White Croats
It is considered that the Czech-Polish Croatian tribes were related to the Croatian tribes from Zakarpattia and Prykarpattia in Ukraine. They became separated during the migration period and seemingly formed one large Proto-Slavic tribe. It is theorized that the migration of those (White) Croatian tribes in the 7th century was the second and final Slavic migratory wave to the Balkans, which is related to the thesis by Bogo Grafenauer about the double migration of Slavs. According to this thesis, although it is possible that some Croatian tribes were present among Slavs in the first Slavic-Avar wave in the 6th century, it is argued that the Croatian migration in the second wave probably was not equally numerous to make a significant common-linguistical influence, while others considered they arrived in a significantly larger number. Zdenko Vinski and argued that the double migration thesis is supported by the rare findings of objects and ceramics of Prague-Korchak culture on the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia which were dated to the end of 6th and beginning of the 7th century (indicating first wave Slavs), and did not make a continuity with Slavic archaeological findings from the 8th-9th century, indicating assimilation. The Croatian tribes are also seen as a warrior group who assimilated into already present Slavs. In the territory of present-day Croatia they also gradually assimilated with the Pre-Slavic population because archaeology indicates a significant continuity of late antiquity population which have partially withdrawn to the mountains, coastal cities and islands.
Croats
In Croatia (the nation state), 3.9 million people identify themselves as Croats, and constitute about 90.4% of the population. Another 553,000 live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they are one of the three constituent ethnic groups, predominantly living in Western Herzegovina, central Bosnia and Posavina. The minority in Serbia number about 70,000, mostly in Vojvodina, where also vast majority of the Šokci consider themselves Croats, as well as many Bunjevci (the latter, as well as other nationalities, settled the vast, abandoned area after the Ottoman retreat; this Croat subgroup originates from the south, mostly from the region of Bačka). Smaller Croat autochthonous minorities exist in Slovenia (mainly in Primorska, Prekmurje and in the Metlika area in Dolenjska regions – 35,000 Croats), Montenegro (mostly in the Bay of Kotor – 6,800 Croats), and a regional community in Kosovo called Janjevci who nationally identify as Croats. In the 1991 census Croats consisted 19.8% of the overall population of former Yugoslavia; there were around 4.6 million Croats in the entire country.