CROATIA/HRVATSKA

Verna Hmlinen
Gudrun Hammer
Ilena Masla
Lisa Pschlmayer

General Info

Republic of Croatia/
Republika Hrvatska
Declaration of
Independence: 8 October,
1991
Capital City: Zagreb
Population: 4.4 million
Official Language: Croatian
President: Stjepan Mesi

Activity 1

Goran Ivanievi
Ivano Bali
Janica Kosteli
Davor uker

Activity 2
Croatian Inventions?

Cultural Traits

Family attachments
Nepotism
Direct culture
Gestures
Concept of time
Humour
Catholic attitudes
Antipathy towards Serbs/
Nationalism
Regional differences

Family Attachments
strong family ties
Croatians marry usually
quite young
a big celebration with
lots of people invited
divorce rate is not high
average of 1.5 children
per woman

Direct Culture

Level of relationship is
important to consider
Exaggerations
Very emotional and
high-tempered
Nepotism

Business Etiquette

Do not rely too much on

schedules
Small talk very important
Never jump straight into
business
Building relationship
initially more important
than business

Gestures/ Body Language

Croatians

use their hands and arms when

talking
Love talking a lot and loud

Concept of time

Flexible and slower

concept of time
Relax, we
still have time
Tend to
miss deadlines
Punctuality is not
one of the Croatians strengths

Religion

90% Roman Catholic,

10 % others
Croatians feel very catholic and the
vast majority of them practises the
religion too
Herzegovinian Croatians and
Dalmatians feel the most catholic of
all Croatians - history
Communistic Yugoslavia and Tito's
antipathy towards catholic church
Relations to Vatican

Humour

the south and the coastal areas

irony, cynicism, or dark humour
most jokes are sexist or about
Bosnians or regional mentality
make fun of peoples mistakes,
lack of judgement or serious
thoughts, reversal of fortune,
regional
mentality,
frivolity,
drunkenness,
and lack of
professionalism

Nationalism/Antipathy towards
Serbs/Regional Differences

very proud and aware of

their national identity
antipathy towards Serbs
is due to the recent war
regional identity is
important
difference south-north
historical influence on the
regional mentality

Dos / Donts
Praise and know about:
Croatian cuisine: food, cooking and wine
Croatian cuisine
Croatian sports
Their clean and beautiful environment
Do not
Criticize Croatias role in the Croatian War
of Independence
Make comparisons between Croats and
Serbians
Criticize catholic church

Activity 3
Try to read these Croatian sentences:
Laku no. Good night.
Dobar dan. Good
afternoon.
Ne govorim hrvatski. I
cannot speak Croatian.
Studiram engleski. I am
studying English.