Republic of Croatia
Southeast Europe
Coastal · Medieval · Dazzling
Croatia (officially Republic of Croatia) is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its capital city is Zagreb, with other major cities including Split and Rijeka. With a population of approximately 3.9M, the main language spoken is Croatian. The country covers an area of 56,594 km². The official currency is the euro (€). Traffic drives on the right side.
The necktie originated in Croatia — 17th-century Croatian mercenaries wore them in France and sparked a global fashion trend.
Zagreb serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of Croatia, positioned in Southeast Europe. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Split, Rijeka — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Zagreb's Upper Town (Gornji Grad) preserves a medieval fortified settlement above the bustling Lower Town, connected by the world's shortest funicular at 66 metres — a city that functioned as the intellectual centre of Croatian national revival in the 19th century and retains a Central European café culture entirely at odds with the coastal tourism image Croatia exports.
With a population of approximately 3.9M, Croatia is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The official language is Croatian, which reflects the country's cultural heritage and connects it with a wide international community. Internationally, Croatia is reached via the dialling code +385. Croatians forged a national identity through the Illyrian Movement of the 1830s, when intellectuals standardised the Croatian language and revived folk traditions — a cultural nationalism that resurfaced during the 1991 independence war and continues to shape the intense, sometimes fractious pride in Croatian distinctiveness from its neighbours.
Croatia spans 56,594 km², in the Southeast Europe subregion of Europe. Geographically centred around 45.2°N, 15.5°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the right-hand rule, in line with surrounding Europe convention.
The official currency is the euro (€), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. Croatia's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+01:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.
The emblematic dish of Croatia is Peka. Dalmatian cooking shares the simplicity and quality-of-ingredients philosophy with Italian cuisine — peka, a slow-roasted lamb or octopus dish cooked under a bell-shaped lid covered with embers, requires patience over technique, and the wine regions of Plavac Mali grapes on Hvar and Korčula produce bottles that compete with anything on the Adriatic coast.
Football / Waterpolo holds a special place in the heart of Croatia's national identity. Croatia's outsized sporting achievement — World Cup football finalist in 2018 with a population of 4 million, plus Wimbledon champions, Davis Cup winners, and NBA players — is often attributed to the mandatory outdoor sports culture formed during the 1991 war period, when foreign players were unavailable and domestic talent had to be developed.
The highest point in Croatia is Dinara, rising to 1,831 metres above sea level. Plitvice Lakes National Park chains 16 terraced lakes connected by waterfalls across a travertine limestone landscape where the water colour shifts from azure to green to grey depending on the angle of light and mineral content — a geological spectacle so otherworldly that it appeared in the original Star Wars trilogy.