Croatia represents a small country, situated in southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea. It’s situated between Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. In case you are not familiar with those countries, “towards Italy” might give you a clue of its location. Speaking of its shape, people usually say that it looks like a bird with wide spread wings, a horseshoe or a crescent. Whatever you prefer.
When it comes to continental area, Croatia covers 56,542 km2 (21,830 mile2), plus the sea area of 33,200 km2 (12,818 mile2). Altogether, Croatia covers 89,742 km2 (34,649 mile2) of the European territory. Its population is 4,494,749 inhabitants, according to the research from 2006. Population includes Croats in first place (89.6%) and minorities of Czechs, Serbs, Slovenians and Bosniaks. Around 80% of inhabitants belong to the Roman Catholic religion.
Even though it is relatively small, it has well indented coast. The coastline extends for 5,835 km (3,625 miles). The majority of it is taken up by more than a thousand islands — 4,058 km (2,521 miles). Croatia also has two large peninsulas — Istria and Pelješac. Geographically, the Croatian landscape includes plains and low mountains. Along the coastline, you can usually see hills and low mountains, while heading east you notice valleys and plains. The tradition of cultivating olive trees and making the oil that comes as the final product seems to be one of the Croatian trademarks.
As for the climate, it’s a mixture of continental and Mediterranean — hot and dry summers and cold winters. Of course, heading south, you will enjoy mild winters and very hot summers, while continental Croatia is a bit colder. Due to its suitable climate, Croatia is a good environment for a variety of animals and plants.
To corroborate that statement, it is probably enough to say that Croatia has 8 national parks (Brijuni, Mljet, Kornati, Krka, Plitvička jezera, Risnjak, Paklenica and Sjeverni Velebit), established to protect its special world of flora and fauna. Runolist and Velebitska degenija are just some of Croatian endemic species. The whole area of Croatia, including the Adriatic Sea, is rich with different animals.
The official language is Croatian, the capital city is Zagreb, situated inland. Other large cities are Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Osijek, Šibenik, Zadar, and they all present popular tourist destinations. Just like the islands along the shoreline.
Croatia is home to five different regions, all of which have a number of interesting tourist attractions for you to see. When considering where you should go in Croatia, it is useful to think of things in terms of the regions they are located in. To get you started, here is a brief rundown of all of the different regions within Croatia.
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a region in Croatia that is located between the Mediterranean and the sovereign entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Overall, it is a beautiful area and one that has many different tourist attractions available. Historically, Dalmatia can be subdivided into three more regions.
The first of these three regions is known as Northern Dalmatia, a place that contains many of the islands within the region. For this reason, sailing and natural tourism are popular in Northern Dalmatia.
The next region is Central Dalmatia and it contains not only the larger islands within Dalmatia but also all of the mountains. Natural tourism and sailing are both still popular here, except natural tourism in this sub-region generally revolves around hiking around the mountain paths and trails.
The final region is Southern Dalmatia and it is the small strip of land with no islands. It does however contain the port city of Dubrovnik, one of the most popular tourism destinations in all of Croatia (likely second behind the capital city of Zagreb).
Istria
Looking at the map of Croatia, one of the geographical features present is a peninsula located within the north-western part of the country. This peninsula is the region of Istria.
Istria is home to Pula, which is a city that contains many structures of the former Roman Empire. There are also many different beaches available in Istria for people that enjoy swimming. Finally, if you are Italian and would prefer to speak that language during the majority of your trip, the coastal areas in Istria all have places where Italian is understood.
Kvarner
Kvarner is the region immediately to the south-east of Istria, where the Adriatic Sea makes a gulf to the Croatian mainland (this gulf is known as the Gulf of Kvarner).
There are two primary regions within Kvarner that are of interest to tourists. The first is the region of islands located within the gulf, where many natural tourism activities such as sailing, swimming and kayaking can take place.
The second region is the mainland region of Kvarner, which contains the Croatian city of Rijeka. Rijeka functions as the main port within Croatia and is not really a major tourist attraction. However, if you are interested in culture and being outdoors, Rijeka offers many opportunities in the form of churches, castles and museums.
Slavonia
Slavonia is the region in the north-eastern part of the country and the region with the largest number of national borders (Hungary and Serbia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Osijek is the major city of Slavonia, functioning as its capital as well as one of the principle points of transportation within the Croatian hub network. It is also a city that is home to many historical monuments in terms of defence and religion as well as much beautiful architecture. Taking a walk around the city is a very enriching and relaxing experience.
Vukovar is another city within Slavonia that is worth visiting and it is also located on the Danube River, providing many beautiful sights and sounds for people to take in. The only real tourist activity within the city is walking, but most people that have done it say it is one of the best walks in Europe.
Central Croatia
Central Croatia is the area within the centre and the north of the country and it borders both Slovenia to the north-west and Hungary to the north-east. Central Croatia is in the interesting position of having the most tourism traffic in the country, but also the highest concentration as it is all within one area of the region.
This area is the capital city of Zagreb. Home to almost a quarter of the country’s population, Zagreb is the hub of transportation, finance, religion, history and tourism within the country. It is also the capital city and thus home to all of the political systems of the country as well. Most of the best restaurants, nightclubs, museums, theatres and bars are located within Zagreb, making it very much the place to be for the metropolitan tourist.