Around 650,000 Croatian descendants live in North America. The northernmost semi-Croatian settlement is Anchorage in Alaska. After the liberation of Croatia, some of the overseas Croats returned to an independent homeland, and in most overseas states, the number of Croats stagnated or fell.
Our overseas diaspora was important in creating Croatia’s statehood and renewing our democracy. Great financial assistance, the supply of weapons in the Homeland War, and participation in the war for a new free country are just some of the reasons for good relationships and support.
Foreign experiences and a prosperous economy have contributed to the reconstruction and organization of the new Croatian democracy. About 100,000 Croats live in Canada. Canada is by number of Croats in both Americas in fifth place after the US, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.
The major Canadian metropolises with a dozen or more thousands of immigrants are Toronto, Vancouver, Hamilton, and Mississauga. The primary public manifestations of Canadian Croats are the Canadian-Croatian Folklore Festival and the Croatian-North American Football Tournament.
According to religious affiliation, 4/5 Canadian Croatians are Roman Catholics, and today there are Croatian parishes in 17 Canadian cities. Most Croatians in the central cities of Canada are continental Croats from central Croatia, and the main exception is the southwestern coastal Vancouver, where most Croatians are from Adriatic and are traditionally engaged in maritime works, fishing, and shipbuilding.
The Canadian Croats are mainly patriotic and relatively few of them would declare themselves as unitary ‘Yugoslavs,’ although in the early centuries they were formally and territorially listed as ‘Austrians’ and then in the 20th century as ‘Yugoslavs.’ Fortunately today Canadian and all other Croats societies call them Croats and feel very touchy if someone addresses them differently. Their love for the homeland and their patriotism is one of the most precious things in their lives.
