Croatia

A large part of Croatia, a European country that has had a separate cultural identity since medieval times, was formerly the Roman province of Illyria. In early modern times, it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Illyrian Republic under Napoleon, and then was ruled by the Austro-Hungarians until the end of World War I, when it became a part of Yugoslavia. Independent and supporting the Axis during World War II, it was reabsorbed into Yugoslavia and became an independent republic again in 1991. With much of the population making their living from agriculture until the second half of the 20th century, a large majority of the people lived in rural areas, which were often badly served by government infrastructure.

Much of this infrastructure in cities ...