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   About Croatia

The Republic of Croatia is a European country situated along the Adriatic Sea and its hinterland. It stretches from the slopes of the Alps and deep into the Pannonian Valley to the banks of the Danube and Drava rivers.

Thus according to its natural characteristics, as well as its cultural and historical development, Croatia can be divided into three geographically distinct zones:

- the Coastal region
- the Mountain region
- the Pannonian region

Like many countries in Western Europe, Croatia was founded on the ruins of the Roman Empire. When they arrived in the territory of present-day Croatia, the Croats were politicaly organized in principalities. In 925, Croatian King Tomislav united the principalities, establishing the first Croatian state. Later, Croatia retained its legal status and autonomy within the framework of the Hungarian empire, and the Habsburg Monarchy.

Location and land area
Croatia is a Central European and Mediterranean country. It borders Slovenia in the west, Hungary in the north, Serbia in the east, and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the south. It has a long coastline with Italy in the Adriatic Sea.

Croatia covers a land area of 56,691 square kilometres with a population of about 4.4 million people (2001 census). Over 90% of the population is Croat (the majority of whom are Roman Catholics), but there are also Serbian, Bosnian, Hungarian and Italian minorities. The main population centres are Zagreb, the capital, Osijek in the northwest, and the ports of Rijeka, and Split in the south.

The present capital of Croatia is the city of Zagreb (population about 1,000,000), a very old and beautiful city, mentioned for the first time in 1094. In former Yugoslavia, Zagreb was a leading industrial, cultural and scientific center.

Terrain
Croatia has an amazing 5,835km of coastline, 4,057km of which belongs to islands, cliffs and reefs. There are 1,185 islands in the Adriatic, but only 66 are populated. The largest island is Krk (near Rijeka) which has a land area of 462 square km.

Language
The official language is Croatian, which is written in the Latin script.

The Croatian flag and heraldry
The Croatian National Emblems are: the tricolour flag (red, white, blue, arranged in this order perpendicularly to the staff), and the coat of arms (13 red squares and 12 silver squares arranged intermittently in a 5 times 5 pattern). This coat of arms was affirmed by 15th century documents. It is a very old symbol of Croatia resembling a red-white chess table. Now it also has a crown composed of five regional symbols.

National Holidays

• January 1- New Year's Day

• Easter Monday

• Corpus Christi

• May 1- Labour Day

• June 22 - Anti Fascism Day

• June 25 - Statehood Day (National Day)

• August 5 - Thanksgiving Day

• August 15 - Assumption of Mary

• October 8 - Independence Day

• November 1 - All Saints Day

• December 25, 26 - Christmas Holidays

Food:

Basic self-catering and picnic ingredients like cheese ( sir ), vegetables ( povrce ) and fruit ( voce ) can be bought at a supermarket ( samoposluga ) or open-air market ( trznica ). Bread ( kruh ) is bought from either a supermarket or a pekara (bakery). For breakfasts and fast food, look out for street stalls or snack-food outlets selling burek , a flaky pastry filled with cheese; or grilled meats such as cevapcici (rissoles of minced beef, pork or lamb), and pljeskavica (a hamburger-like mixture of the same meats). For a more relaxed, sit-down meal, a restaurant menu ( jelovnik ) will usually include Croatian speciality starters like prsut (home-cured ham) and paski sir (piquant hard cheese), as well as a range of soups ( juha ). Typical main courses include punjene paprike (peppers stuffed with rice and meat), gulas (goulasch), or some kind of odrezak (fillet of meat, often pan-fried), usually either svinjski (pork) or teleski (veal). Mjesano meso is a mixed grill. Lamb, often roasted, is jagnjetina . Traditional dishes from the area around Zagreb include purica z mlincima (turkey with pasta noodles), and strukli (ravioli-like blobs of pasta dough with a cheese filling). One typically Dalmatian dish is pasticada (beef and bacon cooked in vinegar and wine). On the coast, you'll be regaled with every kind of seafood. Riba (fish) can come either na zaru (grilled) or u pecnici (baked). Brodet is a hot peppery fish stew. Otherwise, the main menu items to look out for on the coast are lignje (squid), skampi (unpeeled prawns eaten with the hands), rakovica (crab), ostrige (oysters), kalamari (squid), skoljke (mussels) and jastog (lobster); crni rizoto is risotto with squid. No Croatian town is without at least one pizzeria, often the cheapest place to eat and the easiest, if not the most imaginative, source of a vegetarian meal. Typical desserts include palacinke (pancakes), vocna salata (fruit salad) and sladoled (ice cream).

Drink:

Daytime drinking takes place in a kavana (café) or a slasticarnica (patisserie). Coffee ( kava ) is usually served black unless specified otherwise - ask for mlijeko (milk) or slag (cream). Tea ( caj ) is widely available, but is drunk without milk. Night-time drinking takes place in a growing number of small kafici or café/bars. Croatian beer ( pivo ) is of the light lager variety; Karlovacko and Ozujsko are two good local brands to look out for. The local wine ( vino ) is consistently good and reasonably cheap. In Dalmatia there are some pleasant whites, crisp dry wines like Kastelet, Grk and Posip, as well as reds like the dark heady Dingac and Babic. In Istria, Semion is a bone-dry white, and Teran a light fresh red. Local spirits include loza , a clear grape-based spirit; travarica , herbal brandy; vinjak , locally produced cognac, and Maraskino , a cherry liqueur from Dalmatia.

Basic Information:
Official Name: Republic of Croatia
Capital City: Zagreb
Population:4 494 000
Language:Croatian
Total surface area:89810 km²
Land:56510 km²
Sea:33200 km²

Currency and Terms of Payement:
Croatian currency is Kuna (HRK).There are notes and coins in circulation. Notes are issued in the following denominations: HRK 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 i 1000. Denomination structure of coins is HRK 1, 2, 5 i 25, and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Lipas (100 Lipa=1 Kuna). Payement with credit cards (Diners, Visa, American Express, Eurocard Mastrecard) as well as with Euro cheques is possible as well.

Arrival:
By Car: To enter Croatia by car you need green card and driving license. Cestarine se naplaćuju na autocestama i mostovima. You should count on heavy traffic during summer months and sporadic traffic jams. By Plane: There are flights to Zagreb from almost every international airport. From Zagreb, you can continue your flight towards Pula, Rijeka, Split, Brač and Dubrovnik.

Travel Documents and Custom:
Documents and Custom: Passport or some other internationally accepted identification document. For more information visit Department of Foreign Affairs.

Custom: There is no custom for personal belongings. Tehnical equipment of significant value must be declared on your entering Croatia. Pets must have relevant international documents. There is no limit on foreign currency you are taking in or out of the country. The maximum value of domestic currency (Kuna) you can take out of the country is 2,000 kuna.

Power and Water: Power - 220V, 50 Hz; Water - Tap water is good for drinking in whole Croatia.

Area Code for Croatia is ++385.

Time Zone: Winter - GMT plus one hour; Summer - GMT plus two hours.

Working Hours:
Shops and shopping malls are opened from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m, and on saturdays from 8 a.m till 13 or 14 p.m. Many shops are open on sundays, specially in summer. Post offices are opened from 7 a.m. till 7 p.m., and in summer even till 9 p.m.

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