Portal:Croatia
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Introduction
Croatia (/kroʊˈeɪʃə/ (
listen), kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska, pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska, listen (help·info)) is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy. Its capital, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with twenty counties. Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and a population of 4.28 million, most of whom are Roman Catholics.
Inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century. Croatia was first internationally recognized as an independent state on 7 June 879 during the reign of duke Branimir. Tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom, which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir. Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne. In October 1918, in the final days of World War I, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, independent from Austria-Hungary, was proclaimed in Zagreb, and in December 1918 it was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
Selected general articles
Privatization in Croatia refers to political and economic reforms which include the privatization of state-owned assets in Croatia. Privatization started in the late 1980s under Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Marković and mostly took place in the 1990s after the breakup of Yugoslavia, during the presidency of Franjo Tuđman and the rule of his party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and continued in the 2000s with the privatization of large state enterprises. Many aspects of the privatization process are still seen as controversial as the political and economic turmoil, coupled with the events of the simultaneous 1991–95 independence war, are thought to have led to a degree of criminal activity. Read more...
The Croatian Parliament (Croatian: Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia; it is Croatia's legislature. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Seats are allocated according to the Croatian Parliament electoral districts: 140 members of the parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies, 8 from the minorities and 3 from the Croatian diaspora. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker (usually four or five deputies).
The Sabor's powers are defined by the Constitution and they include: defining economic, legal and political relations in Croatia, preservation and use of its heritage and entering into alliances. The Sabor has the right to deploy the Croatian armed forces abroad, and it may restrict some constitutional rights and liberties in wartime or in cases of imminent war or following natural disasters. The Sabor amends the borders of Croatia or the Constitution, enacts legislation, passes the state budget, declares war and decides on cessation of hostilities, adopts parliamentary resolutions and bylaws, adopts long-term national security and defence strategies, implements civil supervision of the armed forces and security services, calls referenda, performs elections and appointments conforming to the constitution and applicable legislation, supervises operations of the Government and other civil services responsible to the parliament, grants amnesty for criminal offences and performs other duties defined by the constitution. Read more...
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Croatia have expanded in recent years but LGBT persons may still face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality was for the first time in Croatian history criminalized in 1951 while Croatia was a federal constituent of SFR Yugoslavia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity was legalized in Croatia in 1977 with the introduction of Croatia's own penal code. The age of consent was equalized in 1998.
The status of same-sex relationships was first formally recognized in 2003 under a law dealing with unregistered cohabitations. As a result of a 2013 referendum, Croatia's Constitution defines marriage solely as a union between a woman and man, effectively prohibiting same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, since the introduction of the Life Partnership Act in 2014, same-sex couples have effectively enjoyed rights equal to heterosexual married couples in everything except adoption rights. However, the separate legislation does provide same-sex couples with a mechanism similar to step-child adoption called "partner-guardianship". Croatia bans all discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Read more...- The origin of the Croats before the great migration of the Slavs is uncertain. The modern Croats are considered a Slavic people, but the archaeological and other historic evidence on the migration of the Slavic settlers, the character of native population on present-day territory of Croatia, and their mutual relationship show diverse historical influences. Read more...
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (Croatian: Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; Hungarian: Horvát-Szlavón Királyság; German: Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement. It was associated with the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania. The kingdom was ruled by the Habsburg Emperor-King of Austria-Hungary (Kaiser und König) under his title as "King of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia". The King's appointed steward was the Ban of Croatia and Slavonia. Although it was under the suzerainty of the Crown of Saint Stephen, the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia kept a significant level of self-rule.
On 29 October 1918, Austro-Hungarian Slavs declared independence and formed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Read more...- Red Croatia (Latin: Croatia Rubea, Croatian: Crvena Hrvatska) is a historical term used for the southeastern parts of Roman Dalmatia and some other territories, including parts of present-day Montenegro, Albania, the Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina and southeastern Croatia, stretching across the Adriatic Sea.
The term was first used in one version of the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, which is as a whole dated to have been written in 1298–1300. It was in later years mentioned by a number of sources in various languages and by a number of people of different backgrounds. In the 19th century, during the Age of Romantic Nationalism, it became a central point of discussion and research, often a component part of Croatian nationalism, in which Red Croatia was sometimes popularized as a historical state of the Croatian people and thus should become part of a Greater Croatia. Read more... 
Croatian language dictionary published by Vladimir Anić in 1991
The Croatian language is the official language of Croatia, and one of 24 official languages of the European Union since 2013. Minority languages are in official use in local government units where more than a third of the population consists of national minorities or where local legislation mandates their use. These languages are Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Ruthenian, Serbian and Slovak. According to the 2011 Census, 95.60% of citizens of Croatia declared Croatian as their native language, 1.23% declared Serbian as their native language, while no other language is represented in Croatia by more than 0.5% of native speakers among the population of Croatia.
Croatian replaced Latin as the official language of the Croatian government in 1847. It sometimes viewed as one of the three standard varieties of the Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language. Croatian is written using the Latin alphabet and has three major dialects, with Shtokavian dialect used as the standard Croatian. The Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian are distinguished by their lexicon, phonology, and syntax. Read more...
Law enforcement in Croatia is the responsibility of the Police (Croatian: Policija), which is a public service of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, carrying out certain tasks, the so-called, police activities, laid down by law.
The Police deals with the following affairs: protection of individual life, rights, security and integrity, protection of property, prevention and detection of criminal offences, misdemeanors, violations, search for perpetrators of criminal offences, misdemeanors, violations and their bringing before competent authorities, control and management of road traffic, conducting affairs with aliens, control and security of state border, and other affairs defined by law. Read more...
The system of honours of the Republic of Croatia was established after the independence of Croatia in 1991. There are eighteen main decorations conferred since 1995, in addition to several other medals and awards.
The President of the Republic of Croatia confers decoration and awards of the Republic of Croatia on his/her own initiative or at the suggestion of the State Commission for Decorations and Awards. Decorations and awards can be conferred on Croatian or foreign nationals, legal entities as well as units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of the Interior. Read more...
The most widely professed religion in Croatia is Christianity and a large majority of the Croatian population declare themselves to be members of the Catholic Church. Croatia has no official religion and Freedom of religion is a right defined by the Constitution of Croatia, which also defines all religious communities as equal in front of the law and separate from the state. Read more...
Transport in Croatia relies on several main modes, including transport by road, rail, water and air. Road transport incorporates a comprehensive network of state, county and local routes augmented by a network of highways for long-distance travelling. Water transport can be divided into sea, based on the ports of Rijeka, Ploče, Split and Zadar, and river transport, based on Sava, Danube and, to a lesser extent, Drava. Croatia has 68 airports, nine of which are international. The country also has several airlines, of which the most notable are Croatia Airlines and Trade Air. Rail transport is fairly developed, with dual track and electrification not very common, although high-speed tilting trains are used on some routes. However, bus still tends to be more common than rail as a mode of inter-city transport. Read more...- The geographical extreme points of Croatia are
- Northernmost point:
- Sveti Martin na Muri (administratively in the Međimurje County) -
- Southernmost point:
- Islet Galijula in Palagruža archipelago of the Adriatic Sea (administratively belongs to the city of Komiža on the Isle of Vis, Split-Dalmatia County) -
- On the mainland: Vitaljina, Cape Oštra (rt Oštra) on the Prevlaka peninsula (administratively in the municipality of Cavtat, Dubrovnik-Neretva County) -
- Easternmost point:
- Ilok (administratively part of the Vukovar-Srijem County) -
- Westernmost point:
- Bašanija, Cape Lako (rt Lako) (administratively part of the city of Umag, Istria County) -
- Northernmost point:
- The name of Croatia (Croatian: Hrvatska) derives from Medieval Latin Croātia, itself a derivation of the native ethnonym, earlier Xъrvatъ and modern-day Croatian: Hrvat. Read more...
- Education in Croatia is a right defended by Article 66 of the Constitution which states that everyone is entitled to free compulsory education under equal conditions and in accordance with their aptitudes.
Education is mandatory for children aged 6 to 15.
The educational system in Croatia begins with preschools-kindergartens. Children start their compulsory eight year long primary education from the age of 6. After finishing elementary school, students can continue their education, based on grades in elementary school, in four year non-compulsory secondary schools that are divided by the curriculum into gymnasiums, vocational (technical, industrial, trade) and art (music, dance, art) schools. Since 2010, enrollment in higher educational institutions is determined by a student's scores on the Matura high-school exit exam. Institutions of higher education offer both university and professional studies. Higher education institutions are divided into polytechnics, colleges, faculties and academies of art. Since 2005, all study programs are aligned with the requirements of the Bologna Process. Five-year university programs enable students to work in science, education, business, the public sector, etc., and can be at undergraduate (BA), graduate (MA) or postgraduate (PhD) level. Professional studies last two to three years, and are offered at polytechnics and colleges. Upon completion, graduates get the title of professional bachelor (bacc). Read more...
Travunija or Travunia (Serbian: Травунија / Travunija; Ancient Greek: Τερβουνία, Terbounía, modern pronunciation Tervounía; Latin: Tribunia), was a medieval principality that was part of Medieval Serbia (850–1371), and later the Bosnian Kingdom (1373–1482). The principality became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482. Its seat was in the city of Trebinje.
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Župa of Travunia was held by the Belojević noble family, who were entitled the rule during the reign of Prince Vlastimir (r. 830–850), of the Vlastimirović dynasty. After the death of Časlav, the last dynastic member, the principality disintegrated, and the provinces were annexed by the Bulgars and Byzantines. In 1034, Stefan Vojislav (the founder of the Vojislavljević dynasty) incited a rebellion and renounced Byzantine rule, becoming the Prince of Serbs, ruling from the seat at Duklja. In the early 12th century, Desa of the Vukanović dynasty wrestled the region, and it continued under the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty (1166–1371), either held by dynastic members or close associates (most often military commanders), of which was the notable Vojinović noble family. After Nikola Altomanović, the holder of a large province during the fall of the Serbian Empire, was defeated in 1373, his estates were divided between Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović of Serbia, Đurađ I Balšić of Zeta, and Ban Tvrtko I Kotromanić of Bosnia. Trebinje continued under the Bosnian crown in the hands of the Pavlović family, then in 1435, it became part of the Duchy of Saint Sava of the Kosača family, in Ottoman vassalage. It was finally annexed in 1482 by the Ottomans and organized into the Sanjak of Herzegovina. Read more...
Women in Croatia form half the population and in modern Croatian culture they are largely equal to men. Read more...
The Kingdom of Croatia (Croatian: Kraljevina Hrvatska; Latin: Regnum Croatiae Hungarian: Horvát Királyság German: Königreich Kroatien) was part of the Habsburg Monarchy that existed between 1527 and 1868 (also known between 1804 and 1867 as the Austrian Empire), as well as a part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years. Its capital was Zagreb.
Until the 18th century, the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia included only a small north-western part of present-day Croatia around Zagreb, and a small strip of coastland around Rijeka that was not part of the Ottoman Empire or part of the Habsburg Military Frontier. Between 1744 and 1868 the Kingdom of Croatia included a subordinate autonomous kingdom, the Kingdom of Slavonia. The territory of the Slavonian kingdom was recovered from the Ottoman Empire, and was subsequently part of the Habsburg Military Frontier for a period. In 1744 these territories were organized as the Kingdom of Slavonia and included within the Kingdom of Croatia as an autonomous part. In 1868 both were merged again into the newly formed Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Read more...
The 2013 enlargement of the European Union saw Croatia join the European Union as its 28th member state on 1 July 2013.
The country applied for EU membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council in mid-2004. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, began in October that year together with the screening process. Read more...- This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Croatia. There are 59 mammal species in Croatia, of which 0 are critically endangered, 0 are endangered, 7 are vulnerable, and 4 are near-threatened.
The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN: Read more...
Gross domestic product (GDP) of the counties of Croatia significantly varies from one county to another as economic development of Croatia varies substantially between Croatia's geographic regions reflecting historic developments, infrastructure available, especially routes of transportation, and diverse geographic setting of various parts of the country, especially in respect of areas situated along the Adriatic Sea shores, where tourism represents a major source of income. Read more...- The area known as Croatia today has been inhabited throughout the prehistoric period, ever since the Stone Age, up to the Migrations Period and the arrival of the Croats. Read more...
The Republic of Croatia Armed Forces (Croatian: Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske – OSRH) is the military service of Croatia.
The President is the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, and exercises administrative powers in times of war by giving orders to the chief of staff, while administration and defence policy execution in peacetime is carried out by the Government through the Ministry of Defence. This unified institution consists of land, sea, and air branches referred to as: Read more...
The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Grb Republike Hrvatske) consists of one main shield and five smaller shields which form a crown over the main shield. The main coat of arms is a checkerboard (chequy) that consists of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields. It's also informally known in Croatian as šahovnica ("chessboard", from šah, "chess"). The five smaller shields represent five different historical regions within Croatia. Read more...- This article lists political parties in Croatia.
Croatia has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must collaborate in order to form coalition governments. Between January 1990, when political parties were legalized in Croatia, and March 2015, 264 political parties were registered, out of which 118 have since been struck from the register. Read more... - Municipalities in Croatia (Croatian: općina; plural: općine) are the second lowest administrative unit of government in the country, and along with cities and towns (grad, plural: gradovi) they form the second level of administrative subdisivion, after counties.
Though equal in powers and administrative bodies, municipalities and towns differ in that municipalities are usually more likely to consist of a collection of villages in rural or suburban areas, whereas towns are more likely to cover urbanised areas. Croatian law defines municipalities as local self-government units which are established, in an area where several inhabited settlements represent a natural, economic and social entity, related to one other by the common interests of the area's population. Read more... - Television in Croatia was first introduced in 1956. As of 2012 there are 10 nationwide and 21 regional DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) television channels, and more than 30 other channels either produced in the Republic of Croatia or produced for the Croatian market and broadcast via IPTV (Internet Protocol television), cable or satellite television. The electronic communications market in Croatia is regulated by the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), which issues broadcast licenses and monitors the market. The DVB-T and satellite transmission infrastructure is developed and maintained by the state-owned company Odašiljači i veze (OiV).
The first television signal broadcast in Croatia occurred in 1939 during the Zagreb Fair, where Philips showcased its television system. The first regular broadcasts started in 1956, when Television Zagreb was established as the first TV station in the Yugoslav Radio Television system. Color broadcasts began in 1975. Coverage and number of channels grew steadily, and by the 2000s there were four channels with nationwide coverage in Croatia. DVB-T signal broadcasts began in 2002, and in 2010 a full digital switchover was completed. During that period the IPTV, cable and satellite television markets grew considerably, and by 2011 only 60.7 percent of households received DVB-T television only; the remainder were subscribed to IPTV, cable and satellite TV in addition, or as the sole source of TV reception. As of January 2012 DVB-T is broadcast in three multiplexes, while the territory of Croatia is divided into nine main allotment regions and smaller local allotments corresponding to major cities. High-definition television (HDTV) is broadcast only through IPTV, although HDTV DVB-T test programming was broadcast from 2007 to 2011. A DVB-T2 test broadcast was conducted in 2011. Read more... - Industry of Croatia plays an important role in the country's economy. It has a longstanding tradition based since the 19th century on agriculture, forestry and mining. Many industrial branches developed at that time, like wood industry, food manufacturing, potash production, shipbuilding, leather and footwear production, textile industry, and others. Today, the industrial sectors in Croatia are food and beverage industry (approx. 24% of total manufacturing industry revenue), metal processing and machine industry, including vehicles (20%), coke and refined petroleum production (17%), chemical, pharmaceutical, rubber and plastics industry (11%), wood, furniture and paper manufacturing (9%), electrical equipment, electronics and optics fabrication (9%), textile, clothing and footwear industry (5%) as well as construction and building materials production (5%).
In the structure of Croatian Gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, industry's share was 21.2%. Industry's export reached around 10 billion euros in 2015, representing 94.5% of total export. In the same year the industrial production growth rate was 2.7%. Read more...
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Краљевина Југославија / Kraljevina Jugoslavija; Slovene: Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe and Central Europe that existed from 1929 until 1941, during the interwar period and beginning of World War II.
The preliminary kingdom was formed in 1918 by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (itself formed from territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire) with the formerly independent Kingdom of Serbia. The Kingdom of Montenegro had united with Serbia five days previously, whereas the regions of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Vardar Macedonia were parts of Serbia prior to the unification. Read more...
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Croatia have expanded in recent years but LGBT persons may still face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality was for the first time in Croatian history criminalized in 1951 while Croatia was a federal constituent of SFR Yugoslavia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity was legalized in Croatia in 1977 with the introduction of Croatia's own penal code. The age of consent was equalized in 1998.
The status of same-sex relationships was first formally recognized in 2003 under a law dealing with unregistered cohabitations. As a result of a 2013 referendum, Croatia's Constitution defines marriage solely as a union between a woman and man, effectively prohibiting same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, since the introduction of the Life Partnership Act in 2014, same-sex couples have effectively enjoyed rights equal to heterosexual married couples in everything except adoption rights. However, the separate legislation does provide same-sex couples with a mechanism similar to step-child adoption called "partner-guardianship". Croatia bans all discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Read more...
The Duchy of Pannonian Croatia (Croatian: Kneževina Panonska Hrvatska) was a medieval duchy from the 7th to the 10th century located in the Pannonian Plain approximately between the rivers Drava and Sava in today's Croatia, but at times also considerably to the south of the Sava. Its capital was Sisak. Read more...- Croatian cuisine is heterogeneous and is known as a cuisine of the regions, since every region of Croatia has its own distinct culinary tradition. Its roots date back to ancient times. The differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those in mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Slavic and the more recent contacts with neighboring cultures—Hungarian and Turkish, using lard for cooking, and spices such as black pepper, paprika, and garlic. The coastal region bears the influences of the Greek and Roman cuisine, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine, in particular Italian (especially Venetian). Coastal cuisines use olive oil, and herbs and spices such as rosemary, sage, bay leaf, oregano, marjoram, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and lemon and orange rind. Peasant cooking traditions are based on imaginative variations of several basic ingredients (cereals, dairy products, meat, fish, vegetables, nuts) and cooking procedures (stewing, grilling, roasting, baking), while bourgeois cuisine involves more complicated procedures and use of selected herbs and spices. Charcuterie is part of the Croatian culinary tradition in all regions. Food and recipes from other former Yugoslav countries are also popular in Croatia.
Croatian cuisine can be divided into several distinct cuisines (Istria, Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, Lika, Gorski Kotar, Zagorje, Međimurje, Podravina, Slavonija) each of which has specific cooking traditions, characteristic for the area and not necessarily well known in other parts of Croatia. Most dishes, however, can be found all across the country, with local variants. Read more... - This is a list of mountains (Croatian: planina) in Croatia.
The highest mountains in Croatia belong to the Dinarides range that is sometimes also called Dinaric Alps, of which Dinara is the highest mountain in Croatia. Together with the easternmost parts of the Alps, these mountains span most of the country, and their orogenic activity started in the Paleozoic with the Variscan orogeny and continued in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic with the Alpine orogeny. Read more...
Topography of Croatia is defined through three major geomorphological parts of the country. Those are the Pannonian Basin, the Dinaric Alps, and the Adriatic Basin. The largest part of Croatia consists of lowlands, with elevations of less than 200 metres (660 feet) above sea level recorded in 53.42% of the country. Bulk of the lowlands are found in the northern regions of the country, especially in Slavonia, itself a part of the Pannonian Basin plain. The plains are interspersed by the horst and graben structures, believed to break the Pannonian Sea surface as islands. The greatest concentration of ground at relatively high elevations is found in Lika and Gorski Kotar areas in the Dinaric Alps, but such areas are found in all regions of Croatia to some extent. The Dinaric Alps contain the highest mountain in Croatia—1,831-metre (6,007 ft) Dinara, as well as all other mountains in Croatia higher than 1,500 metres (4,900 feet). Croatia's Adriatic Sea mainland coast is 1,777.3 kilometres (1,104.4 miles) long, while its 1,246 islands and islets encompass further 4,058 kilometres (2,522 miles) of coastline—the most indented coastline in the Mediterranean. Karst topography makes up about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps, as well as throughout the coastal areas and the islands. Read more...
View of Baćina lakes
This is a list of lakes in Croatia. The table lists some lakes with an area of 0.2 km2 or bigger, sorted by size.
(* denotes artificial lake) Read more...
The Kingdom of Croatia (Latin: Regnum Croatiae; Croatian: Hrvatsko kraljevstvo or Kraljevina Hrvatska) entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102, after a period of rule of kings from the Trpimirović and Svetoslavić dynasties and a succession crisis following the death of king Demetrius Zvonimir. With the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in 1102 in Biograd, the realm passed to the Árpád dynasty until 1301, when the (male) line of the dynasty died out. Then, kings from the Capetian House of Anjou, who were also cognatic descendants of the Árpád kings, ruled the kingdoms. Later centuries were characterized by conflicts with the Mongols, who sacked Zagreb in 1242, competition with Venice for control over Dalmatian coastal cities, and internal warfare among Croatian nobility. Various powerful nobles emerged in the time period, like Paul I Šubić of Bribir and Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, that secured de facto independence for their realms. The Ottoman incursion into Europe in the 16th century significantly reduced Croatian territories and left the country weak and divided. After the death of Louis II in 1526 during the Battle of Mohács and a brief period of dynastic dispute, both crowns passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg, and the realms became part of the Habsburg Monarchy.
Some of the terms of Coloman's coronation and the later status of the Croatian nobles are detailed in the Pacta Conventa, a document preserved only in transcript from the 14th century. The precise terms of this relationship became a matter of dispute in the 19th century; nonetheless, even in dynastic union with Hungary, institutions of separate Croatian statehood were maintained through the Sabor (an assembly of Croatian nobles) and the ban (viceroy). In addition, the Croatian nobles retained their lands and titles. Read more...- Public holidays in Croatia are regulated by the Holidays, Memorial Days and Non-Working Days Act (Croatian: Zakon o blagdanima, spomendanima i neradnim danima).
Note: Citizens of the Republic of Croatia who celebrate different religious holidays have the right not to work on those dates. This includes Christians who celebrate Christmas on January 7 per the Julian calendar, Muslims on the days of Ramadan Bayram and Kurban Bayram, and Jews on the days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Read more...
The Kingdom of Croatia (Croatian: Kraljevina Hrvatska, Latin: Regnum Croatiae), or Croatian Kingdom (Croatian: Hrvatsko Kraljevstvo), was a medieval kingdom in Central Europe comprising most of what is today Croatia (without western Istria and some Dalmatian coastal cities), as well as most of the modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Kingdom existed as a sovereign state for nearly two centuries. Its existence was characterized by various conflicts and periods of peace or alliance with the Bulgarians, Byzantines, Hungarians, and competition with Venice for control over the eastern Adriatic coast. The goal of promoting the Croatian language in the religious service was initially brought and introduced by the 10th century bishop Gregory of Nin, which resulted in a conflict with the Pope, later to be put down by him. In the second half of the 11th century Croatia managed to secure most coastal cities of Dalmatia with the collapse of Byzantine control over them. During this time the kingdom reached its peak under the rule of kings Peter Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Demetrius Zvonimir (1075–1089).
The state was ruled mostly by the Trpimirović dynasty until 1091. At that point the realm experienced a succession crisis and after a decade of conflicts for the throne and the aftermath of the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, the crown passed to the Árpád dynasty with the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in Biograd in 1102, uniting the two kingdoms under one crown. The precise terms of the relationship between the two realms became a matter of dispute in the 19th century. The nature of the relationship varied through time, Croatia retained a large degree of internal autonomy overall, while the real power rested in the hands of the local nobility. Modern Croatian and Hungarian historiographies mostly view the relations between Kingdom of Croatia and Kingdom of Hungary from 1102 as a form of a personal union of two internally autonomous kingdoms united by a common king. Read more...- The following products could be described as hallmarks of Croatian trade. Croatiastreet awards its own quality seal (Hrvatska kvaliteta) to the best Croatian products every year. Read more...
- Croatia has a universal health care system, whose roots can be traced back to the Hungarian-Croatian Parliament Act of 1891, providing a form of mandatory insurance of all factory workers and craftsmen. The population is covered by a basic health insurance plan provided by statute and optional insurance and administered by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund. In 2012, annual compulsory healthcare related expenditures reached 21.0 billion kuna (c. 2.8 billion euro). Read more...
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian: Banovina Hrvatska / Бановина Хрватска) was an autonomous province (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by combining the Sava Banovina and Littoral Banovina, but also with small parts of the Drina, Zeta, and Danube banovinas. Its capital was Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It included area of 65,456 km2 and had population of 4,024,601. The Ban of the Banovina of Croatia during this period was Ivan Šubašić. Read more...
The Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; German: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; Italian: Stato Indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II fascist Client state of Germany and Italy. It was established in parts of occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, after the invasion by the Axis powers. Its territory consisted of most of modern-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as some parts of modern-day Serbia and Slovenia, but also excluded many Croat-populated areas in Dalmatia (until late 1943), Istria, and Međimurje regions (which today are part of Croatia).
During its entire existence, the NDH was governed as a one-party state by the fascist Ustaša organization. The Ustaše was led by the Poglavnik, Ante Pavelić. The regime targeted Serbs, Jews and Roma as part of a large-scale campaign of genocide, as well as anti-fascist or dissident Croats and Muslims. Read more...
Croatian national costume from Vrlika.
Croatian national costume or Croatian dress (Croatian: narodna nošnja, plural: narodne nošnje) refers to the traditional clothing worn by Croats living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, with smaller communities in Hungary, Austria, Montenegro, and Romania. Since today Croats wear Western-style clothing on a daily basis, the national costumes are most often worn with connection to special events and celebrations, mostly at ethnic festivals, religious holidays, weddings, and by dancing groups who dance the traditional Croatian kolo, or circle dance.
Each cultural and geographical region has its own specific variety of costume that vary in style, material, color, shape, and form. Much of these regional costumes were influenced by the Austrian, Hungarian, German, Italian, or Turkish presence, due to whichever power ruled the region. Read more...- Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia and the Croatian language. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography was standardized in the late 19th century, it also covers the oldest works produced within the modern borders of Croatia, written in Church Slavonic and Medieval Latin, as well as vernacular works written in Čakavian and Kajkavian dialects. Read more...
Most of Croatia has a moderately warm and rainy oceanic climate (Cfb) as defined by the Köppen climate classification. Mean monthly temperatures range between −3 °C (27 °F) (in January) and 18 °C (64 °F) (in July). The coldest parts of the country are Lika and Gorski Kotar where a snowy forested climate is found at elevations above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). The warmest areas of Croatia are at the Adriatic coast and especially in its immediate hinterland, which are characterized by a Mediterranean climate since temperatures are moderated by the sea. Consequently, temperature peaks are more pronounced in the continental areas: the lowest temperature of −36.0 °C (−32.8 °F) was recorded on 4 February 1929 in Gospić, and the highest temperature of 42.8 °C (109.0 °F) was recorded on 5 August 1981 in Ploče.
The mean annual precipitation is 600 to 3,500 millimetres (24 to 138 in) depending on the geographic region and prevailing climate type. The least precipitation is recorded in the outer islands (Vis, Lastovo, Biševo, and Svetac) and in the eastern parts of Slavonia; however, in the latter case it is mostly during the growing season. The most precipitation is observed on the Dinara mountain range and in Gorski Kotar, where some of the highest annual precipitation totals in Europe occur. Read more...
The Prime Minister of Croatia (Croatian: Premijer/ Premijerka Hrvatske), officially the President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Predsjednik/ Predsjednica Vlade Republike Hrvatske), is Croatia's head of government, and is de facto the most powerful and influential state officeholder in the Croatian system of government. Following the first-time establishment of the office in 1945, the 1990-2001 semi-presidential period is the only exception where the President of Croatia held de facto authority. In the formal Croatian order of precedence, however, the position of prime minister is the third highest state office, after the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the Parliament.
The Constitution of Croatia prescribes that "Parliament supervises the Government" (Article 81) and that "the President of the Republic ensures the regular and balanced functioning and stability of government" (as a whole; Article 94), while the Government is introduced in Article 108. Since 2000, the prime minister has had various added constitutional powers and is mentioned before the Government itself in the text of the Constitution, in Articles 87, 97, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104. The current Prime Minister of Croatia is Andrej Plenković. The Government of Croatia meets in Banski dvori, a historical building located on the west side of St. Mark's Square in Zagreb. Read more...
This is a list of islands of Croatia. There are over a thousand islands in Croatia, the exact number varying by definitions, and they cover a total area of about 3,300 km2 (1,300 sq mi). The number and classification of islands in Croatia varies over time and by different measurements, causing some domestic controversy when discrepancies are found. Read more...- The core of the security and intelligence system of the Republic of Croatia consists of two security and intelligence agencies:
- Security and Intelligence Agency (Croatian: Sigurnosno-obavještajna agencija or SOA), and
- Military Security and Intelligence Agency (Croatian: Vojna sigurnosno-obavještajna agencija or VSOA).
These agencies conduct their activities in accordance with the Constitution, relevant national legislation, the National Security Strategy, the Defence Strategy and the Annual Guidelines for the Work of Security Services. Their work is subject to the scrutiny by the Croatian Parliament, the President of the Republic, the Government, the Office of the National Security Council and the Council for the civilian scrutiny of the security intelligence agencies. Read more...
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Did you know...
- ... that, in 1993, one of the first rave parties in Croatia was held in a pedestrian tunnel underneath the historic core of Zagreb?
- ... that Croatian concentration camp commander Vjekoslav Luburić's wife divorced him in 1957 after she was sent an anonymous letter detailing his crimes?
- ... that a traditional town fair in Zagreb, Croatia, has its roots in a Mongol invasion?
- ... that the Croatian Apoxyomenos, a 2,000-year-old Ancient Greek bronze statue, was discovered on the seabed by a Belgian tourist?
- ... that despite writing extensively about women's rights and being the first Croatian author to feature a feminist character, Jagoda Truhelka remains best known for her children's literature?
- ... that the Pragmatic Sanction of 1712, allowing a Habsburg princess to become Queen of Croatia, is evoked in the Constitution of Croatia as a demonstration of Croatian millennial statehood?
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Selected images
Population pyramid 2016
Seat of the Constitutional Court on the St. Mark's Square, Zagreb
Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 2013.
The Baška tablet, the oldest evidence of the glagolitic script
Croatian ban Nikola Šubić Zrinski is honoured as a national hero both in Croatia and in Hungary for his defence of Szigetvár against the invading Ottoman Turks
Wooden trail through nature park Kopački Rit in Osijek-Baranja County
Zagreb Airport is the largest and busiest international airport in the country
Kingdom of Croatia c. 925, during the reign of King Tomislav
Historical nucleus of Split with the 4th-century Diocletian's Palace was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979
Ivan Gundulić, the most prominent Croatian Baroque poet
Inside Croatian Parliament − Sabor
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (no. 17) was an autonomous kingdom within Austria-Hungary created in 1868 following the Croatian-Hungarian Settlement
Arena Zagreb, one of venues of the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship.
Dinara is the highest mountain in Croatia (1831m)
Croatia has over a thousand islands; Pictured: Adriatic Sea Dalmatia.
Tanais Tablet B, name Khoroáthos highlighted
Panoramic view of the old city of Dubrovnik, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
University of Zagreb is the largest Croatian university and the oldest university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe (1669)
Franjo Tuđman was the first democratically elected President of Croatia
Köppen climate types of Croatia
Historic centre of Trogir has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Site since 1997s
Croatia has over 1250 km of modern highways most of which were built in the early 2000s; Pictured: A1 motorway near Maslenica
Church of St Donatus (9th century) in Zadar is the second largest Pre-Romanesque rotunda in Europe
The Branimir Inscription is the oldest preserved monument containing an inscription defining a Croatian medieval ruler as a duke of Croats
Satellite image of Croatia
People of Zagreb celebrating liberation from Axis powers on 12 May 1945
Poljud stadium, Split was the venue of the 1990 European Athletics Championships.
Flag hoisting ceremony at Ministry of Defence marking Croatian accession to the NATO in 2009
Trakošćan Castle is one of the best preserved historic buildings in the country.
Ban Josip Jelačić fought Hungarians in 1848 and 1849
Croatia national football team came in second at the 2018 World Cup
Group photograph of European Union heads of government on occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in Rome, Italy
Destroyed Serbian tank, a scene from the Croatian War of Independence
1st-century Pula Arena was the sixth largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire
St. Mark's Square in Zagreb – Left-to-right: Banski dvori official residence of the Croatian Government, St. Mark's Church and Croatian Parliament
Šibenik Cathedral has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2000
Map of the dialects of Croatia
Adolf Hitler meets fascist dictator Ante Pavelić upon his arrival at the Berghof for a state visit, June 1941
Varaždin, capital of Croatia between 1767 and 1776, is the seat of Varaždin county; Pictured: Old Town fortress, one of 15 Croatia's sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list
Marija Bistrica is Croatia's largest Catholic pilgrimage site
Zlatni Rat beach on the Island of Brač is one of the foremost spots of tourism in Croatia.
Teran wine from Istria County
Stjepan Radić, leader of the Croatian Peasant Party who advocated federal organisation of the Yugoslavia, at the assembly in Dubrovnik, 1928
Josip Broz Tito, a Croat by nationality, led SFR Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1980; Pictured: Tito with the US president Richard Nixon in the White House, 1971
Croatian army soldier (right) on a training exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany
The Arrival of the Croats at the Adriatic Sea by Oton Iveković
Radio Zagreb, now a part of Croatian Radiotelevision, was the first public radio station in Southeast Europe.
Croatian Air Force and US Navy aircraft participate in multinational training, 2002
Library of the University of Split
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