Fallow deer in Brijuni National Park. Apart from its unspoiled nature, this park is also a place steeped in history, since the Declaration establishing the Non-Aligned Movement was signed there in 1956, during the Cold War.

The Pula Film Festival, held every summer in the Pula Arena, was launched in 1954 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world. Croatian cinemas hosted more than 4 million viewers in 2012.

In accordance with legal tradition, the Croatian Parliament is traditionally titled the Sabor. The oldest preserved records of Sabor sessions date back to 1273, although the beginnings of the Sabor are much earlier. Alongside the Icelandic Althing, formed in 930, and the Parliament of Sicily, established in 1130, the Sabor is therefore one of the oldest Diets in Europe.

The Zagreb–Split motorway (A1), Žuta Lokva intersection. Croatia has over 1,250 km of motorways, of which about 1,000 km were built in the last fifteen years. Brinje Tunnel, on the A1 motorway, was awarded the FIA prize in Brussels in 2008 as one of the safest tunnel in Europe.

Detail in Croatian Glagolitic of the Reims Gospel (1395), also known as “Texte du Sacre”, upon which the kings of France were wont to swear their coronation oath. It is kept in the Carnegie Library in Reims (France).

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 diversity of the relief ...

Branches of the economy

Croatia does not have large quantities of mineral resources. Coal and other mines (bauxite) were closed in the 1970s and 1980s. There are significant sources of non-metal minerals, which are used as raw materials ...

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 (Bay of Kotor), Austria ...

The Prehistoric period

The earliest traces of human presence on Croatian soil date 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 of Neanderthal prehistoric ...

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, Coloman from the Arpad dynasty, and the contracting of ...

Major companies

In Croatia there are several large companies under private ownership which play a significant role in foreign trade. Some of them are significant technological innovators ...

Sport

Croatians are a sporting nation; sport is part of the compulsory curriculum in schools at all levels of education. Many children and young people take part in extracurricular sporting activities, which are also seen as a way of life in recreational terms ...

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 over two decades, but in terms of history and culture, is one of the oldest European countries ...