Croatia is situated on the crossroad between Central Europe and the Mediterranean, along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its hinterland. It stretches from the hilly sides of the Alps on the north-west to the Panonnian plain in the east. Croatia’s neighbours include Italy (over Adria), Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The country borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro (north with Serbia) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south with Montenegro) 25 km and Slovenia 670 km. It has 5,835 km of coastline (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km). Croatia has 21 counties (including the City of Zagreb), 122 towns,  424 municipalities and 6,767 settlements. The  20 counties (Županije) are: Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska Županija, Brodsko-Posavska Županija, Dubrovačko-Neretvanska Županija, Istarska Županija, Karlovačka Županija, Koprivničko-Križevačka Županija, Krapinsko-Zagorska Županija, Ličko-Senjska Županija, Međumurska Županija, Osječko-Baranjska Županija, Požeško-Slavonska Županija, Primorsko-Goranska Županija, Šibensko-Kninska Županija, Sisačko-Moslavačka Županija, Splitsko-Dalmatinska Županija, Varaždinska Županija, Virovitičko-Podravska Županija, Vukovarsko-Srijemska Županija, Zadarska Županija and Zagrebačka Županija. The capital Zagreb has the special status of a city (grad). Duke Trpimir issued the charter in which the name Croatia is mentioned for the first time in domestic official documents in 852. In 952 Tomislav, the first Croatian king, is mentioned; he was unifier of Pannonian and Dalmatian Croatia. In 1102 after the death of Petar Svačić, the last Croatian king, Croatia entered into a union with Hungary. In 1433 the country began a defence against the Turks, who had often in the past occupied Croatian territory. Later the country was part of the Habsburg Empire. In 1700 Croatia was largely liberated of Turkish rule, while the continental part remained under Habsburg rule, and the largest part of the Adriatic coast, including the islands were under Venice (since 1420). In 1848 Ban Josip Jelačić defended Croatia against Hungarian occupation and united all Croatian provinces. After World War I, Croatia was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later called the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During World War II, Croatia was a nominally independent state (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska), and its Ustaša regime co-operated with Nazi Germany. After World War II, Yugoslavia became a socialist state with six republics (one of which was Croatia) and was ruled by Josip Broz Tito. After he died in 1980, political and national conflicts within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ) became stronger and stronger. Croatians’ dissatisfaction became greater with time because they supported the idea of SFRJ as a federation while Serbia supported the creation of a strong state controlled from Belgrade. Croatia was, after Slovenia, the most prosperous and industrialised area in ex-Yugoslavia, with a per capita output one-third above the Yugoslav average. Croatian politician Franjo Tuđman led the country into independence. A declaration of independence on 25 June 1991 was followed by war. Serbs in some parts of Croatia wanted independence and annexation to Serbia in the territory where they were a majority. A lot of Serbs in Croatia felt insecure in the new state under the regime of Tuđman. Officials in Belgrade supported the war against Croatia, and military units from Belgrade were sent to Croatia. In one of the fights (in 1991), Belgrade forces destroyed the city of Vukovar. Serbs in Croatia had about 30% of the territory under their control (East Slavonia and Krajina) using their own paramilitary groups, and it took Croatia several years to regain control of its whole territory. Zagreb achieved important results in 1995, when it recovered big parts of the territory controlled by Serbian groups. During the war many Serbs left Croatia; most are today in Serbia or in western European countries, Canada or Australia. Around 150,000 Serbs left Croatia just as a result of the military action which recovered Krajina in 1995 (called “Oluja” – the Storm). Huge political change accelerated after the death of President Franjo Tuđman on 10 December 1999. A coalition of five opposition parties, led by the SDP, gained power in January 2000. Ivica Račan became prime minister. On 7 February 2000, Stjepan Mesić, a moderate politician, was elected to be president of the state. In January 2005 he was re-elected in the second round of presidential elections. But he had a long fight to regain his position. On 2 January 2005 none of the 13 candidates managed to win the first round, although then-President Stjepan Mesić got the majority of votes with 48.92%, but it was not enough for a clear victory. Therefore, on 16 January the second round of elections was held between two candidates, Stjepan Mesić and Jadranka Kosor, presidential candidate of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ); it was won by Mesić. In November 2003, Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ), the party founded by Tuđman, again got into power. It won almost half of the 152 seats in Parliament, and Ivo Sanader was chosen as prime minister. On 15 May 2005, local elections were held in Croatia. Some political parties in Croatia are: the Croatian Christian Democratic Union (Hrvatska kršćanska demokratska unija - HKDU); the Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica – HDZ); the Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava – HSP); the Croatian Peasant Party (Hrvatska seljačka stranka – HSS); the Croatian People's Party (Hrvatska narodna stranka – HNS); the Croatian Social Liberal Party (Hrvatska Socialna Liberalna Stranka - HSLS); the Istrian Democratic Assembly (Istarski Demokratski Sabor – Dieta Democratica Istriana - IDS); the Liberal Party (Liberalna stranka - LS); the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (Socijaldemokratska Partija Hrvatske - SDP); the Serbian National Party (Srpska Narodna Stranka – SNS); and the Hungarian Democratic Community of Croatia (DZMH). The Croatian Parliament (The Assembly or Sabor) is the citizens’ representative body and is vested with legislative power in the Republic of Croatia. The Parliament, as the oldest state institution, has been advocating, guaranteeing and protecting Croatia’s statehood and national interests throughout centuries. Currently the Croatian Parliament has 152 members who were elected on 23 November 2003. According to provisions of the new constitution promulgated in December 1990, the Parliament consisted of two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies (Zastupnički Dom) with legislative authority, and the Chamber of Counties (Županijski Dom) with an advisory role and the right to lodge so-called suspension vetoes. After the enactment of constitutional amendments in 2000, which changed the semi-presidential system into a parliamentary system, Parliament acquired a new, more important role in Croatia’s political system. After the elimination of the Chamber of Counties under constitutional amendments enacted in 2001, the Croatian Parliament became unicameral. The President of the Republic shall be elected in direct elections by secret ballot, on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, for a term of five years. No one shall be elected President of the Republic more than twice. The President of the Republic shall be elected by a majority vote by all electors who have voted. If none of the candidates has obtained such a majority, new elections shall be held after 14 days. The two candidates who obtain the largest number of votes in the first election shall have the right to stand in the new election. If one of these candidates withdraws, the candidate who is next in the number of votes obtained shall acquire the right to stand for the new election. Elections for the President of the Republic shall be held no less than 30 and no more than 60 days before the expiry of the term of office of the incumbent president. Before assuming duty, the President of the Republic shall take a solemn oath before the President of the Constitutional Court swearing loyalty to the constitution. The election of the President of the Republic, the oath and its taking shall be regulated by law. The Government of the Republic of Croatia is a body which shall exercise executive powers in conformity with the constitution and law; its internal organisation, operational procedures and decision-making processes are defined by the Law on the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Rules of Procedure of the Government. The government shall pass decrees, introduce legislation, propose the state budget and enforce laws and other regulations enacted by the Croatian Sabor. Within the scope of its powers, the government shall also pass decrees, administrative acts and orders on appointments and relief of appointed officials and  civil servants. The government shall decide in cases of conflict of jurisdiction between government institutions, give answers to representatives' questions, prepare law proposals and other regulations, give opinion on laws and other regulations and adopt strategies of economic and social development. The government shall consist of the prime minister, one or more deputy prime ministers and ministers. According to the 2005 Transition Report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Croatia did not achieve significant progress in the transition process in 2005 and although by the progress achieved it is comparable to other EU membership candidates, difficult reforms lie ahead, notably in market competition, the judiciary, and the restructuring and privatisation of big state companies. The survey also showed that Croatia was among the few transition countries (Hungary, Azerbaijan, Armenia) in which corruption in 2005 was higher than in 2002. As is the case in other transitional countries, Croatia still suffers from a great deal of corruption and a statistically high percentage of unemployment, which reached 18% in December 2005. According to Eurobarometer research done in May and June 2005, 55% of Croats are satisfied with their life quality, compared with 77% of Europeans. However, only 44% of Croats are satisfied with their financial situation, compared to 64% of Europeans. In June, the European Council gave Croatia candidate status for European Union (EU) entry, and on 17 December, the EU decided that membership negotiations with Croatia would begin on 17 March 2005. However, the launch of talks was put off on 16 March pending Zagreb's "full co-operation" with the UN war crimes tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, since this was one of the conditions for Croatia’s EU membership. The Spring 2005 Eurobarometer reported that only 36% of the Croatian population thought that EU entry would bring positive things to Croatia. Finally, on 3 October 2005, Zagreb received the green light for accession talks to commence. On 7 December 2005, Croatian general Ante Gotovina, indicted for war crimes by the ICTY, was arrested in Spain and extradited to Hague. He was indicted on seven counts of persecution, murder, plunder of property, wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, deportation and forced displacement and other inhumane acts. These crimes were allegedly committed in 1995 during Operation “Storm”, when Croatian forces retook areas under de facto Croatian Serb control. After Gotovina was arrested, demonstrators in different towns in Croatia supported their “hero” Gotovina. One of the biggest “pro-Gotovina” demonstrations was in the town of Split with about 100,000 participants. At the end of April 2005, Freedom House, an American organisation for democracy promotion, published its annual report, according to which Croatia was ranked 82 in the world based on its media freedom situation. The organisation also stated that press freedom in Croatia is still sometimes jeopardised by the government and by problems with libel, because in Croatia journalists can still be sentenced to imprisonment for libel. In 2005 a court in Šibenik initiated an investigation into cases involving Dragan Vasiljković, aka Kapetan Dragan, for alleged war crimes against prisoners and civilians in 1991. The suspect, who lived in Serbia after the war in Croatia, is now living in Australia, where he also lived before the war in Croatia. According to Croatian sources, he is suspected of torturing and killing Croatian soldiers and police in 1991 and 1993.