Communications & Infrastructure

Croatia's communications network is well developed. According to the CIA World Factbook, 40% percent of the population has access to a fixed phone line, and there are more cell phones than there are people living in the country. More than 90% of the phone lines have been converted from analog to digital. Internet access has increased significantly over the last 10 years. In 2000, only 6.8% of the population were internet users, while current estimates range from 40%-50%. As a point of comparison, in 2000, 44% of the U.S. population had internet access, while the number currently stands at 72%.

Although this is where Croatia currently stands, this is primarily due to the rebuilding that has taken place over the last 15 years. The war of independence, which they fought from 1991 to 1995, took a heavy toll on the economy and infrastructure. In 1997, with the war behind them, and basic governmental restructuring in place, Croatia began to focus more at international involvement. In a 1997 interview, the Croatian Ambassador to the U.S. said that their hope was to get other countries interested in investing in infrastructure projects. They intended to focus on tourism in particular, but knew that they needed to work on basic infrastructure first, "especially the development of road and highway systems" (Agnihotri).

Loans from such organizations such as World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development helped the country with roads, railroads, electricity and more. World Bank has continued to support Croatia in such activities as restructuring and modernizing Rijeka Port, reducing the response time of emergency medical services and computerizing the cadastre and land registry offices, while the EBRD is currently working on environmental infrastructure and energy efficiency, with a focus on renewable energy projects.


References

Agnihotri, N. (1997). Croatia: Politics & growth. Presidents & Prime Ministers. 6(6), 11-15.

Central Intelligence Agency. (2009). Croatia. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hr.html

(2009). Croatia. Retrieved from http://www.ebrd.com/pubs/factsh/country/croatia.pdf

(2010). Croatia. Retrieved from http://go.worldbank.org/NTDIRV42F0