page_title: Croatia
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Croatia / Demographics / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Cathedral of Saint James in Šibenik, Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia - northeast view Hrvatski: Katedrala svetog Jakova u Šibeniku,Šibensko-kninska županija, Hrvatska - sjeveroistočna strana
context_page_description: Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Southeast Europe. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy. Its capital, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with twenty counties. Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres and a population of 4.07 million, most of whom are Catholics.
  Croatia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. The Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century. Croatia was first internationally recognized as an independent state on 7 June 879 during the reign of duke Branimir. Tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom, which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries. During the succession crisis after the Trpimirović dynasty ended, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne.
context_section_description: Croatia has no official religion. Freedom of religion is a right defined by the Constitution which also defines all religious communities as equal before the law and separated from the state.
  According to the 2011 census, 91.36% of Croatians identify as Christian; of these, Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 86.28% of the population, after which follows Eastern Orthodoxy (4.44%), Protestantism (0.34%), and other Christians (0.30%). The largest religion after Christianity is Islam (1.47%). 4.57% of the population describe themselves as non-religious.
  In the Eurostat Eurobarometer Poll of 2010, 69% of the population of Croatia responded that "they believe there is a God". In a 2009 Gallup poll, 70% answered yes to the question "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" However, only 24% of the population attends religious services regularly.
caption: Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik was included on the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage List in 2000
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