Article II of the

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

II. BASIC PROVISIONS

1. The Republic of Croatia is a unitary and indivisible democratic and social state. Power in the Republic of Croatia is derived from the people and belongs to the people as a community of free and equal citizens. The people shall exercise this power through the election of representatives and through direct decisionmaking.

2. The sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia is inalienable, indivisible and untransferable. The sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia encompasses its lands, rivers, lakes, canals, internal maritime waters, territorial sea and the air space above these. The Republic of Croatia shall exercise, in accordance with international law, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the maritime areas and the seabed and subsoil thereof of the Adriatic Sea outside the state territory up to the borders of neighboring countries. The Croatian Parliament and people shall directly, independently and in accordance with the Constitution and law, decide:
   
   
   • on the regulation of economic, legal and political relations in the Republic of Croatia;
   • on the preservation of natural and cultural wealth and its utilization;
   • on association in alliances with other states.
   
   The Republic of Croatia may conclude alliances with other states, retaining the sovereign right to decide by itself on the powers to be transferred and the right to withdraw from them freely.

3. Freedom, equal rights, national equality, peace, social justice, respect for human rights, inviolability of ownership, conservation of nature and the human environment, the rule of law and a democratic multiparty system are the highest values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia.

4. The government in the Republic of Croatia is organized on the principle of separation of powers into the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

5. Laws in the Republic of Croatia shall conform with the Constitution, and other rules and regulations shall conform with the Constitution and law. Everyone shall abide by the Constitution and law and respect the legal order of the Republic.

6. Formation of political parties shall be free. Political parties shall be organized according to a territorial principle. The work of any political party which by its program of activity violently endangers the democratic constitutional order, independence, unity or territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia shall be prohibited.

7. The armed forces of the Republic of Croatia shall protect its sovereignty and independence and shall defend its territorial integrity. The defense system of the Republic of Croatia shall be regulated by law.

8. The borders of the Republic of Croatia may only be altered by decision of the Croatian Parliament.

9. Croatian citizenship, its acquisition and termination shall be regulated by law. No citizen of the Republic of Croatia shall be exiled from the Republic or be deprived of citizenship, and may not be extradited to another state.

10. The Republic of Croatia shall protect the rights and interests of its citizens living or staying abroad, and shall promote their links with the homeland. Parts of the Croatian nation in other states shall be guaranteed special concern and protection by the Republic of Croatia.

11. The coat-of-arms of the Republic of Croatia is the historical Croatian coat-of-arms whose base consists of 25 alternating red and white (argent) fields. The flag of the Republic of Croatia consists of three colors: red, white and blue, with the historical Croatian coat-of-arms in the center. The anthem of the Republic of Croatia is "Lijepa nasa domovino". The description of the historical Croatian coat-of-arms and flag, the text of the anthem, and the use of these and other state symbols shall be regulated by law.

12. The Croatian language and the Latin script shall be in official use in the Republic of Croatia. In individual local units another language and the Cyrillic or some other script may, along with the Croatian language and the Latin script, be introduced into official use under conditions specified by law.

13. The capital of the Republic of Croatia is Zagreb. The city of Zagreb shall be a separate territorial and administrative unit whose organization shall be regulated by law.