Croatia
Visited
At a glance
- Region
- Southeast Europe
- Capital
- Zagreb
- Population
- 3.9 million (2024)
- Area
- 56,594 km²
- Languages
- Croatian
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Drives on the
- right
- Calling code
- +385
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Before you go
Overview
The Republic of Croatia is located in Southeast Europe.
The country recorded a population of 4.076 million in 2019 and covers an area of 56,594 km2.
The capital city is Zagreb and it is the main transport hub in Europe for it joins Central Europe, Mediterranean and Southeast Europe together.
The second-largest city is Split.
The Capital, Zagreb
History
The country started as two different regions; the Duchy of Croatia and the Duchy of Pannonian Croatia, which later joined to form Kingdom of Croatia that lasted until 1918.
Yugoslavia took over the rule from 1918 to 1991, when the country gained its independence.
It officially joined NATO in 2009.
Food & culture
The Croatian inhabitation has existed for 14 centuries but there are remains of earlier ages preserved in the country.
The major crops grown in the country include maize, wheat, barley, oats, rye, forage crops and sugar beets.
The most common dishes in include black risotto, boskarin, brodetto, buzara, fritule and Istrian ham.
Wildlife
The most common wildlife animals include brown bear, wolf, lynx, olm and great bittern.
Festivals & events
The Croatian festivals include Ultra Europe, Outlook Origins Festival, Sonus Festival, Fresh Island Festival and Hideout Festival.
Things to see
There is the Plitvice lakes national park, which is a forest reserve in central Croatia with terraced lakes and waterfalls that jointly extend into a limestone canyon.
Hvar town is a Croatian island with beautiful beaches and is mainly visited during summer; it also has a hilltop fort.
The Dubrovnik old town walls and Diocletian’s palace split is also a majorly visited region.
Interesting facts
The biggest truffle in the world is found here.
It also harbours the highest numbers of UNESCO intangible goods in Europe.
It has the most and richest collection of Neanderthal.
It is where the necktie was invented.
The official language is Croatian and the predominant religion is Roman Catholicism.
