croatia.eu land and people
History

Ancient times and the early Christian period

Thanks to trade routes and communications, the ancient peoples of the Bronze and Iron Ages living in the land which is present-day Croatia were in touch with the artistic...

Culture

Theatre and ballet

The earliest examples of theatrical life in Croatia, as in other Western countries, were liturgical dramas in Latin, and, soon after, in Croatian. However, secular theatre appeared as early as the beginning of the 14th century...

The economy

Tourism

Although Croatia cannot compare with major tourism powers such as France, Spain, Italy or Greece in terms of the number of tourist arrivals, with around 20 million tourist arrivals in 2019 and a trend of increasing...

Society and way of life

Sport

Although Croatia has inherited a tradition of sporting competition dating back to Roman times, or medieval knights’ tournaments, the beginnings of organised sport in the country can be traced to the late 19th century, when...

Political organisation

Executive power

The President of the Republic represents and acts for the Republic of Croatia at home and abroad. The President is elected pursuant to universal and equal suffrage by direct election for a period of five years.

Culture

Fine arts

In the area of modern Croatia, significant traces of prehistoric times have been preserved (Neanderthal human remains in Krapina, the remnants of the Vučedol culture from the 3rd century BC) as have sites (Vis...

Culture

Literature

Croatian medieval literature, unique in being produced in three languages (Latin, Old Slavonic and the vernacular) and three scripts (Roman, Glagolitic and Cyrillic) developed from the 8th to 16th century in...

Political organisation

Legislative power

In accordance with legal tradition, the Croatian Parliament is called the Sabor. The oldest preserved records of sessions of the Sabor date back to 1273. Until the 16th century, the Slavonian and Croatian Sabors...

Society and way of life

Traditional culture

Traditional Croatian culture is characterised by exceptional diversity. Ecological conditions and the influences of the cultures with which the Croats have come into contact through history (Mediterranean, Central European...

Education and science

Inventions and inventors

Croatia is considered the home of many inventions which have transformed human existence, several of which are used in everyday life. Creative Croatian inventors, a century-old tradition of university technical...

Culture

Language

The Croatian language belongs to the South Slavic group of languages. It is the official language of the Republic of Croatia, and is also spoken by Croats in Bosnia and Herze­govina, Serbia (Vojvodina), Montenegro...

Geography and population

The Adriatic Sea and islands

The Adriatic Sea is the most indented section of the Mediterranean Sea on the continent of Europe. In its present shape, it was formed by the rising of the sea level by 96 metres following the last ice age in the Pleistocene...