The land of “heaven on earth”

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The strong smell of the sea, lush pine trees, clean air, red roofs, scorching sun, warm rain and water running down the street into the sea. This is how Croatia feels, the country Bernard Shaw called “heaven on earth” and where Jack London basked after the Nordic Tales. It’s also where Agatha Christie spent her honeymoon. But what makes Croatia unique?

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Geographically, the country is located on the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Slovenia. Croatia is washed by the Adriatic Sea. The capital of Croatia is Zagreb. At the moment, its population is more than 800 thousand people. The total area of this country is 56 594 sq km and the total length of the state border is 3 320 km. The highest peak in Croatia is Dinara Mountain. There are also several big rivers flowing through Croatia – Danube, Sava, Drava, Kupa, and Bosut. Croatia includes about 1,000 islands in the Adriatic Sea. 

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However, this was not always the case. In ancient times, the territory of modern-day Croatia was inhabited by the Illyrians, then Celtic tribes settled the Croatian lands. In 200 B.C. the territory of the modern country was conquered by Ancient Rome, which divided it into two provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Slavs settled in Croatia. They mixed with the local population. And in 925, Tomislav united the Duchy of Pannonia and the Principality of Dalmatia. And so the Kingdom of Croatia was formed. Tomislav became the first Croatian king.

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In 1102, the Croats recognised the Hungarian rulers as their kings, and Croatia became part of Hungary.

At the beginning of the 16th century, a large part of Croatia’s territory was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. However, in the 17th century the Turks were driven out of Croatia as the country fell under Austrian rule.

In 1918, the Croatian parliament broke off relations with the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the country joined Serbia and Montenegro. This is how the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed. 

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In 1939 Croatia was granted autonomy within Yugoslavia, and during World War II the country’s independence was declared. However, at the end of the war Croatia again lost its independence and became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Croatian independence was restored in 1991. As a result of the war in the mid-1990s, Croatia was able to annex all of its ethnic lands. According to the 1990 constitution, Croatia is a parliamentary republic. 

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Croatia is now a candidate for membership in the European Union and the NATO military bloc. Kuna is the official currency of Croatia (HRK). 1 kuna = 100 lipas.

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Croatia’s largest cities are Zagreb, Split, Osijek, and Rijeka. The official language in this country is Croatian, which belongs to the Slavic group of Indo-European languages and has three dialects.

Due to its history, over 90% of the population of Croatia are Roman Catholic. About 4% of Croats consider themselves Orthodox Christians and 1.5% are Muslims.

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Croatia has two types of climate – continental and Mediterranean. On the coast and islands the climate is Mediterranean. In summer, the average daytime temperature is +24-26C. And the climate in inner Croatia is continental. During the summer the average temperature is +22 C and during the winter it ranges from -2 to -4 C. In winter there is a lot of snow in the Croatian mountains, which guarantees a long ski season.

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Croats cherish their culture. This is why numerous historical monuments and various Croatian folk traditions have survived to this day in this country. The international folk music festival in Zagreb is very popular in Croatia.

Croatian national cuisine is very similar to Italian, Central European and Austro-Hungarian cuisine because of its location. The country is put on smoked ham “prsut”, “burek” with cheese or with meat, assorted meat with fries “mesano meso”, meat “peka” as well as various local buns and strudels.