croatia.eu land and people
Since service industries comprise about two-thirds of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and agriculture accounts for less than 5%, the structure of the Croatian economy is similar to that of the countries of the European Union.

The Prehistoric period

The earliest traces of human presence on Croatian soil ate back to the Palaeolithic Age. In Šandalja Cave near Pula, and in Punikve near Ivanec, flints made by pre-Neanderthal people have been found, while the remains...

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...

Climate

Thanks to its position in the moderate climate belt along the 45th parallel, Croatia enjoys a predominantly moderate climate, with four clearly marked seasons. Local climate differences are determined primarily by the...

The Diaspora

Among European countries, Croatia has one of the most marked and longest traditions of emigration. The first great waves of emigration began as far back as the 15th century, due to the Ottoman threat from...

Historical regions

The region of modern Croatia covers a large number of historical and geographical regions of different origins and size. These reflect the political fragmentation of the Croatian lands in the past, and partly also...

Nature protection

A large number of protected natural areas and features show that Croatia is a country of exceptional, diverse, and comparatively well-preserved natural beauty, of which some examples, such as the Plitvice Lakes, are...

The emergence of Croatia

The first Slavic tribes arrived in the area which is modern-day Croatia in the 6th and 7th centuries, during great tribal migrations. Among them were the Croats, who are mentioned in sources in connection with...

Croatia in union with Hungary

After the death of the last member of the Trpimirović dynasty, King Stjepan II, there was a battle for the throne in Croatia, which ended with the election of the Hungarian king, Koloman Arpadović, and the...

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...

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...

Music

The coexistence of two types of performance in Croatian ecclesiastical music was the outcome of medieval European culture: Gregorian chant (preserved in the late 11th century Neum Codex) developed in...

Croatia in brief

Croatia has been present on the contemporary international political stage since its independence from the Yugoslav Federation, i.e. for a little less than three decades, but is one of the oldest European...