Croatia

• Geography

GEOGRAPHICAL INFO

Croatia is a country at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and Central Europe. Its capital is Zagreb. Croatia shares land borders with Slovenia and Hungary on the north, Serbia on the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the south and east, and Montenegro on the south, as well as a sea border with Italy to the west. It is a candidate for membership in the European Union and NATO. With its sublime stretch of Adriatic coast, Croatia has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful parts of Europe. The booming tourist industry that was interrupted by war in the early 1990s has swept back in force, and visitors are flocking to its string of coastal and island resorts.

 

Capital: Zagreb

Official languages Croatian

Currency: kuna (HRK)

 

Geography:

Croatia is located in Southern Europe. Its shape resembles that of a crescent or a horseshoe, which flanks its neighbors Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. To the north lie Slovenia and Hungary; Italy lies across the Adriatic Sea. Its mainland territory is split in two non-contiguous parts by the short coastline of Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum. Its terrain is diverse, including:

 

plains, lakes and rolling hills in the continental north and northeast (Central Croatia and Slavonia, part of the Pannonian plain); densely wooded mountains in Lika and Gorski Kotar, part of the Dinaric Alps; rocky coastlines on the Adriatic Sea (Istria, Northern Seacoast and Dalmatia). The country is famous for its many national parks. Croatia has a mixture of climates. In the north and east it is continental, Mediterranean along the coast and a semi-highland and highland climate in the south-central region. Offshore Croatia consists of over one thousand islands varying in size.

 

Climate:

Croatia's climate varies from Mediterranean along the Adriatic coast, to continental inland. The sunny coastal areas experience hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters, while the interior regions are warm in summer and cold in winter. Wind patterns cool the coast with refreshing breezes in the summer, but high mountains shield the coast from bitter winter weather. The sea stores heat in the summer and radiates the heat onto the land in the winter, warming the surrounding air.