Upon Croatia's admission to the European Union on July 1, the Union's population will increase by about 0.86% and the size of its territory by 1.28%, while Croatia will be at the bottom of the rankings in average GDP per capita.
With Croatia's entry, the EU now has nearly 4.4 million more inhabitants, which will bring the total of the Union's population to 508 million.
At the time of its entry into the EU, Croatia's per-capita GDP is 61% of the EU average, which places the country at the bottom of the rankings, above Romania and Bulgaria which stand at 49% and 47% of the EU27 average, respectively. Immediately preceding Croatia are Cyprus (62%), Hungary and Poland (both 66%). Luxembourg tops the rankings with 271% of the EU average.
Croatian is also one of the 24 official languages in the Union, and Croatians are now also nationals of the EU28.
Just as all other EU members, Croatia has one commissioner in the Union's executive branch -- Neven Mimica, the commissioner for consumer protection.
In the current European Parliament, 12 Croatian deputies will sit until the next elections for MEPs next May.
Croatia is also entitled to one member in the Court of the European Union and the Court of Auditors. Croatia will be represented by the central bank's governor in the European Central Bank.
Croatia will have nine members both to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
