autonomous region (oblast) in SR Croatia. It was formed in 1990 and was subsequently transformed into SAO Krajina and later included into the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The center of the SAO was the city of Knin. Knin was the historical throne of Croatian king Zvonimir. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrius_Zvonimir_of_Croatia He was the last native king who exerted any real power over the entire Croatian state, which he inherited at its height and ruled it from the city of Knin. He died near of Knin on April 20, 1089 year. After multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990, ethnic tensions increased to the point that Croatian Serbs expected that Franjo Tuđman was planning to secede Croatia from Yugoslavia. In August, Serb leaders created an autonomous region around the city of Knin called SAO Kninska Krajina, which in October 1990 they transformed into SAO Krajina after the SAO was joined by the Community (Association) of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika. SAO Kninska Krajina refers to the original Serbian Autonomous Region (SAO) which was just the city of Knin and the area around it. However, some use it to mean SAO Krajina prior to the creation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, while some just use Kninska Krajina to refer to Krajina prior. Yugoslavia never had multi-party elections, all decisions were made of Yugoslavian communists in Yugoslav Parliament. Josip Broz Tito was president since 14 January 1953 – 4 May 1980. They do the same now in Kosovo, they have putted imaginative border in northern Kosovo, Orthodox priests are blessing Serbian people and their weapon. The revolt was explained by the Serbs with words that they are "terrorized [by Croatian government]" and that they "[fight for] more cultural, language and education rights". Serbian newspaper "Večernje Novosti" wrote that "2.000.000 Serbs [are] ready to go to Croatia to fight". The Western diplomats commented that the Serbian media is inflaming passions and Croatian government said "We knew about the scenario to create confusion in Croatia...". A full year of tension, including minor skirmishes, passed before these events would escalate into the Croatian War of Independence. As a part of his plea bargain with the prosecution, Milan Babić testified against Martić during his ICTY trial, saying Martić "tricked him into agreeing to the Log Revolution". He also testified that the entire war in Croatia was "Martić's responsibility, orchestrated by Belgrade". When Serbs are in trouble they testify against each other, in these moments doesn't exist Serbian Fatherland. Here is a crucial proof that Serbians were directed from Belgrade and that they just waited for results on referendum in Croatia. Clear as a day. *On 22 February 1991: "Armed Serbs in Pakrac took control of the police station and disarmed 16 Croatian policemen" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbs_of_Croatia_Timeline *End of March 1991: Armed Serbs took control of the Plitvice Lakes. In retaliation, on April 1 Croatia has send police forces to retake lakes, but they have fallen in Serbs ambush and Josip Jović young Croatian policemen of Serbs origins has become first war victim. After 15 minutes of gunfire Serbs forces has been defeated. First victim of the war was Croatian police officer Josip Jovic. But didn't knew that he was of Serbian origins. Serbs were defeated here, again. *On May 1 1991: Four Croatian policemen entered Borovo Selo and tried to replace the Yugoslav flag in the village with a Croatian one. The police were killed or taken hostage by the local Serbs and later mutilated by having their eyes and ears cut. Serbian way. *On May 2 1991: A bus load of Croatian policemen (150) seeking to reassert control ran headlong into an ambush, leaving 15 dead (12 Croats and 3 Serbs) and over 20 wounded. *During September and October 1991: Houses belonging to Croats were torched in Hrvatska Dubica and the neighbouring village of Cerovljani, and widespread looting was committed by the TO, the Milicija Krajine, the JNA as well as by local Serbs. Local Croats were detained and subjected to mistreatment and were also used as live shields by the Serb forces. Serbs moved into the houses which the fleeing Croats had left. *On 8th, October 1991: Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. Another proof that Croatia didn't proclaimed independence, first there were Serbian killings of Croatian people. It was reasonable that Croatia proclaims independence. *On the 16th and 18th of October 1991: Alleged Croat individuals killed 24 Serb residents of Gospić. The incident became known as the "Gospić massacre" Defense *On the 20th of October 1991: 40 local civilians, almost exclusively Croat, were killed. *On August 4, 1995: Operation Storm was launched. Most of the Serbs of western Slavonija, Banija, Kordun, eastern Lika and northern Dalmatian hinterland fled those areas as they came under Croatian military control. Islam in Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Croatia On the picture is visible beautiful and well decorated mosque in Zagreb, capital of Croatia. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Zagrebdzamija.JPG Islam in Croatia was introduced by the Ottoman Empire. The Muslims constitute about 1.3% of the population of Croatia. The Islamic Community of Croatia is officially recognized by the state. The Turkish Ottoman civilization conquered part of Croatia from the 15th to the 19th century and left a deep imprint. Some Croats converted to Islam. The advancement of Ottoman Empire in Europe was stopped on Croatian soil, which could be in this sense regarded as a historical gate of European civilization. Since 1519 Croatia has been known as Antemurale Christianitatis in Western Europe. The name was given by Pope Leo X. Croatian Muslims: The historical names of many officials in the Ottoman Empire reveal their origin (Hirwat = Hrvat or Horvat, which is a Croatian name for Croat): Veli Mahmud Pasha (Mahmut Pasha Hirwat), Rüstem Pasha (Rustem Pasha Hrvat - Opuković), Piyale Pasha (Pijali Pasha Hrvat), Sijavus Pasha Hrvat, Memipaša Hrvat, Tahvilpaša Kulenović Hrvat etc. In the 16th century a traveler and writer Marco A. Pigaffetta wrote that almost everybody on the Turkish court in Constantinople knows the Croatian language, and especially soldiers. Marco Pigafetta in his Itinerario published in London in 1585 states: In Istanbul it is customary to speak Croatian, a language which is understood by almost all official Turks, especially military men. Crucially though, it must be noted that the lingua franca at the time among Slavic elites in the Ottoman Empire was still Old Church Slavonic. For Italians traveling through to Istanbul, the language of the Slavic Croats was often the only exposure they had to any of the Slavic languages; indeed, Macedonian and Bulgarian dialects were far more common in Istanbul than Croatian, especially considering the brevity of Ottoman rule in Croatia and Serbia, compared to Bulgaria and Macedonia. This can also be confirmed by the 1553 visit of Antun Vrančić, Roman cardinal, and Franjo Zay, a diplomat, to Istanbul as envoys of the Croat - Hungarian king to discuss a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire. During the initial ceremonial greetings they had with Rüstem Pasha Hrvat (a Croat) the conversation led in Turkish with an official interpreter was suddenly interrupted. Rustem Pasha Hrvat asked in Croatian if Zay and Vrančić spoke Croatian language. The interpreter was then dismissed and they proceeded in the Croatian language during the entire process of negotiations. Croats were converted in Islam, Hirwat means Croat. Rüstem Pasha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rüstem_Pasha Rüstem Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: رستم پاشا, Bosnian and Croatian: Rustem-paša Opuković) (ca. 1500 – 10 July 1561) was a Croat who became an Ottoman general and statesman. He served as the Grand Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent. Rüstem Pasha is also known as Damat Rüstem Pasha (Damat meaning Bridegroom to the Ottoman dynasty) and Hırvat Rüstem Paşa (Hırvat = Croat or Hrvat by Turkish historians). Rüstem Pasha was born in Skradin,Croatia. He was taken as a child to Istanbul, where he built a great military career. On 26 November 1539 he married Princess Mihrimah Sultana, a daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. Rüstem Pasha held the title Grand Vizier twice, first from 1544–1553 and second from 1555–1561, until his death. As Grand Vizier he collected vast wealth, much of it through bribes. However, the bribes in his time were moderate, and he spent his wealth raising public buildings, mosques and charitable foundations. When he died, his personal property included 815 lands in Rumelia and Anatolia, 476 mills, 1700 slaves, 2900 war horses, 1106 camels, 800 Qur'an, etc. The Rüstem Pasha Mosque (Turkish: Rüstem Paşa Camii) is an Ottoman mosque located in Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market) in Eminönü, Istanbul, Turkey, List of Ottoman Grand Viziers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ottoman_Grand_Viziers Like you see many Viziers were Croats, Serbian, Albanian, Greeks, Italians etc. They were all converted in Islam and changed their names to sound more Turkish. Later when Ottoman Empire got their control, Viziers were Turks. The mufti of Zagreb during the Second World War was Ismet Muftić. He was executed by the Partisans in 1945. Partisans killed him, not Croatians. During World War II Croatians didn't killed Muslims because Croats knew that they have Croatian heritage and that they were converted to Islam. Partisans were brutal, they killed religious person, spiritual leader of Muslims in Zagreb, Croatia. Ismet Muftić http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismet_Muftić He was killed in 1945., at the end of war, when Partisan entered in Zagreb, so that they can "liberate" the people. Statistics: According to the 2001 census the population of Croatia is 4,437,460. Of these Muslims make up: 1.3% (57,687) The Croatian South Slavic Muslim community, per census 2001, is divided between around 20,000 people who still declare themselves as Muslims by nationality, around 20,000 who declare themselves as Bosniaks, and around 10,000 who declare themselves Croats of Islamic faith. The population of other Muslim minorities in Croatia (from the 2001 census) is as follows: Turks: 300 (0.01%) Population of other minorities in Croatia who have a sizable amount of Muslims (2001 census): Roma: 9,463 (0.21%) Albanians: 15,082 (0.34%) Muslims in Croatia aren't saying that they are Croatians, even though they live there for generations. And yet Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina are trying to put Bosnian nation for Croatians and Serbians, so that only their nation lives. Muslims in Croatia: As regards the status of the Muslim Bosniak minority, the situation is the following. On the territory of the present Republic of Croatia, Muslim believers were registered for the first time during the 1931 census: 1,239 of them were in Zagreb and their overall number in Croatia being only about 4000. The next censuses that registered Muslim believers were as follows: 1,077 persons in 1948, 16,185 persons in 1953, only 3,113 persons in 1961. After 1971, when SFRY (former Yugoslavia) recognized the Muslim nationality to Muslim believers, the census showed the following: 18,487 persons in 1971, 23,740 persons in 1981, 43,486 persons in 1991. On the bases of the censuses from 1931 to 1961 it is clear that a certain number of Muslim believers declared themselves as Croats or Yugoslavs. Their number augmented during immigration from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Islam today: Croatia's capital Zagreb has one of the biggest mosques in Europe, although during the Ottoman Empire it had none (Zagreb was never occupied by the Ottomans). The Mufti of Zagreb is imam Ševko Omerbašić, the leader of the Muslim community of Croatia. Muslims are currently trying to build a mosque in Rijeka.[citation needed] Muslims also plan to build a mosque in Dubrovnik on top of the mountain behind the old town. The local council, however, has rejected this and suggested it be built behind the mountain. This, in turn, was rejected by the Muslim community. The Muslim community is also planning to build a mosque in Osijek & Sisak. A mosque in Karlovac is also being considered. Muslims in Croatia are well protected, they all have Bosnian heritage, Zagreb was never under Ottoman Empire. Croats in Sarajevo don't have same rights, in my posts you can find that one child was killed because he was Croat. I think that Serbians and Muslims are well protected, better than Croatians in Bosnia, Republika Srpska, Montenegro and Serbia.
Hungarians in Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarians_of_Croatia Hungarians of Croatia are a recognized ethnic minority. According to the 2001 census there are around 16,500 people of Hungarian ethnicity living in Croatia (or 0.37% of total population). Around two thirds of them (9,800) live in Osijek-Baranja County in eastern Croatia, especially in the Croatian part of the Baranya region which borders Hungary to the north and the Vojvodina province of Serbia to the east. There are also small Hungarian communities in other parts of the country, including areas in Bjelovar-Bilogora County in central Croatia where some 1,200 people identify themselves as Hungarian. Bjelovar-Bilogora County: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjelovar-Bilogora_County Municipalities with significant Hungarian minority (10 percent or more) include: Kneževi Vinogradi (2,121 or 41%): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kneževi_Vinogradi Bilje (1,921 or 35%): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilje Draž (874 or 26%): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draž Ernestinovo (481 or 22%): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernestinovo Tordinci (405 or 18%): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tordinci Petlovac (395 or 14%): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petlovac The largest town with a significant Hungarian population is Beli Manastir, with 933 (8.5%). In addition, some 12,600 people identified Hungarian language as their mother tongue. Croats don't pressure minorities so that they speak only Croatian language as their mother tongue. Hungary and Croatia have a long history dating back to the dynastic crises that followed the death of king Dmitar Zvonimir in 1089. His widow Helen II supported her brother Ladislaus I of Hungary in his claim for the kingdom of Croatia amidst the political turmoil. Two years later, Ladislaus managed to seize power and proclaim his sovereignty over the Croatian kingdom, however, he and his armies were still unable to gain full control by the time of his death in 1095. It was his nephew Coloman I who finally defeated the last native Croatian king Peter II of Croatia at the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, and was then crowned as King of Croatia in capital city of Biograd on the Adriatic Sea in 1102. It's important to say that Hungarians pressured Croats in Croatia. Very opposite behavior than behavior of today's Croatia. After the Hungarian victory, Croatia and Hungary entered into a type of personal union in which certain terms were agreed on. The most significant were that two would remain under Hungarian rule while some separate Croatian institutions were maintained such as the Sabor (Croatian parliament), the ban (viceroy), and retention of Croatian lands and titles. The union lasted until 1918; in that time, many Hungarian military personnel settled in Croatia during the Ottoman invasion, and the borderlands of Hungary and Croatia proper blurred with the ethnic mix. The two main Hungarian associations in Croatia are the Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia (Hungarian: Horvátországi Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége or HMDK) and the Union of Hungarian Associations (Hungarian: Magyar Egyesületek Szövetsége or MESZ). Being an official minority, Hungarians are afforded one of the eight permanent seats reserved for ethnic minorities in the Croatian Parliament.[4] Their current representative is MESZ member Deneš Šoja. Croatia–Hungary relations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia–Hungary_relations Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Union_of_Hungarians_of_Croatia The party has one seat in parliament since the elections of 23 November 2003. The party has caused a scandal 2011. receiving a visit in Osijek, in the premises owned by the state, delegation of the radical neo-Nazi Hungarian Jobbik party, linked to the paramilitary units of the National Guard and known for their racist attacks on Roma.
Re: Croat Ethnic Group and places in world where they live Germans in Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans_of_Croatia In Croatia, there are still over 2,900 people who consider themselves German, most of these Danube Swabians. Germans and Austrians are officially recognized as a minority in Croatia and therefore have their own permanent seat in the Croatian Parliament. They are mainly concentrated in the area around Osijek (German Esseg) in eastern Slavonia. There is a German culture centre in Osijek and a small number of German schools. The main locations in Slavonia formerly settled by Germans include: Darda (Darda): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darda,_Croatia Jagodnjak (Katschfeld): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagodnjak Josipovac-Kravice (Oberjosefsdorf-Krawitz): Kula (Kula-Josefsfeld): Osijek (Esseg): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osijek Sarvas (Sarwasch-Hirschfeld): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarvas According to the 1931 census in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the town's population included 1157 Danube Swabian Germans (the majority). These folk were almost all expelled by the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito after 1945. The local Catholic church was completely destroyed in the country's War of Independence.[2] By 2006 the church was restored. Satnica Đakovačka (Satnitz): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satnica_Đakovačka Slavonski Brod (Brod): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonski_Brod There were many German settlements in the adjacent region of Syrmia (Serbian: Срем, Srem; Croatian: Srijem; German: Symrien), and in the Croatian part of Syrmia there is still a village called Nijemci which literally means "Germans". The main locations in the Croatian part of Syrmia formerly settled by Germans include: Vukovar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vukovar Novo Selo (Neudorf), now the western part of Vinkovci: Opatovac: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opatovac Lovas (Lowas): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovas,_Croatia Lovas massacre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovas_massacre Lovas massacre (Croatian: Masakr u Lovasu) were the killings of Croat detainees in the villages of Lovas and neighbouring Opatovac in eastern Slavonia, Croatia. The civilians were killed by Croatian Serb paramilitary forces during the Croatian War of Independence in the period from October 10, 1991 to the end of that year. Lovas and Opatovac are two villages located in eastern Slavonia. In 1991, Lovas had a population of 1,681, mostly Croats (85.7%), with some Serbs (7.9%) and others (6.4%). Opatovac was populated by 550 people, of which there were 43.4% Croats, 26.2% Serbs, 21.1% Magyars, and 9.5% others. In 1990 and 1991, ethnic Serbs in Croatia regions of Krajina and Slavonia has started an armed revolt against the newly elected Croatian government. In mid-1991, the Serbs were openly supported by the Yugoslav regular Army (JNA). As the Army planned a major offensive in Croatia launched from the direction of Serbia, it first targeted the city of Vukovar on the Danube River, northwest of Lovas. The resulting Battle of Vukovar was the most brutal and important fighting of the war. Early on October 10, the village of Lovas was targeted by an artillery bombardment during which one person was killed. Later in the day, Serb paramilitary and JNA forces moved into the village, occupying it, during which they killed another twelve civilians. Opatovac was captured on October 14. Over the next three days, three more were killed. According to the Belgrade Court which 14 men for the massacre, 22 people were killed in the attack on the village Along with the JNA, the village was occupied by several paramilitary formations, including "White Eagles" and "Dušan Silni" units, which were linked to several other massacres in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina In Lovas, 261 houses were completely destroyed, and all others were damaged, whereas in the smaller Opatovac, 15 homes were destroyed and about fifty others were damaged. Most of the damage was caused by artillery bombardment prior to the occupation, while some was caused afterwards. Much of the industrial infrastracture and anything of value was looted and transferred to Serbia. According to survivors, the Croat villagers were abused, mistreated and tortured since the beginning. They were made to wear white ribbons on their arms marking them as Croats. The Serbs turned a local library into an improvised jail. There, the non-Serb population was mistreated – men and women were arrested and subsequently beaten and molested with any and all instruments at their captors' disposal – from crowbars, knives to electrodes. Rape and torture was a regular occurrence to those Croats who remained, who were also forced to wear white armbands as a sign of racial recognition The local graveyard was later used as a mass grave where 68 of those killed were buried. The grave was 25 meters long and one meter wide and the dead were thrown in it one on top of another. On October 18, 1991 the worst atrocity was committed when two local Serbs, six paramilitaries and a platoon of JNA reservists forced a group of 51 civilians to walk into a minefield (set up by the Serbs prior to the villages' capture) in order to "clear it". One civilian was shot because he was unable to walk and the others were then forced to join hands and walk into the minefield. As the first mines exploded, Serbs started to shoot at the survivors. Then a JNA officer came up the road then and stopped further killings. Of those that were forced into the minefield, 21 were killed and another 14 wounded. A further nine people were killed in Lovas and one in Opatovac on that same day in unrelated killings. According to the Belgrade's Special Court, 22 people were killed during this event. Between October 24 and December 23, six more people were killed in Lovas. At the end of the year, a ceasefire was signed and both sides agreed for arrival of United Nations UNPROFOR peacekeepers which were mandated to protect the local population from harm. Lovas was part of UNPROFOR's Sector East. Despite the UNPROFOR mandate, during 1993, three sisters were killed. Apart from those listed, another 29 villagers were killed or disappeared during the Serb occupation with the exact details of their deaths mostly unknown. Three Roman Catholic Churches in both villages were devastated. One of the two in Lovas – Holy Mary's Church – was levelled to the ground and all crosses in the vicinity devastated, including the local graveyard which was desecrated. At the same time, three houses in the village's center were destroyed and a Serb Orthodox church created in their place. Vukovar massacre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vukovar_massacre Jarmina (Jahrmein): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarmina Berak Tompojevci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tompojevci Tovarnik: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tovarnik Ilača (Illatsch): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilača Svinjarevci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svinjarevci Bapska (Babska): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bapska Orolik: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orolik Šidski Banovci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Šidski_Banovci Novi Jankovci (Neu-Jankowzi): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Jankovci With the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Germans of Croatia became a minority. In 1920, Germans established the cultural association Kulturbund. Kulturbund was banned on April 11, 1924 by Minister of the Interior Svetozar Pribićević. Serbian Svetozar Pribićević: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svetozar_Pribićević In 1922, they formed the German Party (Partei der Deutschen). The party existed until it was banned as part of King Alexander's dictatorship in 1929. Serbia didn't liked Germans even before WW2. The Croatian German population reached a peak number of 85,781 in the 1900 census, while this number plummeted after the German exodus in the aftermath of World War II. After the war, 100,000 Yugoslav Germans fled to Austria. This population was not dealt with in the Potsdam Agreement which prevented them from being patriated to Germany. The Allies considered them Yugoslavian citizens and sought their repatriation there. However, on June 4 the communist Yugoslav regime released a decree that rescinded the citizenship of Yugoslavian Germans. Their property was henceforth confiscated, and the majority settled in Germany and Austria. Some managed to sneak back into Yugoslavia and returned to their homes. Germans in the Republic of Croatia: Today, they are organized into the Association of Germans and Austrians of Croatia. Since the fall of communism and Croatian independence, the minority has held an annual academic conference titled Germans and Austrians in the Croatian cultural circle. In 1996, Croatia and Germany signed an agreement to facilitate the marking of German graves from the world wars in Croatia. In 2005, the Croatian government passed a comprehensive law on the return of nationalized Austrian property to its rightful owners. According to the 2001 Croatian census, there are 2,902 Germans in Croatia (with another 247 Austrians). There are German military cemeteries in Pula, Split and Zagreb. Germans met democracy in Croatia. The then predominantly German town of Čeminac built the parish Church of Sacred Heart of Christ in 1906-1907. The German population in the town was forced to leave in 1945. After democratic changes in Croatia in 1990, former inhabitants of the town, mostly living in Germany, repaired the church. However, on April 10, 1992 the church was burnt by Serb forces as part of the Croatian War of Independence. In 2001, various levels of the Croatian government contributed to its repairs, which were carried out by 2005. Serbia has never met democracy.
German reporter of Crotian origins Daniela Vukovic interviewed Didier Drogba on Oktoberfest in Munich. She said: "You are here with your boyfriend". [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tIXglAEFe0&feature=player_embedded"]Didier Drogba in Lederhosen is definitely not gay! Wiesn-Gaudi.TV / Oktoberfest 2011 - YouTube[/ame] http://sportski.net.hr/na-rubu/page/2011/09/26/0930006.html
Also we have many croatian descendants in Iquique (to the north of Antofagasta). Iquique's Croatian Club website: www.hrvatski.cl Chilean-Croat fans soffering in the Santiago's Croatian Stadium during the match Croatia vs Brazil (WC 2006): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZaddYwjqvI"]Hrvatska - Brasil!!! - YouTube[/ame] Croatian dances in Punta Arenas, the southern city of the world: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgCBfwqtP_Y"]DANZAS CROATAS - PUNTA ARENAS - YouTube[/ame] Croatian music in Santiago's new Croatian Square: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWyBeR90iw4&feature=related"]Inauguración Plaza Croacia, Vitacura, Chile. - YouTube[/ame]
Gracias, nice videos. If you have more, you can upload. Also if other people have Croatian manifestations in other countries, they can also upload videos.
"Dalmacija" group singing a croatian song in castilian, in Antofagasta [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IUmuqO5B3Y&NR=1"]Oh, Marijana! (Fragmento) - Orquesta Dalmacija - YouTube[/ame] These men of the "Antofagasta's Croatian Society" are trying to dance, probably this isn't the proper way to dance it, but it's funny anyway: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWfKJ2D71UU"]Banat antofagasta 2008 - YouTube[/ame]
To tell you the truth I don't know how to dance in traditional way. But I assume that decades outside of Croatia made some interpretations. But it doesn't matter, it's nice to see that Croats are active in Chile. These dances aren't popular in Croatia, but these people know better. I know this song Oh Marijana. Soon I will made translations in Google translator, so that people know what are they singing.
Slovenes in Croatia: http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenci_u_Hrvatskoj In Croatia lives 13 173 Slovene residents. Majority of them lives in Zagreb. Slovene societies: Kulturno-prosvjetno društvo Slovenski dom, Zagreb Kulturno-prosvjetno društvo Slovenski dom Bazovica, Rijeka Slovensko kulturno društvo Triglav, Split Društvo Slovenaca Dr. France Prešeren, Šibenik Slovensko kulturno društvo Lipa, Dubrovnik Slovensko kulturno društvo Lipa, Zadar Slovensko kulturno društvo Istra, Pula Slovensko kulturno umjetnicko društvo Snežnik, Lovran Društvo slovenaca Labin, Labin Kulturno društvo Slovenski dom Karlovac, Karlovac Slovensko kulturno društvo Stanko Vraz, Osijek Slovensko kulturno društvo "Oljka", Poreč In city of Karlovac they have a library. Famous Slovene people from Croatia: Stanko Vraz Antun Mahnić Danko Plevnik Josip Križaj Josip Broz Žarko Dolinar Jerko Bezić Jože Pogačnik Jagna Pogačnik Ivan Snoj Iztok Puc Dragan Holcer Council of Slovene national minority in Croatia: http://www.slovenci.hr/zveza.asp?ent=1 As you can see they can obtain their cultural and social activities without any pressure of Croatian side.
Czechs of Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechs_of_Croatia Czechs are one of the recognised minorities of Croatia. According to the census of 2001 there were 10,512 Czechs in Croatia, compromising 0.24% of total population. They are also called by their non-Czech neighbours Pemci. Geographic representation: Czechs are in yellow area. Most Croatian Czechs live in Western Slavonia especially around the cities of Daruvar and Grubišno Polje. They compromise 5.33% population of Bjelovar-Bilogora county and 0.9% of Požega-Slavonia county. They compromise a relative majority in Končanica municipality and in villages like Veliki Zdenci, Mali Zdenci, Golubinjak etc. They can be also found in almost all major towns in Croatia. History: After the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, Slavonia changed hands from the Ottomans to Habsburgs, and the Muslim population fled. Treaty of Karlowitz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Karlowitz This left great areas vacant, and Hasburgs started to colonize new lands with people from all parts of their Empire. The first Czechs arrived in Slavonia around 1750s, and were settled in Western Slavonia throughout the 19th century. In Croatia, they could buy from ten or more acres of arable land for price of 1-acre (4,000 m2) they sold in the Czech lands. Czechs also settled other parts of Croatia such as Gorski kotar, and bigger cities where they were praised as skilled workers and clerks, but were assimilated in two or three generations. One of these urban Czechs was August Šenoa, Croatian writer and mayor of Zagreb. Czechs soon found the need to culturally organise themselves, and in 1874 the first Česka Beseda (Czech word) was found in Zagreb. This is an organization that promotes Czech language and culture in Croatia, and organised the first theater play in Czech language in the same year. In time Česke Besede were founded all across Croatia, and opened Czech libraries and Sport societies (Sokol). In 1911 the first Czech newspaper started printing in Zagreb. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, established after the First World War, was very to the Czech minority. This has been attributed to the cordial relations with Czechoslovakia during the interwar period, and joint Slavic roots. The first Czech school was open in 1922 in Daruvar, and first kindergarten in 1926 also in Daruvar. Czechs organized themselves politically and formed a Czech party which was active only in the first years of Kingdom. From 1922 the newspaper Jugoslavšti Čechoslovácí (Yugoslav Czechoslovaks) was printed in Duruvar. Czechs, just like Slovaks generally did not collaborate with the occupying powers during the World War II. Some of them left to Czechoslovakia after the war, but a number of them subsequently returned, as the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia. In Socialist, post World War II Yugoslavia Czechs enjoyed even greater rights, and more schools were opened. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, Czech areas were found near war operations and many Czechs participated in Croatian army. The Croatian constitution guarantees to have one joint Czech and Slovak representative in parliament. The current Czech and Slovak representative is Zdenka Čunhil from the Croatian Peasant Party. Croats could say: Czechs and Slovaks are one nation, but Croats accept independence of other nations. Some nations should learn from Croats. Culture: The Czechs are organised in 24 Česka Beseda's all across Croatia that form the Czech Union of Croatia, an organization that promotes Czech language and culture in Croatia. Folk dance, poetry, singing and Czech courses are the main activities of Beseda's. Some Beseda's even have theater groups, and the Czech Union prints their weekly magazine calles Jednota (Unity). They organize festivals of theater groups, festivals of Czech children song, Naše Jaro-festival of schoolchildren cultural activities, Vanočka- festival of younger folkdance groups and biennal manifestation Dožinky in Daruvar celebrating end of harvest works. There are dozens of Czech primary schools and kindergartens and High School in Daruvar has one Czech department. There are also two industrial brands associated with Croatian Czechs; Zdenka cheese, produced in a factory in Veliki Zdenci dominatly Czech village and Staročeško (Old-Czech) beer produced by a brewery in Daruvar. I never hear about incidents between Czechs and Croats.
Slovaks in Croatia: http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovaci_u_Hrvatskoj Only in Croatian language. Google Translator: Slovaks in Croatia (Slovak: Slovenská menšina Chorvátsku v) are one of the 22 recognized national minorities in Croatia. History: Slovaks are the Croatian area settled in the 19th century, few in the 20 Mostly inhabited Slavonia and Baranja, no Slovak settlements found in other Croatian regions, such as Rijeka, and in many villages there are only a few of Slovak families. All these Slovaks live in our country constitute the Slovak expatriates. These Slovaks originating from predominantly mountainous regions of northern Slovakia, which were overcrowded and economically backward. Poverty, unemployment, hunger - these are all factors that were banished to the displaced south, namely, the fertile plains were devastated after the invasions of the Turks. These territories were owned by the feudal lords who they get as a reward for victory over the Turks. They are covered with forests, displaced populations has served as an ideal workforce for their clearing and finally exploiting the fertile soil. Thus, the Slovaks first due in southern Hungary, then in Vojvodina, and then in Slavonia. Villages: The largest Slovak village in Slavonia Josipovac Punitovački and Jurjevac Punitovački near đakovo; Jelisavac, Markovac and Ledenik near Nasice; Miljevci end Slatina; Antunovac near Pakrac and Lipovljani near Novska. In addition there are several very small Slovakian village, such as Zokov Gaj near Orahovica and Kneževac end of Pozega. Finally, the Slovaks living in some 30 other towns and cities in Croatia (Soljani, Ilok, Rados Međurić, Rijeka, Zagreb, Osijek). According to the census of 2001. Slovaks in Croatia until 4600, but the descendants of Slovaks who declared themselves as Croats, has more, it is estimated around 10 000 They are mostly well served Slovak or at least understand, and their awareness of Slovakian origin was not completely gone. According to official statistics the number of Slovaks in Croatia decreased. The reasons are the usual assimilation and the disappearance of one of the national consciousness that brought the first generation. The biggest 'culprit' for this condition actually could be called a lack of cultural and educational institutions that would preserve the heritage of Slovakia. Before there were special schools of Slovakia (in Lipovljani, Jelisavac, Markovac ...) that no longer work. Našice: 964 (5.57%) Culture: However, we can say that the situation is changing. There is an increasing tendency for young generations of Slovaks learn about their origins and culture of their ancestors. Today, the Slovak language learning optional in Jelisavac, Markovac, Nasice, Josipovac Jurjevcu, Ilok Lipovljanima, Rados and Soljani. Cultural and artistic associations operating in these places, with programs of folklore, musical and theater groups. Year 1992. established the Union of Slovaks and running magazine pencil, and in 1998. year there is another means of preserving the roots of ethnic minorities - the Central Library of Slovaks in Croatia. In Ilok Cultural Štur Louis. In Našice the Croatian public library and reading room operates the Central Library of Slovaks in Croatia (Riscaldamento knižnica Slovákov Chorvátskej v Republic of) Alliance of Slovaks in Croatia: http://www.savez-slovaka.hr/ Slovak library in Croatian city of Nasice: http://www.knjiznica-nasice.hr/slovacki.html Number of Slovaks in Croatia: 4.926 Croats never said that they are Czechs like Serbs do to Croatian minority by dividing them on Bunjevci and Sokci, or Muslims and Serbs in Bosnia and East Herzegovina who won't let to Croats their language and TV station in their own language. Croatian counties that have Slovak minority: Osječko-baranjska županija 2.155 Vukovarsko-srijemska županija 1.338 Sisačko-moslavačka županija 243 Grad Zagreb 171 Istarska županija 144 They look happy in Croatia:
Ukrainians in Croatia: http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrajinci_u_Hrvatskoj Only in Croatian language. Google Translator: Ukrainians in Croatia (Ukraine: Ukrainians in Horvatia) are one of the 22 recognized national minorities Croatian. According to the last census, the population of Croatia 1977 Ukrainians, mostly in the VSC. Until 1931. The Ukrainians are in the official Croatian documents recorded as the Russians, and then have until 1971. declared Rusin. Since 1996. The Ukrainians and Ruthenians in Croatia are divided into two distinct minority, but still work together through a single organization such as the Alliance of Ruthenians and Ukrainians of the Republic of Croatia. In 2008. year of the old members formed a new central organization of Ukrainian community of Croatia, which also gathers in its ranks a mixed membership. The first Ukrainians settled in Croatia and neighboring areas in the 18th century and are known as "Russians." Specifically, all western Ukraine Ukrainians themselves are recorded as "Russians" until the First World War. Croatian and Ukrainian space adjacent to the larger group settled in the late 19th and early 20 century, Settling mainly from the area of Western Ukraine and Galician, zakraptske and Bukovina region, which were contained within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the Berlin Congress 1878th when Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Austro-Hungarian empire, and Ukrainians were under an active economic policy began settling in eastern Croatia and northwestern Bosnia as economic migrants who promised cheap or free agricultural land less populated or abandoned spaces. The history of immigration of Ukrainians: The first Ukrainians to the Croatian and neighboring areas are coming around the 1745th year. All were known as Ruthenians, and most of them came from Zakarpatja that was part of Hungary. Most of these Russians kept the old name after the Ukrainian cultural revival and the beginning of the official name Ukrainians. In the former Yugoslavia at the beginning were recorded as "Russians," then as "Russians" and finally some of them as "Ukrainians" (mainly from the area of Galicia). All the time they represented a unique national minorities and their cultural and other programs run through a single organization "Union of Ruthenians-Ukrainians of Yugoslavia." After 1996. The members who are still using the name "Russians" have decided to create a separate national minority Separation of Ukraine that has been done during an MP Miroslav rain. The period of Austro-Hungary: In 1890th in the Bosnian countryside Prnjavora moved first major wave of Ukrainians, who joined earlier immigrant workers from Zavidovici and Vares near Sarajevo. During the 1898th moved the second-largest wave of Ukrainians who re-settled areas around Prnjavor. Austro-Hungarian authorities then conducted an active colonization to agricultural development in the wooded and grown over the end of northern Bosnia, where it was necessary human labor. In addition to Ukrainians, these areas of Bosnia and the Croatian settled and the Germans, Austrians, Italians, Czechs and Poles. In 1894th, in western Slavonia on the border with Moslavina, near the Sava River and the border with Bosnia, in today's Sisak Sisak County, moved to Ukrainians in Ukraine Lemkivščine which today is part Polish. These Ukrainians settled Lipovljani, New Subocka and some settlements between Novska and Kutina. New waves of Ukrainian immigrants who have moved to Bosnia, stopping along the river Sava in the Croatian region, specifically around Slavnonskog Broda and smaller towns Kaniža, effervescent, Sibiu, Slobodnica, Bukovlje and another two dozen other villages of Brod-Posavina County. Period of the First World War: Immigration of Ukrainians in eastern and northern Bosnia, Croatian took in smaller waves until the First World War. At the beginning of the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Croatian city of Zagreb in the areas settled a large group of Ukrainians from all over Ukraine, which is in the new state had asked for political asylum because it is in Ukraine and other countries of the former Russian Empire there was a revolution and the civil War. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian immigrant in Zagreb, which was around 5000, wanted to establish a Consulate of the People's Republic and the Ukrainian society "Prosvita" with its branches across the eastern and northern Bosnia, Croatian and in Zemun and Belgrade. The establishment of Ukrainian companies' Prosvita "wanted to help all of Ukrainian immigrants in these areas, both in private and social cultural and educational life. Major role in preserving cultural identity, spiritual and religious life of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church had the Križevačka diocese based in Križevci, who went to Zagreb metropolitanate, and the ecclesiastical jurisdiction was directly responsible for the Vatican and the Pope. Shortly after moving to Ukrainians have built their own churches, in addition to the churches in almost every village has opened a school. Ukrainians were then played a positive role in building the new society within the new state of the three peoples. Displacement after the Second World War: After World War II, a larger group of Ukrainians, for political reasons, fearing the Stalinist policy of leaving the territory of Yugoslavia and lived all over the world, particularly in western Europe and overseas countries, Canada, America and Australia. At the same time, Ukrainians from the remaining passive parts of northern Bosnia moved individually with their families into larger and smaller industrial cities such as Zagreb, Slavonski Brod, Vukovar, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, Sibenik, Dubrovnik and the better-off villages of the western, central and Eastern Slavonia as Petrovci and Western Sirmium. A larger group of Ukrainians from settled today's Vojvodina and areas of Backa and Srem. Last wave of displacement took place during the Civil War, specifically the war in Bosnia, which has forced many families to flee the Croatian areas with their families and relatives, especially in the city of Zagreb and the surrounding areas. The establishment of an independent Croatian and Ukrainian, the larger expatriate Ukrainians in Ukraine and elsewhere in Croatia no. The number of immigrants from the Ukraine to Croatia last ten years is very small and single. After completion of the 2001 census., In the Republic of Croatia has recorded a much smaller number of Ukrainians of all 1977 people who live in almost all Croatian regions. Most active in Slavonia, Zagreb and Rijeka lately. Activities Croatian Ukrainians: Ukrainian Croatian, although relatively rare communities, represent one of the best organized minority communities in Croatia. In the year 1968. they formed their umbrella organization, the Union of Ruthenians and Ukrainians, the Croatian who is the central coordinating and advisory organization with headquarters in Vukovar. As part of the Union, until recently operated 13 cultural and educational associations throughout the Croatian, and it operates dans 9 with the time it was founded by an organization or the Croatian Community of Ukraine. Part of the Ukrainian company disagreed with the decisions of the organization Alliance of Ruthenians and Ukrainians of the Republic of Croatia and in 2008. formed their own umbrella organization of Ukrainian community in Croatia which has seven active companies in Ukraine. The companies operate, literature, music, dance and other amateur groups. Society also organized a variety of commemorative cultural festivals, presenting a rich Ukrainian culture, traditions and customs. In the Croatian elementary schools in Vukovar, Petrovac, effervescent, Kaniža, Slavonski Brod and Lipovljanima acting Ukrainian school classes. Every year is organizing a summer school for elementary and secondary schools, especially for those who have not had the opportunity to learn in a regular teaching Ukrainian language and literature, history, geography and general culture of his homeland of Ukraine. In Zagreb, the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy, a department of the Ukrainian language and literature supported the Ukrainian activists, and there is a possibility of higher education at colleges and universities in Ukraine. The last time a new Ukrainian society of their actions and activities contribute to the improvement and development of Ukrainian culture and education in these areas. In 2004. thanks to the newly adopted Constitutional Law on National Minorities, Ukrainians Croatian formed their coordination Ukrainian national minority in Croatia, based in Zagreb, while the Council of Ukrainian national minorities acting in Petrovci, Vukovar, municipalities and Bebrina Lipovljanima. Representatives of Ukrainian national minorities working in the cities of Zagreb and Slavonski Brod and Vukovar-Sirmium and Slavonski Brod-Posavina. Coordination of Ukrainian national minorities has been established to connect, joint alignment and improvement of common interest. Ukrainians have several independent cultural and artistic associations, and several of them have in common with the Ruthenians. These are: KUD "Osif Kostelnik" Vukovar, KPD Russians and Ukrainians, Zagreb, KPD "Ukraina", Slavonski Brod, KUD "strong Hardi", Petrovac, KUD "strong Govlja" Mikluševci, KPD Ukrainians "Carpathians", Lipovljani, KUD Ruthenians and Ukrainians, Osijek, KUD "Andrej Pelih" effervescent, KPD "Taras Shevchenko", Nagykanizsa, KUD Ruthenians-Ukrainians, Vinkovci, KUD "Ivan Franko" Vukovar, Cultural Society of Russians and Ukrainians PGC "Rusnjak" Rijeka Cultural Society Ruthenians and Ukrainians, River. In Zagreb, the Zagreb City Libraries operates the Central Library of Ruthenians and Ukrainians in Croatia Number of Ukrainians in Croatia: 1.977 Croatian counties that have Ukrainian minority: Vukovarsko-srijemska županija 473 Grad Zagreb 333 Brodsko-posavska županija 320 Sisačko-moslavačka županija 309 Primorsko-goranska županija 87 Religion: mostly Greek - Catholics. Ukrainians Croatia Ansambl Kobzar, year 1987: 1998 year: Ukrainians have all rights in Croatia. There are no cases of incidents between these nations.
Pannonian Rusyns in Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannonian_Rusyns Rusyns in Pannonia, or simply Rusyns or Ruthenians (Rusyn: Руснаци or Русини, Serbian and Croatian: Rusini (Русини in Serbian Cyrillic)), are a Slavic minority in Serbia and Croatia. They are officially considered a separate nationality in Serbia and Croatia, but are also considered to be a part of the northern Rusyns (Ruthenians) who live mostly in Ukraine, but also in Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, and Hungary. The main difference between Rusyns in Pannonia and northern Rusyns is language: the language of the Rusyns in Pannonia has more Western Slavic features than the language of the northern Rusyns. Location: Rusyns in Pannonia mostly live in the autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia. There are 15,626 declared ethnic Rusyns in Vojvodina (2002 census) and their language is one of the six official languages of Vojvodina province. The village of Ruski Krstur in the Kula municipality is the cultural centre of the Pannonian Rusyns. There is also a considerable concentration of Rysyns in Novi Sad, where in 1820 the construction of St. Peter and Paul Greek Catholic parish church started, and was subsequently completed in 1834/1837. Other villages with a Rusyn majority include Kucura in the Vrbas municipality, and Bikić Do in the Šid municipality. There are also Pannonian Rusyn communities in Slavonia (Croatia), forming a majority in the village of Petrovci, Bogdanovci municipality, in Vukovar-Srijem county. History: The population of Banat and Bačka was decimated in the Ottoman wars. Rusyns in Pannonia emigrated to today's Banat and Bačka regions, alongside Germans, Hungarians, and Slovaks from a region which in modern times, comprises part of eastern Slovakia and north-western Hungary. This was part of an intensive colonization by the Austrian Empire of the region's rich, arable land, aimed at increasing state revenue through taxes. The census of Kula municipality from 1746 shows for the first time three Rusyns - Janko and Petro Homa and Janko Makovicki. The official date of Rusyn settlement in Vojvodina is January 17, 1751 when the administrator of Bačka Franc Josip de Redl signed a contract with Mihajlo Munkači from the village of Červenovo, in the county of Bereg, to bring 200 Rusyn families of Greek-Catholic rite from the upper Hungarian districts known as the "Upper-Land" (Горнїца) to Kerestur. Kerestur was a Serbian settlement mentioned 1741 as ruined and abandoned, as the settlers had moved to Čelarevo. The same administrator signed another contract on May 15, 1763 with Petro Kiš from Kerestur, to bring 150 Rusyn families of Greek Catholic rite from the same areas in the "Upper-Land" to Kocur. As the population grew and arable land given to settlers by contract was limited, many families from Kerestur and Kocur decided to migrate to the town of Novi Sad in 1766 and 1767. Later, Rusyns settled in Šid, Vajska, and in the early 19th century to Vukovar and Ilok, now in modern-day Croatia. In Petrovci, also Croatia, Rusyns started settlement in 1833, and later Bačinci in 1834. In whole Bač-Bodroš county (which was southern Hungary and today mostly Banat and Bačka), census from 1767 shows about 2.000 Rusyns. Census from 1991 in the same area, shows about 25.000 Rusyns. Currently, number of Panonian Rusyns declines and estimated number is about 15.000. The main reason for this is the increased number of Rusyns who decided to move out to Canada. Language: Pannonian Rusyns consider their version of Rusyn to be a distinct language. Those who consider it distinct from the language of northern Rusyns argue that they speak a Western Slavic language, as opposed to the northern Rusyn variant, which is an Eastern Slavic language. Whilst distinguishing, this feature is not necessarily unique to Pannonian Rusyns, as the languages of other Rusyn groups in Slovakia and Poland also contain features of both Eastern and Western Slavic languages. Rusyns in Croatia: http://www.sriu.hr/hrvatski/RusiniHrvatske.htm Rusyns in Serbia: http://www.rusnak.info/
Italians of Croatia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italians_of_Croatia Istrian Italians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istrian_Italians Istrian Italians are the ethnic group in the northern Adriatic region of Istria, related to the Italian people of Italy. Historically they are descendants from the original Latinized population of Roman Istria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who came to Istria during the Republic of Venice, and from the Italianized South Slavic population in Istria. Italians italianized Croats in their own country. Today, as a result of the Istrian exodus, the majority of Istrian Italians live outside of the Istrian peninsula; however, a significant Italian minority still lives in the Croatian County of Istria and in Slovenian Istria, where they are granted minority rights. Their number is around 17,000. The Istrian diaspora, on the other hand, counts more than 200,000 people. Istrian exodus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istrian_exodus The expression Istrian exodus or Istrian-Dalmatian exodus is used to indicate the departure of ethnic Italians from Istria, Rijeka, and Dalmatia (present-day Croatia), after World War II. At the time of the exodus, these territories were part of the SR Croatia and SR Slovenia (then parts of SFR Yugoslavia), today they are parts of the Republics of Croatia and Slovenia. According to some sources, the exodus was incited by the Yugoslav government, while the Italian government offered incentives for immigration. These territories were ethnically mixed, with Italian, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian and other communities. Istria including Rijeka and parts of Dalmatia including Zadar, had been annexed to Italy after World War I. At the end of World War II the former Italian territories in Istria and Dalmatia became part of Yugoslavia by the Paris Peace Treaty (1947), with the only exception being the communes of Muggia and San Dorligo della Valle. Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_peace_with_Italy_(1947) Italian sources consider that up to 250,000/350,000 ethnic Italians and (some thousand of) anti-communist Slovenes and Croats, chose leave the areas in the aftermath of the conflict. Communists wanted that Italians, Croats and Slovenes leave from Yugoslavia. Italy lost in the WW2, so communists revenged against Italians, Croats, Germans, Ukrainians and other non-communist people. In various municipalities in Croatia and Slovenia, census data shows that there are still significant numbers of Italians living in Istria, such as 51% of the population of Grožnjan, 37% at Brtonigla and 39.6% in Buje. Dalmatian Italians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_Italians You can read everything about Italians in Croatia, there are to many information to explain. I assume that Wikipedia is correct.
Roma people in Croatia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_of_Croatia Roma are an ethnic group in Croatia for more than 600 years and they are concentrated mostly in the northern regions of the country. According to the 2001 census, there were 9,463 Roma in Croatia or 0.2% of the population. Minority Rights Group International (MRG), as reported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states "Unofficial estimates place the Roma population at 30,000-40,000, with some up to 60,000". Also, there are a considerable number of Roma refugees in Croatia from the ethnic conflict in Bosnia. The most important Roma organization is the Croatian Roma Union. Many Croatian Roma, as well as the members of other minority groups like Serbs and Jews, have been murdered by the ustasha during the Second World War. Roma incidents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Cozma Roma council in Croatia: http://www.romi-zagreb.hr/ http://www.umrh.hr/Novo/asociation.htm http://lovari.hr/ http://www.romizarome.hr/english/default.asp http://www.unija-roma.hr/ They have many councils in Croatia. They are very well accepted in Croatian society. In Serbia they came as slaves. Roma in Serbia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_in_Serbia Veszprém stabbing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veszprém_stabbing This happened in Hungary, but one victim was Croat Ivan Pesic (handball goalkeeper). In the Veszprém stabbing of 8 February, 2009, a group of Roma people stabbed three members of the MKB Veszprém handball team in a bar in Veszprém, Hungary, which caused the death of one of them, Marian Cozma. Circumstances: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veszprém_stabbing Roma people are very violent people and they have different lifestyle,they have problems in modern society, they don't want to socialize. They refuse usual medical care, education, they live like nomads in th world. Nobody can't force them to change their lifestyle. Nazif Memedi is a Roma people representative in Croatian Parliament. Other countries don't have Roma people in their parliaments, I haven't heard for this custom. He was born in Macedonian city Tetovo. He has no connections with Croatia, but he is accepted like other members of Roma people. They were mostly born outside of Croatia. Nazif Memedi is in Croatian Parliament since 11.1.2008. He doesn't have any education, maybe high school, but he also works in three boards for Human Rights and Rights of National minorities. http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?sec=2080 Photos of Roma people in Croatia: http://www.google.hr/search?q=Romi+...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1152&bih=773 They live like in every other country: rural area, having troubles with life conditions, nothing worse then in other countries, but they have their own representative in Croatian Parliament. If he works for his own interests, that's his problem. I have heard that he doesn't care to much for his people. One member of Roma people won in Croatian edition of Big Brother: Hamdija Seferovic, he also has violent nature, he participated in one fight of Croatian boy. Finalist of this edition of Big Brother was also a girl of Serbian minority (Daca). People voted for them, this means that Serbs and Roma people are well accepted and treated. http://www.24sata.hr/show/hamdija-seferovic-istukao-mladica-i-razbio-mu-arkadu-187860 Photos of H. Seferovic: http://www.google.hr/search?q=HAMDI...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1152&bih=773 He was also a actor in Croatian soap operas, he finished only three years of school. You can't find to much people without education that made so much attention in media. But he also showed violent nature of Roma people. You can't hide from roots. He is a Muslim. http://www.google.hr/search?q=HAMDI...a=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=3&ved=0CDAQ_AUoAg Also another Roma member was first Croatian football goalkeeper: Drazen Ladic. He also participated in insurance fraud. He wanted to hide his responsibility in car accident. He is a Catholic. Because of this fraud he lost his working place of coach. He tried to buy some land for his golf court, but he tried to underpay the owners. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dražen_Ladić Roma people have their opportunity, nobody isn't fault if they fail on social exam. Also he isn't proud on his Roma heritage, he hided this for a very long time, his name and surname sound Croatian, but their custom is that they change their names and surnames so that they could be more native people. In the early morning of 5 September 2010, hours after an under-21 international between Serbia and Croatia, Ladić was involved in a car accident when the Mercedes-Benz E-Class he was driving collided with a Renault Clio at a Zagreb road intersection. Both cars were damaged beyond repair and three passengers in the Renault sustained serious injuries. Ladić escaped the accident unhurt. Some eyewitnesses of the accident accused Ladić of a red light violation, which he denied. He was removed from his position in January 2011, when the Croatian Football Federation accused him of falsifying insurance documents following the car accident. However, within the federation there were, and still are, others who have been charged of felonies and have not been removed from their positions, sparking corruption claims within the media.
Poles in Croatia: http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poljaci_u_Hrvatskoj Poland minorities in Croatia is one of 22 recognized national minorities Croatian. According to the last census in 2001 living in Croatia 567 Poles, mostly in the City. Association: Polish Cultural Association "Mikolaj Kopernik" Zagreb (Vocal Ensemble "M. Kopernik"; Dance Ensemble Polish Cultural Association "M. Kopernik") Polish Cultural Association "Fryderyk Chopin", Rijeka Significant areas of settlement: Grad Zagreb 133 Primorje-Gorski Kotar 68 Split-Dalmatia 62 Brod-Posavina 36 Beograd 35 http://www.ptk-zagreb.hr/ http://chopin-ri.hr/ Small, but happy minority in Croatia, without any incidents.
During January 2012 you can visit Instituto Cultural de Providencia in Santiago, Chile. The name of exhibition is "The challenge of the tie". Tie is a Croatian product. This is the cooperation between Instituto Cultural de Providencia, Croatian Foreign Affairs and Academia Cravatica (non-profit Croatian company). This exhibition celebrates 20 years of good diplomatic relations between Chile and Croatia. Whole building has a large tie that surrounds Instituto Cultural de Providencia. After Europe and Africa, this exhibition is for the first time in South America. This exhibition was founded in 2004. It was presented in 9 countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, South Africa, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark and Hungary). http://www.proviarte.cl/?seccion=exposiciones&id=1&xid=242 http://www.politikaplus.com/novost/47875/otvorena-izlozba-izazov-kravate-u-cileu http://www.hrvatska-rijec.com/2011/12/nakon-devet-zemalja-i-cile-ugostio-izlozbu-“izazov-kravate”/ http://www.dnevno.hr/vijesti/svijet/izlozba_izazov_kravate_u_cileu/493966.html
I don't like to use tie during the summer. I'll go to this exhibition and probably I'll take some photographs.
I use tie in special occasions, dont use it every day. Little bit boring part of clothes, but the tie entered in business dress code. This exhibition is first on South American soil. So it would be probably good to see this. I have DVD of Academia Cravatica, they present their company, they make ties. http://academia-cravatica.hr/cravat/ This exhibition is good advertiser for Institituto Cultural de Providencia also. TV stations and newspapers will broadcast this news in every part of world where Croats live. http://www.proviarte.cl/ I hope that you will enjoy watching this exhibition.
The PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE® http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/en/about_race.php Rooted in Adventure I found one article about Croatian organizer Stjepan Pavicic, who is the founder of Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/en/about_organizers.php http://www.wengerna.com/the-wenger-patagonian-expedition-race In 2011 year participated also Croatian team AD NATURA KARIBU: http://www.iglusport.hr/sponzorstva.asp?id=33 In difficult conditions of wind, water, ice, cold weather they finished on fourth position, many teams gave up. Croatian team includes: Darija Bostjančić, Dario Rocco, Stiven Vunić and Elvir Sulić. Ad Natura Karibu - experience of Croatian team: Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race 2011 „U ime pustolovnog tima Ad natura Karibu zahvaljujem Iglušportu. Vaše sponzorstvo uveliko je pomoglo uspješnoj realizaciji ovog projekta. Utrku smo uspješno završili, nije nam bilo zima, nismo se gubili, a izgledali smo baš cool " Nepregledna i divlja prirodna prostranstva južne Patagonije i ove godine bila su poprište poslijednje divlje utrke na svijetu – Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race (WPER). Ove godine na utrci prvi ******** je nastupio i jedan hrvatski pustolovni tim - AD NATURA KARIBU, u sastavu: Darija Bostjančić, Dario Rocco, Stiven Vunić & Elvir Sulić. Specifična zbog raznolikih, nepreglednih i divljih prostranstava južne Patagonije na kojima se odvija, kao i po ograničenom broju timova (15) koji imaju pravo nastupa, utrka je i ove godine oduševila sve učesnike. Dapače, oduševila i dobro, dobro namučila Patagonija je PREDIVNA (eng. Patagonia is wonderfull) Nažalost, zbog jako loših vremenskih prilika i radi sigurnosti natjecatelja utrka je skraćena za 124km (cca.4 dana trekinga). Velike količine kiše koje su pale tih dana podigle su vodostaje rijeka koje je trebalo prelaziti, mogućnosti za pothlađivanje bile su velike, snijeg je prekrio vrhove planina, brzina utrke je pala, probijeni su vremenski limiti. Odluka o skraćivanju utrke bila je opravdana. Koliko nam je bilo drago u tom trenutku, toliko nam je kasnije bilo žao. Nadamo se da će vrijeme slijedeće godine biti malo milosrdnije i dopustiti nam da uživamo u svim onim kilometrima koje je za nas pripremio direktor utrke Stjepan Pavičić. Race info: - distance: 617km / race was shortened on 503km because of bad weather and conditions. - disciplines: trekking, rowing / kayak, Mountain Bike - treking: 156km, kayak: 107km, MTB: 240km - number of teams: 14, six teams finished, eight teams gave up. - In 2011. teams came from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, N. Zealand, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Japan, USA, UK and Croatia. - Duration of race (winners): 132.36,00h / 5 days, 12.36,00h - Duration of race (Croatian team): 157.29,00h / 6 days, 13.49,00h // 4. place - Weight of bags: 10-12kg - Winning team: adidas TERREX / Prunesco (UK) It would be nice to participate here. Some experts consider this race as most difficult in the world, you can use only compass and map. About Patagonia: http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/en/about_patagonia.php http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace...&Landscape=-1&Otros=-1&submit=Launch+research