Line+of+Inquiry+1

Throughout Time Humans Have Formed Societies.
Emigration from Croatia began as early as the 15th century. Of all the Croatian settlements throughout the world Australia and New Zealand are furthest from home. Earliest records show Croats coming from the Dalmatian coast to New Zealand from the 1850’s. The people were largely unskilled labour and had left Croatia due to little work; to avoid military duty; to send money home to family or even where land was difficult to grow things on. Most were young men and saw it as an adventure or new start. On arrival in New Zealand their lifestyles improved dramatically gaining work in goldfields, gum digging, fishing, forestry and wine. Many then had young woman sent to New Zealand to marry these young men. Croatia has a population of approximately 4.5 – 5 million and I have found out that it has been decreasing since 1990. 18% of the population is under 15. 67% are 15-64 years. Governments have been looking at this situation with little change happening. ¼ of the population live in Zagreb the capital. What is happening is that the population is aging. Life in Croatia right now is very different from 100 years ago or even 15 years ago. There has been a huge amount of political turmoil and wars. The former Yugoslavia (Dalmatia) was previously a socialist country. This means you did not have the freedom to vote or make changes. There was a lot of fighting between Serbs and Croats. Most Croatians are Catholic and Serbians are Muslim. In 1991 Croatia declared independence from socialist Yugoslavia with a full-scale war. The reasons for this war are very complex from land ownership to religion. Young people now feel confident about their country where there is a democracy and they belong to a modern European country not a Baltic or Eastern block country where democracy is unstable. The official language is Croatian and 78% of the population are Croats. The language was called Serbo-Croatian but this has changed with their independence. In the last 10 years the people are really bringing back their culture and history and in the capital city Zagreb, street names have been returned to their original names as before had been under Serbian rule. The people have a very strong family focus. In rural areas extended families still share houses. In the city, life has changed to match any other major city in the world with apartment living and smaller houses.
 * 1. Why did some Croatian residents come to settle in New Zealand?**
 * 2. Why and how has the population grown in Croatia?**
 * 3. How has the the way Croatians lived changed from one generation?**