takes place every four years.
Crime
A crime occurs when a person breaks a
law. Governments pass laws against
actions that they consider to be harmful
or dangerous. If someone breaks a law
they are punished in some way by the
government that passed the law. Crimi-
A striker swings his bat.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Crime 215
nal laws vary from place to place and
change over time. This makes it difficult
to say exactly what crime is.
Types of Crime
Different societies divide crimes into
different groups. In the United States and
the United Kingdom, the most serious
crimes are called felonies.Murder and
robbery are felonies. Governments often
punish felonies with long prison terms or
sometimes with death. Less serious
crimes are called misdemeanors. Driving
past a stop sign without stopping and
shoplifting are misdemeanors. The
punishment for a misdemeanor may be a
short prison term or simply a fine.
Crimes can also be divided into attacks
on people and attacks on property. A
person can commit a crime against
another person by hurting, kidnapping,
or killing that person. A person can
commit a crime against property by
stealing it, damaging it, or destroying it.
Crime may affect just one person or an
entire society. Governments view crimes
that affect many people as especially
serious. Treason is the crime of
betraying one’s country. For example,
trying to overthrow the government or
helping the country’s enemies are both
forms of treason. Terrorism is the use of
violence to achieve political goals.
Terrorist crimes include bombing,
hijacking, and assassination. War crimes
break rules that have been established
by many countries together. These rules
establish how people should act during
times of war. War crimes include
mistreating prisoners or killing groups
of innocent people. Governments work
together to punish leaders who commit
war crimes.
Organized Crime
Many criminals commit crimes on their
own. Other criminals work in groups.
Some groups of criminals run illegal
businesses to make money. This is called
organized crime. These criminals often
sell drugs, weapons, or other illegal
things that are considered to be harmful
to society.
#More to explore
Law • Terrorism
Punishment for serious crimes often includes
a stay in prison.
Shoplifting, or taking something from a
store without paying for it, is a crime.
216 Crime BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Crimea
The Crimea is a peninsula, or piece of
land surrounded by water on three sides.
It lies on the north shore of the Black Sea
in Ukraine, a country in eastern Europe.
The Perekop Isthmus is a strip of land
that joins the peninsula to the mainland.
Steppes, or grasslands, cover the northern
part of the Crimea. South of the
steppes lie the Crimean Mountains. The
peninsula’s climate is mild and dry.
The steppes and mountain slopes of the
Crimea are very good for growing crops.
Farms there produce wheat, corn, cotton,
flowers, grapes, and tobacco.
Crimeans also quarry, or mine, marble
and limestone in the mountains. Tourism
is another important part of the
economy.
In the 1300s the Tatars, a Muslim
people, settled in the Crimea. Russia
took over the peninsula in 1783. The
Crimea became part of the Soviet Union
in 1921. In 1954 the Soviet government
transferred Crimea to the Soviet republic,
or state, of Ukraine. After Ukraine
gained independence in 1991, Crimea
became a republic of Ukraine.
#More to explore
Black Sea • Ukraine
Tourists visit the seafront of Yalta, Ukraine, on the southern coast of the Crimea.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Crimea 217
Croatia
Formerly a part of the nation of Yugoslavia,
the country of Croatia declared its
independence in 1991. After several
years of war, peace returned to Croatia
in the late 1990s. The capital is Zagreb.
Geography
The Republic of Croatia lies on the Balkan
Peninsula in southern Europe. The
Adriatic Sea, to the southwest, separates
Croatia from Italy. Slovenia, Hungary,
Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and
Herzegovina form the rest of Croatia’s
borders.
Along the Adriatic coast are the region
of Dalmatia and the Istrian peninsula.
More than 1,000 small islands lie off the
coast. The peaks of the Dinaric Alps rise
in the western parts of Croatia. In the
north is the Pannonian plain, where
most farms are located. The Sava and
the Drava are two of Croatia’s largest
rivers.
Forests of beech, fir, and other trees
cover less than one third of Croatia.
Wildlife includes bears, deer, wild pigs,
and lynx.
People
More than half of Croatia’s people live
in cities and towns. Croats, a Slavic
people, make up about 90 percent of the
population. Most follow Roman
Catholicism and speak Croatian. Serbs
make up less than 5 percent of the
population. Most Serbs follow Eastern
Orthodox Christianity and speak Serbian.
There are smaller groups of Bosniacs
(Muslims), Italians, Hungarians, and
others. The civil war of the 1990s forced
many ethnic minorities out of Croatia.
The Dalmatia region of Croatia borders the
Adriatic Sea. The coastline is known for its
beaches and picturesque cities.
218 Croatia BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Economy
