The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Croatia

CROATIA (Croat. Hervatska Krajina; Hun. Horvátország), a province of the Austro-Hungarian empire, forming with Slavonia a kingdom united with that of Hungary. The kingdom is an irregular triangle cut off from the southwest of Hungary, bounded W. by the Adriatic, N. W. by Carniola and Styria, N. E. by the Drave and the Danube, which separate it from Hungary, and E. and S. by the Military Frontier; area, 8,866 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 1,160,085. Capital, both of the kingdom and the province, Agram. Croatia is the western part of the kingdom, bounded by the Adriatic, Carniola, Styria, the Drave, Slavonia, and the Military Frontier; area, 5,220 sq. m.; pop. 757,477. The southern portion of the province is mountainous, being intersected by the Julian Alps; north of the Save, which intersects the country, it is hilly rather than mountainous, being traversed by a portion of the Carnic Alps, which divide the waters flowing into the Drave from those which fall into the Save and its tributary the Kulpa. The climate varies in different parts. Along the Adriatic it is similar to that of the opposite coast of Italy, and produces the olive and vine. In the elevated mountain region snow frequently falls in August or September, and lies till April or May. Little grain is raised; the most abundant fruit is the damson plum, from which the favorite beverage of the country is distilled. The grape and the chestnut are also cultivated. The forests are extensive, and hogs, which feed in them, are in some parts the principal domestic animals, the rearing of cattle receiving less attention. The mineral products are of little account. Some gold is found by washing the sands of the Drave; there are iron, copper, lead, coal, and salt. The mountains contain marble, alabaster, and gypsum. Manufactories are few, being almost wholly confined to the portion of country lying upon the Adriatic. There is little commerce. Agram, Karlstadt, and Old Sziszek are the principal marts for trade within the interior. Fiume, on the Adriatic, next to Trieste the most important seaport of the Austrian empire, which lately belonged to Croatia, is now again an integral part of Hungary. (See .) Croatia is divided into the five counties of Agram,

Fiume (exclusive of the town), Kreutz, and Warasdin; Slavonia into the counties of Pozsega, Szerém, and Veröcze. The kingdom is represented in the Hungarian diet by 31 delegates (29 to the lower house) elected by the diet of Agram, and by a number of members of the house of magnates, partly hereditary. The governor, who is appointed by the emperor as king of Hungary, bears the title of ban. The Croats, who form the bulk of the population of the province (the remainder being chiefly Germans, Magyars, and Jews), are of the Illyrico-Servian branch of the Slavic race, and their dialect differs little from that of Servia. Nearly nine tenths are Catholics, who have a bishop residing at Agram; most of the others belong to the Greek church, and have a bishop residing at Kreutz. Education is almost wholly neglected. In 1851 there was <-- original position of illustration --> only one school to every 29 sq. m. and every 3,473 inhabitants. Since then the Austrian government has introduced a system of common school education, but the results are as yet little apparent. &mdash; Croatia, which in antiquity formed a part of Pannonia, was subject to the Roman empire from the time of Augustus. It was conquered by the Goths, recovered under Justinian, invaded by the Avars, and in the 7th century settled by Croats, who after long struggles with the Franks finally formed a vassal state of the Byzantine empire. Toward the end of the 10th century the princes of Croatia assumed the royal title. It was conquered by the Hungarians in 1091, by Venice in 1117, and again by the Byzantines in 1168. Having again for a time been under Hungarian sway, and subsequently semi-independent for about a century, it was ultimately annexed to Hungary in 1342, and as its dependency subjected to the Hapsburg dynasty in 1527. Like

Hungary, it suffered terribly from the Turkish invasions. In 1848-'9 the national hatred of the Croats against the Magyars made them one of the principal instruments of the Austrian government in crushing the Hungarian revolution. (See .) Separated from Hungary in 1849, it was reunited with it in 1867-'8. (See, , , and .)



Croats.