Administrative-territorial division of Croatia

A new administrative-territorial system was introduced in Croatia in late 1992, after the country has passed through a tumultuous period and reached independence. The new internal territorial organization is a compromise between several different criterias. It reflects Croatia's position and geographic characteristics as well as the country's history and variety of traditional regions existing on those bases, but the most decisive was the functional principle. Counties, the first order units of the new division, are primarily functional regions of main centres. Beside counties, there is also a lower level of the division, namely municipalities created in predominantly rural areas and towns in more urbanized parts. The new civil division also provided a model of territorial autonomy for areas inhabited mostly by the Serbs, the second largest ethnic group in Croatia. For that purpose two districts with special status were proposed.     

Seismic Zoning of Croatia

The territory of Croatia and neighboring regions is divided into 17 seismic source zones, considering available seismological and geological data. On this basis, seismic hazard elements (seismicity rate, maximum magnitude, b-value, probabilities of exceedance and return periods for a predefined set of magnitudes) are computed using the maximum likelihood method appropriate for treating data-sets with variable completeness thresholds. The values of long term expected peak horizontal acceleration obtained by using a combination of the deterministic and the probabilistic procedure are the highest in the Dubrovnik zone, while the Zagreb zone has the highest earthquake hazard in the continental part of the country. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ombla Spring,Croatia

Ombla Spring is located on the Adriatic coast near the town of Dubrovnik. The spring discharges at sea level. To eliminate the influence of the tide, a small dam was constructed 50 m downstream of the spring outlet. The spring water overflows the dam crest at an elevation of 2.40 m. Since 1897 the springwater has been used for the water supply for Dubrovnik.     

Croatia as a Danube country

Among the three principal regional units of Croatia, i.e. the elongated and spacious Adriatic littoral (with numerous islands), the relatively small and narrow mountainous belt (the Croatian transit doorway) and the Pannonian/peri-Pannonian region, the latter is the largest and accounts for 54 percent of the surface area and 66 percent of the population of Croatia (1991 census). It is part of the Pannonian (or Carpathian) basin, or the central Danube basin, so that Croatia is simply by its position a Danube country. Its Danube character is also highlighted by the fact that the Pannonian/peri-Pannonian region of Croatia through the Sava and Drava Rivers is directly linked to the navigable Danube, which is the historical and ethnic eastern boundary of Croatia. Croatia is an old historical Danube nation and country, although it has nominally appeared as a state after the break-up of Yugoslavia, and its international recognition as an independent state (1992).     

National minorities in the Republic of Croatia

As of 1991, in the Republic of Croatia 16 percent of the total population was made up of national minorities. A large part of this figure consists of minrity nations who are the descendants of settlers from the era of Ottoman conquest during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Austrian colonization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and partially due to inter-republic migrations during the existence of the Yugoslav state.The most numerous national minority in 1991 were the Serbs (582,000, or 12.16% of the total population). The Serbian national minority is scattered throughout the Croatian state, so that in Croatia there is no integral Serbian ethnic territory. The other national minorities in Croatia are much smaller in number (Bosnian Muslims, 43,000; Slovenes, 22,000; Hungarians, 22,000; Italians, 21,000; Czechs, 13,000; Albanians, 12,000; etc.).The conflicts provoked by Greater Serbian politics and the wartime aggression against Croatia resulted in migrations, the consequence of which is the reduction in the number of the Serbian national minority in the Republic of Croatia.     

Croatia in the continental traffic network of Europe

Croatia is located on the southeastern edge of Central Europe (Ruppert 1995), between the navigable Danube River and the Adriatic Sea, so that participates not only in continental traffic, but in the maritime and river traffic of Europe as well.Although the transit position of Croatia is very favorable, transportation itself has unfortunately not been developed in accordance with these advantages. This is a result of the social-economic, especially political, development of the region in the course of its history. Unfortunately, politics also influences the selection of transit routes in this part of Europe today. With the break-up of socialist states, particularly the former Yugoslavia, new states have appeared which are seeking their place in the European traffic network. Because of the momentarily uncertain political circumstances, the construction of some transit routes in Croatia have not been foreseen in international developmental plans for continental transit, despite the fact that they would be logically expected given the advantages of their position.     

Rural diversification and socio-economic transformation in Croatia

Rural diversification in Croatia is well advanced because many rural families have been able to find work in secondary and tertiary activities without the need to migrate to the towns. Many rural settlements have now attained an urban character although there are regional variations, including a contrast between the continental zone with a relatively high level of commitment to agriculture and the coastal areas, with pronounced ‘deagrarisation’ where the ports and tourist resorts are well developed and the natural resource conditions for agriculture are poor. These variations are examined at the municipality level with reference to two key indicators: the share of nonagricultural population and the share of workers in the total active population. Four categories of socio-economic transformation are recognised: more urbanised, urbanised, less urbanised and rural. The main regional differences between the continental and coastal areas are confirmed with the latter showing a relatively high level of socio-economic transformation through the prominence of more highly urbanised municipalities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Croatia — the land and natural features

As both Middle-European and Mediterranean country, the Republic of Croatia is composed of several regional units. Every single natural and geographical unit is not specific only in terms of its general natural features, but also by its role in linking Croatia with the rest of the world. Additional peculiarity of these geographic units is their complementary value, which gives good prerequisites for successful economic development of the country.In Pannonian section of Croatia prevail natural features close to those in other Central-European countries. Namely, this section of Croatia participates in Danube catchment area, linking Croatia with the rest of Central Europe. Dinaric Alps are typical mountainous area; in north-western part of the range (i.e. in the region of Gorski Kotar) they are very narrow, making thus possible a comparatively easy communication between Pannonian part of Croatia and the Adriatic coast. Coastal region of Croatia — stretching along the most of (north)eastern coast of the Adriatic — is predominantly characterised by Mediterranean natural features. Due to its size and share in total area of the country, territorial waters of the Adriatic sea can be accepted as the fourth natural and geographic unit of Croatia.     

Croatia — a coastal and maritime country

Croatia, through its geographic position, is a Mediterranean/Adriatic and Central European/Danube state. As an Adriatic coastal state, it has a long maritime tradition, which is apparent in its well-developed shipping (2.4 million GT), the high-quality ship-building industry (among the top six in the world) and through its numerous sea ports, of which many were established in ancient times. The leading national port is Rijeka, which is at the same time an important transit port for Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.The exceptionally indented Croatian Adriatic coast with its attractive archipelagos and favorable climatic and oceanographic conditions in the coastal sea offers very advantageous conditions for comprehensive tourist utilization. This is particularly true of nautical tourism, which is complimented by a larger number of constructed and well-equipped yachting ports/marinas on the coast and islands.     

Protection of karst aquifers in the Dinarides in Croatia

 This paper presents karst water protection measures being introduced in the Dinarides of Croatia. The spring sites for the water supply of the town of Rijeka, for its 200 000 inhabitants and the largest harbor of the northeastern side of the Adriatic Sea, have been used as a pilot research area. The European research project was used, and protection of water was generally divided into three phases. A categorization of springs has been made, and five basic protection zones have been distinguished. The rules of behavior in protected zones have been outlined. For the first time, the term water-supply "reserve" has been introduced, referring to the parts of the mountainous region where karst groundwater is recharged. Received: 26 March 1997 · Accepted: 22 July 1997     

The population of cosmic voids

We consider the main population of cosmic voids in a heirarchical clustering model. Based on the Press-Schechter formalism modified for regions in the Universe with reduced or enhanced matter densities, we construct the mass functions for gravitationally bound objects of dark matter occupying voids or superclusters. We show that the halo mass functions in voids and superclusters differ substantially. In particular, the spatial density of massive (M ～ 10¹² M _⊙) halos is appreciably lower in voids than in superclusters, with the difference in the mass functions being greater for larger masses. According to our computations, an appreciable fraction of the mass of matter in voids should be preserved to the present epoch in the form of primordial gravitationally bound objects (POs) with modest masses (to 10% for M _PO < 10⁹ M _⊙) keeping baryons. These primordial objects represent “primary blocks” in the heirarchical clustering model. We argue that the oldest globular clusters in the central regions of massive galaxies are the stellar remnants of these primordial objects: they can form in molecular clouds in these objects, only later being captured in the central regions of massive galaxies in the process of gravitational clustering. Primordial objects in voids can be observed as weak dwarf galaxies or Lyα absorption systems.     

Croatia and Central Europe — the geopolitical relationship

The position of Croatia on the border of larger geographic wholes (Central Europe, the Mediterranean, the Balkans) makes it a transitional region for these larger areas. However, the Pannonian region of Croatia, as the largest part of its national territory, places it in the ranks of the Central European states. The long historical ties of the Croatian lands with the Austrian and Hungarian centers of Central European power also confirm Croatia's affiliation with Central Europe. The cultural, civilization, religious and other characteristics, which today ease Croatia's communications with Central European countries, are unavoidable. With state independence, Croatia acquired the political sovereignty vital for its Central European orientation and was liberated from the problems of the Balkans, although it is still struggling for its territorial integrity. Croatian statehood was realized soon after the reunification of Germany, which in fact renewed the concept and content of Central Europe. This fact opened many questions tied to the rivalry and political balance of the European powers, which is also connected to the geopolitical position of Croatia.     

Recent landslides on the Istrian Peninsula, Croatia

This study presents a review of recently recorded instability phenomena on the flysch slopes of Istria, Croatia. The northeastern part of the Istrian Peninsula, the so-called Gray Istria, is built of Paleogene flysch deposits, where instability phenomena are frequent and where a large number of landslides, with significant consequences, have been recorded over the past 35 years. Based on field investigations conducted for the purpose of remedial study design, a database of these landslides was created. An investigation of the documented landslides and their elements found some common features that enabled general conclusions about the conditions and causes of landslide occurrence. In total, 19 documented landslides have been analyzed as individual phenomena, and from the results of these analyses, general conclusions were drawn about sliding conditions and the main triggering factors. Geological conditions and processes on slopes where landslides occurred are shown in detail, and geotechnical properties have been systematically represented. The sliding conditions and dimensions of four recent landslide occurrences, specifically by type, have been described in detail and analyzed.     

The population trend and the population problems in recent Japan

All data obtained from vital statistics and the fertility survey indicate that the population of Japan will have a heavy burden of increasing old ages in the near future, because the attitude toward the number of children among Japanese women is to have fewer children (but not to have no children) and because it is anticipated that this attitude will not last for a good number of years in the future. This is one of issues discussed in recent Japan as population problems in the Aging Society.Another issue is population problems in the High Density Society. This issue is discussed in relation to unbalanced land utilization, air and water pollution, destruction of village life etc., brought about by the over-congestion in the metropolitan areas areas and depopulation in rural areas.One of the aims involved in the regional development plan of Japan is to solve the problems occured by the uneven distribution of population. The Third Comprehensive National Development Plan published in 1977 states that the central aim of this plan is to undertake the reorganization of population distribution by the development of attractive local cities, towns and villages where enough educational and employment opportunities are provided to make a best use of the desirable characteristics of the region, maintaining the present profitable feature of the areas and comfortable living conditions for people.The original of this article is the paper submitted to the International Conference on Population Problems and National Development, held at Seoul, Korea in November, 1978, sponsored by the Institute of Population Problems, Seoul, Korea.     

Submerged caves of Croatia: distribution,classification and origin

Presently, 235 submerged caves and pits have been recorded along the Croatian coast and islands, partly or completely submerged by sea water. Contrary to the inland situation, recorded submerged features are predominantly horizontal (60%), though there are indications that the real situation is similar to that of the continental part where 69% are vertical pits. Completely marine conditions are established in 126 caves and the rest are anchihaline caves and submarine springs. Speleothems are found in more than 140 caves. By their origin, the investigated caves are all continental features formed in Mesozoic and Palaeogene carbonates, subsequently submerged owing to sea transgression. Due to the relatively low wave energy, rapid sea level rise and maturity of the host rock, they do not fit into concepts of a sea cave or a flank margin cave development, but they fulfil several conditions for being the blue holes. Since the term ‘blue hole’ is mainly associated with the Bahamian karst, our attempt is only to show the possible similarities with no intention of ascribing that term to the Croatian caves. Beside karstological issues, Croatian submerged caves are unique environmental, archaeological and tourism assets.     

The influence of Late Cretaceous synsedimentary deformation on the Cenozoic structuration of the middle Adriatic,Croatia

The primordially structural-lithofacial relationships in the Adriatic Carbonate Platform (AdCP) of Croatia were formed by a Late Cretaceous synsedimentary tectonics. During Cenomanian, an extensional tectonic regime differentiated AdCP into several kilometres large paleoenvironmental segments which behaved as individual depocenteres. The latest Cenomanian and earliest Turonian were tectonically relatively quiet periods during which sediments only recorded a relative sea-level rise. Compression commenced during the middle Santonian and formed first (NW-SE) gentle folds in the frontal part of the Split-Dubrovnik thrust. These folds had amplitudes of tens to hundreds of metres and are up to ten kilometres in strike. The apical parts of the anticlines were dominated by shallow-marine deposition with short emergences simultaneously, slope deposition of pelagic sediments took place in the synclines. By the end of the Campanian, compression weakened and younger sediments infilled former depressions while the deposition ended in the Adriatic hinterland of Croatia. During the Maastrichtian the compression recommenced and the index of older folds increased while new folds and reverse faults were formed. Such deformations created a differentiated morphology at the surface subsequently overlaid by Palaeogene sediments. Clastic sediments accumulated indeed in this paleodepression during the Palaeogene and Miocene–Quaternary, forming favourable structural conditions for hydrocarbon generation.     

Comparison of Hail Characteristics in NW Croatia for Two Periods

This paper presents hail characteristics for two separate periods (1981–1990,1991–1999) in the western part of the hail protected area along the Croatianand Slovenian border. The first period is characterised by full application ofhail suppression technology. The protected area was covered with a sufficientnumber of hail suppression rockets, rockets launching was permitted across theSlovenian border aimed at early seeding, and Slovenia in that time had also theoperative hail suppression system. The second period is characterised withsignificantly lower application of hail suppression technology compared withfirst period. During the independence war in Croatia, because of a lack ofrockets and other objective circumstances, appropriate rocket hail suppressionwas missing. This work examines whether hail characteristics on the border areahave changed, taking into account the changes in suppression. Results show thatthe average diameter of hailstones and duration of hailfall slightly increasedin second period. Also, there is an increase in the number of areas with alarger ratio of hail producing heavy damage, compared with first period. On thebasis of data from five meteorological stations, it is visible that, as a resultof implementation of the hail suppression system, the average number of dayswith solid precipitation on that area in period April–October has reduced,compared with the period when there was no hail suppression system.