| Croatia is a Central
European and Mediterranean country, bordering Slovenia in the west,
Hungary in the north, Serbia in the east and Bosnia and Herzegovina
in the south. Croatia also has a long maritime border with Italy
in the Adriatic Sea. These borders total 2,028 km altogether. Croatia
has a strange shape (similar to a croissant) - similar to no other
country in the world - which comes as a result of five centuries
of expansion by the Ottoman (Turkish) empire towards Central Europe
(although Croatia was never conquered by the Turks).
Croatia covers a land area of 56,691 square kilometres
and has a population of about 4.4 million people (2001 census).
Over 90% of the population is Croat (the majority of whom are
Roman Catholics), but there are also Serbian, Bosnian, Hungarian
and Italian minorities. The main population centres are Zagreb,
the capital (with a population of just under 800,000), Osijek
in the northwest, and the ports of Rijeka,
and Split in the south. The official language
is Croatian, which is written
in the Latin script.
Croatia has an amazing 5,835km of coastline, 4,057km
of which belongs to islands, cliffs and reefs. There are 1,185
islands in the Adriatic, but only about
50 are populated. The largest island is Krk (near Rijeka) which
has a land area of 462 square km.
The climate is Mediterranean along the Adriatic
coast, meaning warm dry summers and mild winters, with 2,600 hours
of sunlight on average yearly - it is one of the sunniest coastlines
in Europe! In the interior of the country, the climate is continental
with hot summers and cold, snowy winters.
More facts and figures on the country can be found
at the CIA
World Factbook on Croatia.
To learn more about Croatia, see our other pages:
 History of Croatia
History of this part of Europe and of the Croatian people
Croatia Today
The political situation in present-day Croatia
Croatian Flag & Anthem
See and listen to the national flag and anthem of Croatia
Famous Symbols of Croatia
Learn about some of the things that Croatia is famous for, including the cravat, Maraschino liquer and the Dalmatian dog
Croatian Sports Teams & People
Including Croatian football, tennis and skiing
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