The geography of Croatia is defined by its location—it is described as a part of
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
and
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
, a part of the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...
. Croatia's territory covers , making it the 127th largest country in the world. Bordered by
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
in the east,
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
in the west,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
in the north and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
and the Adriatic Sea in the south, it lies mostly between latitudes
42° and
47° N
The 47th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 47 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 54 ...
and longitudes
13° and
20° E
The meridian 20° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic and Indian oceans, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.
The 20th meridian east f ...
.
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
's
territorial waters
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...
encompass in a wide zone, and its
internal waters
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes wat ...
located within the
baseline cover an additional .
The
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
and the
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...
, along with the Adriatic Basin, represent major
geomorphological parts of Croatia. Lowlands make up the bulk of Croatia, with elevations of less than above sea level recorded in 53.42% of the country. Most of the lowlands are found in the northern regions, especially in
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...
, itself a part of the Pannonian Basin plain. The plains are interspersed with
horst and
graben structures, believed to have broken the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Pannonian Sea
The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient lake, where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, when marine sediments were dep ...](_blank)
's surface as
islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
. The greatest concentration of ground at relatively high elevations is found in the
Lika and
Gorski Kotar areas in the Dinaric Alps, but high areas are found in all regions of Croatia to some extent. The Dinaric Alps contain the highest mountain in Croatia— Dinara—as well as all other mountains in Croatia higher than . Croatia's Adriatic Sea mainland coast is long, while its
1,246 islands and islets encompass a further of coastline—the most indented coastline in the Mediterranean.
Karst topography makes up
about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps, as well as throughout the coastal areas and the islands.
62% of Croatia's territory is encompassed by the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
. The area includes the largest rivers flowing in the country: the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
, Sava,
Drava,
Mur and
Kupa
The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and t ...
. The remainder belongs to the Adriatic Sea drainage basin, where the largest river by far is the
Neretva. Most of Croatia has a moderately warm and rainy
continental climate as defined by the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
. The mean monthly temperature ranges between and . Croatia has a number of
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
s because of its climate and geomorphology, and the country is consequently among the most biodiverse in Europe. There are four types of
biogeographical regions in Croatia: Mediterranean along the coast and in its immediate hinterland; Alpine in the
elevated
An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
Lika and Gorski Kotar; Pannonian along the Drava and Danube; and Continental in the remaining areas. There are 444
protected natural areas in Croatia, encompassing 8.5% of the country; there are about 37,000 known species in Croatia, and the total number of species is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000.
The permanent population of Croatia by the 2011 census reached 4.29 million. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 75.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, and the overall
life expectancy in Croatia at birth was 75.7 years. The country is inhabited mostly by
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...
(89.6%), while
minorities include
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
(4.5%), and 21 other ethnicities (less than 1% each) recognised by the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
. Since the counties were re-established in 1992, Croatia is divided into 20
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
and the capital
city of Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
. The counties subdivide into 127
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and 429
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
. The average
urbanisation
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...
rate in Croatia stands at 56%, with a growing urban population and shrinking rural population. The largest city and the nation's
capital is
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, with an urban population of 797,952 in the city itself and a
metropolitan area population of 978,161. The populations of
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
and
Rijeka exceed 100,000, and five more cities in Croatia have populations over 50,000.
Area and borders
Croatia's territory covers ,
making it the 127th largest country in the world.
The physical geography of Croatia is defined by its location—it is described as a part of
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
. Croatia borders
Bosnia–Herzegovina (for 1,009.1 km) and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
(for 317.6 km) in the east,
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
for 667.8 km in the west,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
for 355.5 km in the north and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
for 22.6 km and the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
in the south. It lies mostly between latitudes
42° and
47° N
The 47th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 47 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 54 ...
and longitudes
13° and
20° E
The meridian 20° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic and Indian oceans, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.
The 20th meridian east f ...
. Part of the extreme south of Croatia is separated from the rest of the mainland by a short coastline strip around
Neum
Neum ( cyrl, Неум, ) is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the only town to be situated along the Bosnia and Herzegovina's coastline, m ...
belonging to Bosnia–Herzegovina.
The country's shape is described as a '
horseshoe' (), and it arose as a result of
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
geopolitics.
Croatia's border with Hungary was inherited from
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Much of the border with Hungary follows the
Drava River or its former river bed; that part of the border dates from the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. The border in
Međimurje and
Baranya Baranya or Baranja may refer to:
* Baranya (region) or Baranja, a region in Hungary and Croatia
* Baranya County, a county in modern Hungary
* Baranya County (former), a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary
* Baranya, Hungarian name of villag ...
was defined as a border between the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
and the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
, later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, pursuant to the
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...
of 1920.
The present outline of the border with Bosnia–Herzegovina and border with Montenegro is largely the result of the
Ottoman conquest and subsequent recapture of territories in the
Great Turkish War of 1667–1698 formally ending with the
Treaty of Karlowitz
The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by th ...
, as well as the
Fifth and
Seventh Ottoman–Venetian Wars
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...
.
This border had minor modifications in 1947 when all borders of the former Yugoslav constituent republics were defined by demarcation commissions implementing the
AVNOJ decisions of 1943 and 1945 regarding the federal organisation of Yugoslavia. The commissions also defined Baranya and Međimurje as Croatian territories, and moreover set up the present-day border between Serbia and Croatia in
Syrmia and along the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
River between
Ilok
Ilok () is the easternmost town in Croatia forming a geographic salient surrounded by Vojvodina. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on a hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Bačka region of Serbia. The pop ...
and the Drava river's mouth and further north to the Hungarian border; the Ilok/Drava section matched the border between the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and
Bács-Bodrog County that existed until 1918 (the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
). Most of the border with Slovenia was also defined by the commissions, matching the northwestern border of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, and establishing a new section of Croatian border north of the
Istrian peninsula according to the ethnic composition of the territory previously belonging to the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
.
Pursuant to the
1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy the islands of
Cres
Cres (; dlm, Crepsa, vec, Cherso, it, Cherso, la, Crepsa, Greek: Χέρσος, ''Chersos'') is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, the island Kr ...
,
Lastovo
Lastovo (; it, Lagosta, german: Augusta, la, Augusta Insula, el, Ladestanos, Illyrian: ''Ladest'') is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 p ...
and
Palagruža
Palagruža (; it, Pelagosa) is a small Croatian archipelago in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. It is uninhabited, except by lighthouse staff and occasional summer tourists.
Geography
It consists of one larger island, called ''Vela'' or ''Vel ...
and the cities of
Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...
and
Rijeka and most of Istria went to
communist Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...
and Croatia, while carving out the
Free Territory of Trieste
The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath ...
(FTT) as a city-state.
The FTT was partitioned in 1954 as
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
itself and the area to the north of it were placed under Italian control, and the rest under Yugoslav control. The arrangement was made permanent by the
Treaty of Osimo
The Treaty of Osimo was signed on 10 November 1975 by Italy and Yugoslavia in Osimo, Italy, to definitively divide the Free Territory of Trieste between the two states: the port city of Trieste with a narrow coastal strip to the north-west (Zone ...
in 1975. The former FTT's Yugoslav part was partitioned between Croatia and Slovenia, largely conforming to the area population's ethnic composition.
In the late 19th century,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
established a
geodetic network
A geodetic control network (also geodetic network, reference network, control point network, or control network) is a network, often of triangles, which are measured precisely by techniques of terrestrial surveying or by satellite geodesy.
A ...
, for which the
elevation benchmark was determined by the Adriatic Sea's average level at the Sartorio pier in Trieste. This benchmark was subsequently retained by
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, adopted by
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, and kept by the states that emerged after its dissolution, including Croatia.
Extreme points
The geographical extreme points of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
are
Žabnik in
Međimurje County
Međimurje County (; hr, Međimurska županija ; hu, Muraköz megye) is a triangle-shaped county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje. Despite being the smallest C ...
as the northernmost point,
Rađevac near Ilok in
Vukovar-Syrmia County
Vukovar-Srijem County ( hr, Vukovarsko-srijemska županija), Vukovar-Sirmium County or Vukovar-Syrmia County, named after the eponymous town of Vukovar and the region of Syrmia, is the easternmost Croatian county. It includes the eastern parts ...
as the easternmost point, Cape Lako near
Bašanija in
Istria County
Istria County (; hr, Istarska županija; it, Regione istriana, "Istrian Region") is the westernmost county of Croatia which includes the biggest part of the Istrian peninsula ( out of , or 89%).
Administrative centers in the county are Paz ...
as the westernmost point and the islet of
Galijula
Galijula is an uninhabited isle in the southwestern Adriatic Sea, 3 nautical miles from the island of Palagruža. It belongs to the municipality of Komiža in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. It is the List of extreme points of Croatia, southernmos ...
in Palagruža archipelago in
Split-Dalmatia County as the southernmost point. On the mainland, Cape Oštra of the
Prevlaka
Prevlaka () is a small peninsula in southern Croatia, near the border with Montenegro, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor on the eastern Adriatic coast.
Because of its strategic location in the southern Adriatic, in the aftermath of the SFR Yu ...
peninsula in
Dubrovnik-Neretva County
The Dubrovnik-Neretva County (; hr, Dubrovačko-neretvanska županija, ) is the southernmost county of Croatia, located in south Dalmatia. The county seat is Dubrovnik and other large towns are Korčula, Metković, Opuzen and Ploče. The Muni ...
is the southernmost point.
Maritime claims
![ZERP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/ZERP.jpg)
Italy and Yugoslavia defined their delineation of the
continental shelf in the Adriatic Sea in 1968, with an additional agreement on the boundary in the Gulf of Trieste signed in 1975 in accordance with the Treaty of Osimo. All the successor states of former Yugoslavia accepted the agreements. Prior to Yugoslavia's break-up, Albania, Italy and Yugoslavia initially proclaimed
territorial waters
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...
, subsequently reduced to the international-standard ; all sides adopted
baseline systems. Croatia also declared its
Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone
The Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone ( hr, Zaštićeni ekološko-ribolovni pojas, ZERP) is a protected fishing area over Croatia's exclusive economic zone.
The ZERP was initiated by the Croatian Peasant Party, then a member of Croatia ...
(ZERP)—a part of its
Exclusive Economic Zone—as extending to the continental shelf boundary. Croatia's territorial waters encompass ; its
internal waters
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes wat ...
located within the baseline cover an additional .
Border disputes
Maritime border disputes
Croatia and Slovenia started negotiations to define maritime borders in the
Gulf of Piran
The Gulf of Piran or Piran Bay ( sl, Piranski zaliv, hr, Piranski zaljev, it, Baia di Pirano) is located in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, and is a part of the southernmost tip of the Gulf of Trieste.
Overview
It was named after the tow ...
in 1992 but failed to agree, resulting in a dispute. Both countries also declared their economic zones, which partially overlap.
Croatia's application to become an
EU member state was initially suspended pending resolution of its border disputes with Slovenia.
These were eventually settled with an agreement to accept the decision of an
international arbitration commission set up via the
UN, enabling Croatia to
progress towards EU membership.
The dispute has caused no major practical problems in areas other than the EU membership negotiations progress, even before the arbitration agreement.
The maritime boundary between Bosnia–Herzegovina and Croatia was formally settled in 1999, but a few issues are still contested—the
Klek peninsula and two islets in the border area. The Croatia–Montenegro maritime boundary is disputed in the
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...
, at the Prevlaka peninsula. The situation was exacerbated by the peninsula's occupation by the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
and later by the
Serbian-Montenegrin army, which in turn was replaced by a
United Nations observer mission that lasted until 2002. Croatia took over the area with an agreement that allowed Montenegrin presence in Croatian waters in the bay, and the dispute has become far less contentious since the independence of Montenegro in 2006.
Land border disputes
The land border disputes pertain to comparatively small strips of land. The
Croatia–Slovenia border disputes
Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia became independent countries. As the border between the countries had not been determined in detail prior to independence, several parts of the border were disputed, both on land ...
are: along the
Dragonja
The Dragonja (; it, Dragogna) is a long river in the northern part of the Istrian peninsula. It is a meandering river with a very branched basin and a small quantity of water. It has a pluvial regime and often dries up in summer. It features ...
River's lower course where Slovenia claims three
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
on the river's left bank; the
Sveta Gera
Saint Gera ( Croatian: "Sveta Gera") or Trdina Peak ( sl, Trdinov vrh) is the highest peak of the Žumberak Mountains, at a height of . It is located along the border between southeastern Slovenia and Croatia, and the summit is subject to a border ...
peak of Žumberak where exact territorial claims were never made and appear to be limited to a military barracks on the peak itself; and along the
Mura River
The Mur () or Mura (; ; ; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Müra''Novak, Vilko. 2006. ''Slovar stare knjižne prekmurščine''. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, pp. 262, 269. or ''Möra'') is a river in Central Europe rising in the Hohe Tauern national park of th ...
where Slovenia wants the border to be along the current river bed instead of along a former one and claims a (largely if not completely uninhabited) piece of land near
Hotiza
Hotiza (; hu, Murarév) is a village west of Lendava in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Mura River, right on the border with Croatia.
Name
Hotiza was attested in written sources in 1389 as ''curia Hotyza'' (and ...
. These claims are likewise in the process of being settled by binding arbitration.
There are also land
border disputes between Croatia and Serbia. The two countries presently control one bank of the present-day river each, but Croatia claims that the border line should follow the
cadastral
A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref>
Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...
borders between the former municipalities of
SR Croatia
The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...
and
SR Serbia
, life_span = 1944–1992
, status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia
, p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
, flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg
, p2 ...
along the Danube, as defined by a Yugoslav commission in 1947 (effectively following a former river bed); borders claimed by Croatia also include the
Vukovar
Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...
and
Šarengrad
Šarengrad ( sr-cyr, Шаренград, hu, Atya, german: Wetterwardein) is a village in eastern Croatia. It is located along the Danube river and is administratively part of Croatian easternmost town of Ilok. Šarengrad is known for its landsca ...
islands in the Danube as its territory. There is also a border dispute with Bosnia–Herzegovina, specifically Croatia claims Unčica
channel on the right bank of
Una
Una and UNA may refer to:
Places
* 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character
* Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers
* Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India
** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constit ...
as the border at
Hrvatska Kostajnica
Hrvatska Kostajnica (; ; ), often just Kostajnica, is a small town in central Croatia. It is located on the Una river in the Sisak-Moslavina County, south of Petrinja and Sisak and across the river from Bosanska Kostajnica in Bosnia and Herzego ...
, while Bosnia and Herzegovina claims Una River course as the border there.
Physical geography
Geology
The geology of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
has some Precambrian rocks mostly covered by younger sedimentary rocks and deformed or superimposed by tectonic activity.
The country is split into two main onshore provinces, a smaller part of the
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
and the larger
Dinarides
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...
. These areas are very different.
The carbonate platform karst landscape of Croatia helped to create the weathering conditions to form
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...
,
gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...
, clay,
amphibolite, granite,
spilite
Spilite (from el, σπιλάς) is a fine-grained igneous rock, resulting particularly from alteration of oceanic basalt.
The term was introduced into the geological literature by Alexandre Brongniart in 1827.Manfred Schidlowski: ''Spilite and t ...
,
gabbro
Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...
,
diabase and
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
.
Topography
Most of Croatia is lowlands, with elevations of less than above sea level recorded in 53.42% of the country. Most of the lowlands are found in the country's northern regions, especially in
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...
, representing a part of the
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
. Areas with elevations of above sea level encompass 25.61% of Croatia's territory, and the areas between above sea level cover 17.11% of the country. A further 3.71% of the land is above sea level, and only 0.15% of Croatia's territory is elevated greater than above sea level.
The greatest concentration of ground at relatively high elevations is found in the
Lika and
Gorski Kotar areas in the
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...
, but such areas are found in all regions of Croatia to some extent.
The Pannonian Basin and the Dinaric Alps, along with the Adriatic Basin, represent major
geomorphological parts of Croatia.
Adriatic Basin
![Kornati islands](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Kornati_islands.jpg)
Croatia's Adriatic Sea mainland coast is long, while its
1,246 islands and islets have a further of coastline. The distance between the extreme points of Croatia's coastline is . The number of islands includes all islands, islets, and rocks of all sizes, including ones emerging only at
low tide. The largest islands in the Adriatic are
Cres
Cres (; dlm, Crepsa, vec, Cherso, it, Cherso, la, Crepsa, Greek: Χέρσος, ''Chersos'') is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, the island Kr ...
and
Krk
Krk (; it, Veglia; ruo, Krk; dlm, label= Vegliot Dalmatian, Vikla; la, Curicta; grc-gre, Κύρικον, Kyrikon) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kot ...
, each covering ; the tallest is
Brač
Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of ,
making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. The island's tall ...
, reaching above sea level. The islands include 47
permanently inhabited ones, the most populous among them being Krk and
Korčula
Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...
.
The shore is the most indented coastline in the Mediterranean. The majority of the coast is characterised by a
karst topography, developed from the
Adriatic Carbonate Platform
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
. Karstification there largely began after the final raising of the
Dinarides
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...
in the
Oligocene and
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
epochs
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...
, when
carbonate rock
Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and dolomite rock (also known as dolosto ...
was exposed to atmospheric effects such as rain; this extended to below the present sea level, exposed during the
Last Glacial Maximum's sea level drop. It is estimated that some karst formations are related to earlier drops of sea level, most notably the
Messinian salinity crisis
The Messinian salinity crisis (MSC), also referred to as the Messinian event, and in its latest stage as the Lago Mare event, was a geological event during which the Mediterranean Sea went into a cycle of partial or nearly complete desiccation (d ...
.
The eastern coast's largest part consists of carbonate rocks, while
flysch
Flysch () is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building epi ...
rock is significantly represented in the Gulf of Trieste coast, on the
Kvarner Gulf
The Kvarner Gulf (, or , la, Sinus Flanaticus or ), sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal wa ...
coast opposite Krk, and in Dalmatia north of Split. There are comparably small
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...
areas of the Adriatic coast in Croatia—most notably the
Neretva river delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...
. Western
Istria is gradually subsiding, having sunk about in the past 2,000 years.
In the Middle Adriatic Basin, there is evidence of
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
volcanism in the area of
Komiža
Komiža (; it, Comisa) is a Croatian coastal town lying on the western coast of the island of Vis in the central part of the Adriatic Sea. As of 2011 Komiža proper has a population of 1,397 while the entire municipality has 1,526 residents.
Ko ...
on the island of
Vis, in addition to the volcanic islands of
Jabuka
Jabuka, meaning ''apple'' in Serbo-Croatian, may refer to:
Places
* Jabuka (island), a Croatian island
* Jabuka, Croatia, a village near Trilj
* Jabuka (mountain), a mountain and plateau on the border between Serbia and Montenegro
* Jabuka, Pan ...
and
Brusnik. Earthquakes are frequent in the area around the Adriatic Sea, although most are too faint to be felt; an earthquake doing significant damage happens every few decades, with major earthquakes every few centuries.
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps are linked to a Late
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
to recent times
fold and thrust belt
A fold and thrust belt (FTB) is a series of mountainous foothills adjacent to an orogenic belt, which forms due to contractional tectonics. Fold and thrust belts commonly form in the forelands adjacent to major orogens as deformation propagates o ...
, itself part of the
Alpine orogeny, extending southeast from the southern
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
.
The Dinaric Alps in Croatia encompass the entire Gorski Kotar and Lika regions, as well as considerable parts of
Dalmatia, with their northeastern edge running from
Žumberak to the
Banovina region, along the Sava River, and their westernmost landforms being
Ćićarija
Ćićarija ( sl, Čičarija; it, Cicceria, Monti della Vena; ruo, Cicearia; german: Tschitschen Boden), is a mountainous plateau in the northern and northeastern part of the Istria peninsula, long and wide. It mostly lies in Croatia, while i ...
and
Učka
The Učka ([], it, Monte Maggiore) is a mountain range in western Croatia. It rises behind the Opatija riviera, on the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula.
It forms a single morphological unit together with the Ćićarija range which stretche ...
mountains in Istria. The Dinaric Alps contain the highest mountain in Croatia—
Dinara
Dinara is a long mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east:
* Ilica or Ujilica (1654 m)
* Sinjal or Dinara (1831 m), ...
—as well as all other mountains in Croatia higher than :
Biokovo
Biokovo () is the second-highest mountain range in Croatia, located along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, between the rivers of Cetina and Neretva.
It is sometimes referred to as Bijakovo, especially among inhabitants of the easte ...
,
Velebit
Velebit (; it, Alpi Bebie) is the largest, though not the highest, mountain range in Croatia. The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the nor ...
,
Plješivica,
Velika Kapela
The Velika Kapela (; lit. ''Great Chapel'') is a large mountain range in the east of Gorski Kotar, Croatia.
The highest peak is Bjelolasica-Kula at 1533 m.a.s.l. It overlooks Velebit, Plješivica, islands Krk, Cres, Lošinj, and the Kvarne ...
,
Risnjak
Risnjak is a mountain in the Risnjak National Park, in Gorski Kotar, Croatia. It belongs to the Dinaric Alps mountain range.Naklada Naprijed, ''The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide'', pg. 84, Zagreb (1999), The name of the massif probably comes ...
,
Svilaja and
Snježnik.
Karst topography makes up about
half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps. There are
numerous caves in Croatia, 49 of which are deeper than , 14 deeper than and 3 deeper than .
The longest cave in Croatia,
Kita Gaćešina, is at the same time the longest cave in the Dinaric Alps at .
Pannonian Basin
![Tree in the sun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Tree_in_the_sun.jpg)
The Pannonian Basin took shape through Miocenian thinning and
subsidence of crust structures formed during the Late
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Nomenclature
The name ''Variscan'', comes f ...
. The Paleozoic and
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
structures are visible in
Papuk and other Slavonian mountains. The processes also led to the formation of a
stratovolcanic chain in the basin 12–17
Mya; intensified subsidence was observed until 5 Mya as well as
flood basalt
A flood basalt (or plateau basalt) is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that covers large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Many flood basalts have been attributed to the onset of a hotspot reac ...
s at about 7.5 Mya. The contemporary
tectonic uplift
Tectonic uplift is the geologic uplift of Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics. While isostatic response is important, an increase in the mean elevation of a region can only occur in response to tectonic processes of crustal th ...
of the
Carpathian Mountains severed water flow to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
and the
Pannonian Sea
The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient lake, where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, when marine sediments were dep ...
formed in the basin.
Sediments
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundame ...
were transported to the basin from the uplifting Carpathian and Dinaric mountains, with particularly deep
fluvial sediments being deposited in the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
epoch during the
Transdanubian Mountains __NOTOC__
The Transdanubian Mountains (sometimes also referred to as ''Bakony Forest, Dunántúl Highlands, Highlands of Dunántúl, Highlands of Transdanubia, Mountains of Dunántúl, Mountains of Transdanubia, Transdanubian Central Range, Tra ...
' formation. Ultimately, up to of sediment was deposited in the basin, and the sea eventually drained through the
Iron Gate gorge.
The results are large plains in eastern Slavonia's
Baranya Baranya or Baranja may refer to:
* Baranya (region) or Baranja, a region in Hungary and Croatia
* Baranya County, a county in modern Hungary
* Baranya County (former), a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary
* Baranya, Hungarian name of villag ...
and
Syrmia regions, as well as in river valleys, especially along the
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
, Drava and
Kupa
The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and t ...
. The plains are interspersed by
horst and
graben structures, believed to have broken the Pannonian Sea's surface as
islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
. The tallest among such landforms are
Ivanšćica and
Medvednica
Medvednica () is a mountain in central Croatia, just north of Zagreb, and marking the southern border of the historic region of Zagorje. The highest peak, at is Sljeme. Most of the area of Medvednica is a nature park (''park prirode''), a type ...
north of
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
—both are also at least partially in
Hrvatsko Zagorje
Hrvatsko Zagorje (; Croatian Zagorje; ''zagorje'' is Croatian language, Croatian for "backland" or "behind the hills") is a cultural region in northern Croatia, traditionally separated from the country's capital Zagreb by the Medvednica Moun ...
—as well as
Psunj
Psunj is a mountain in the southwestern Slavonia region in eastern Croatia. It is the highest mountain of Slavonia, with the highest peak of Brezovo polje at 984 m.a.s.l. In the north it extends to Ravna gora and Papuk, while otherwise it is su ...
and Papuk that are the tallest among the Slavonian mountains surrounding
Požega.
Psunj, Papuk and adjacent
Krndija consist mostly of Paleozoic rocks from 300 to 350 Mya.
Požeška gora, adjacent to Psunj, consists of much more recent
Neogene rocks, but there are also Upper
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
sediments and
igneous rocks forming the main,
ridge of the hill; these represent the largest igneous
landform in Croatia. A smaller piece of igneous terrain is also present on Papuk, near
Voćin
Voćin is a village and municipality in western Slavonia, Croatia, located southwest of Slatina and east of Daruvar. The population of the municipality is 1,911, with 956 people living in Voćin itself (census 2021).
Geography
Voćin, a pilgrima ...
. The two, as well as the
Moslavačka gora mountains, are possibly remnants of a
volcanic arc
A volcanic arc (also known as a magmatic arc) is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate,
with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench, with the arc lo ...
from the same
tectonic plate
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...
collision that caused the Dinaric Alps.
Hydrography
![Željeznički most Zagreb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/%C5%BDeljezni%C4%8Dki_most_Zagreb.jpg)
The largest part of Croatia—62% of its territory—is encompassed by the Black Sea
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
. The area includes the largest rivers flowing in the country: the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
, Sava, Drava,
Mura and Kupa. The rest belongs to the Adriatic Sea drainage basin, where the largest river by far is the Neretva.
The longest rivers in Croatia are the Sava, Drava, Kupa and a section of the Danube. The longest rivers emptying into the Adriatic Sea are the
Cetina
Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Naprijed ...
and an only section of the Neretva.
The largest lakes in Croatia are
Lake Vrana located in the northern Dalmatia,
Lake Dubrava near
Varaždin
)
, image_photo =
, image_skyline =
, image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg
, flag_size =
, image_seal =
, seal_size =
, image_shield = Grb_Grad ...
,
Peruća Lake
Lake Peruća or Peruča ( hr, Jezero Peruča or ') is the second largest artificial lake in Croatia, after Lake Dubrava. It is located in the Split-Dalmatia County.
Location
Located in inland Dalmatia, south of the source of the River Cetina, ...
(
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
) on the Cetina River,
Lake Prokljan near
Skradin
Skradin ( it, Scardona; grc, Σκάρδων) is a small town in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, with a population of 3,825 (2011 census). It is located near the Krka river and at the entrance to the Krka National Park, from Šibenik and ...
and
Lake Varaždin reservoir through which the Drava River flows near Varaždin.
Croatia's most famous lakes are the
Plitvice lakes Plitvice or Plitvička jezera can refer to:
* Plitvice Lakes National Park, the largest and oldest national park in Croatia
* Plitvička Jezera, a municipality of Lika-Senj County, Croatia
See also
* Plitvica (disambiguation)
{{geodis ...
, a system of 16 lakes with waterfalls connecting them over
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
and
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
cascades. The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from turquoise to mint green, grey or blue.
Croatia has a remarkable wealth in terms of wetlands. Four of those are included in the
Ramsar list of internationally important wetlands:
Lonjsko Polje
Lonjsko Polje (English: ''Lonja Field'') is the largest protected wetland in both Croatia and the entire Danube basin. It covers an area of , extending along the river Sava from the areas east of Sisak, the lower course of the river Lonja for ...
along the Sava and
Lonja
Lonja is a river in central Croatia, a left tributary of the Sava. It is long and its basin covers an area of .
The Lonja rises in the Kalnik mountain in northern Croatia, southeast of Novi Marof, at . It flows westward until turning south near ...
rivers near
Sisak,
Kopački Rit at the confluence of the Drava and Danube, the
Neretva Delta and
Crna Mlaka near
Jastrebarsko
Jastrebarsko (; hu, Jaska), colloquially known as Jaska, is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia.
History
Antiquity
In 1865, remnants of a Roman settlement were uncovered in Repišće, Klinča Sela, a village in Jastrebarsko metropolitan are ...
.
Average annual precipitation and evaporation rates are and , respectively. Taking into consideration the overall water balance, the total Croatian water resources amount to per year per capita, including per year per capita from sources inside Croatia.
Climate
![Koppen-Geiger Map HRV present](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Koppen-Geiger_Map_HRV_present.svg)
Most of Croatia has a moderately warm and rainy
oceanic climate (Cfb) as defined by the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
. Mean monthly temperatures range between (in January) and (in July). The coldest parts of the country are Lika and Gorski Kotar where a snowy forested climate is found at elevations above . The warmest areas of Croatia are at the Adriatic coast and especially in its immediate hinterland, which are characterised by a
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
since temperatures are moderated by the sea. Consequently, temperature peaks are more pronounced in the continental areas: the lowest temperature of was recorded on 4 February 1929 in
Gospić
Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje).
Gospić is the ...
, and the highest temperature of was recorded on 5 August 1981 in
Ploče
Ploče (; it, Porto Tolero) is a town and seaport in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia.
Geography
Ploče is located on the Adriatic coast in Dalmatia just north of the Neretva Delta and is the natural seaside endpoint of most north-south ...
.
The mean annual precipitation is depending on the geographic region and prevailing climate type. The least precipitation is recorded in the outer islands (Vis,
Lastovo
Lastovo (; it, Lagosta, german: Augusta, la, Augusta Insula, el, Ladestanos, Illyrian: ''Ladest'') is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 p ...
,
Biševo, and
Svetac
Sveti Andrija (, meaning " Saint Andrew"), often called Svetac (, meaning " saint"), is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. It is situated from Komiža (a town on the island of Vis). It is uninhabited, although it used to have per ...
) and in the eastern parts of Slavonia; however, in the latter case it is mostly during the
growing season. The most precipitation is observed on the Dinara mountain range and in Gorski Kotar, where some of the highest annual precipitation totals in Europe occur.
The prevailing winds in the interior are light to moderate northeast or southwest; in the coastal area, the prevailing winds are determined by local area features. Higher wind velocities are more often recorded in cooler months along the coast, generally as cool northeasterly
buras or, less frequently, as warm southerly
jugos. The sunniest parts of the country are the outer islands, Hvar and Korčula, where more than 2,700 hours of sunshine are recorded per year, followed by the southern Adriatic Sea area in general, northern Adriatic coast, and Slavonia, all with more than 2,000 hours of sunshine per year.
Biodiversity
![Kopacki rit2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Kopacki_rit2.JPG)
Croatia can be subdivided between a number of
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
s because of its climate and geomorphology, and the country is consequently one of the richest in Europe in terms of biodiversity. There are four types of
biogeographical regions in Croatia: Mediterranean along the coast and in its immediate hinterland, Alpine in most of Lika and Gorski Kotar, Pannonian along the Drava and Danube, and continental in the remaining areas. Among the most significant are
karst habitats; these include submerged karst, such as
Zrmanja
Zrmanja (, it, Zermagna) is a river in southern Lika and northern Dalmatia, Croatia. It is long and its basin covers an area of .
It was known to the ancient Romans as ''Tedanius''. The spring of Zrmanja is located in southern part of Lika unde ...
and
Krka canyons and
tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertin ...
barriers, as well as underground habitats. The karst geology has produced approximately 7,000 caves and pits, many of which are inhabited by
troglobitic
A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live u ...
(exclusively cave-dwelling) animals such as the
olm
The olm or proteus (''Proteus anguinus'') is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and br ...
, a
cave salamander
A cave salamander is a type of salamander that primarily or exclusively inhabits caves, a group that includes several species. Some of these animals have developed special, even extreme, adaptations to their subterranean environments. Some speci ...
and the only European troglobitic
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
. Forests are also significant in the country, as they cover representing 46.8% of Croatia's land surface.
The other habitat types include wetlands, grasslands, bogs, fens, scrub habitats, coastal and marine habitats.
In terms of
phytogeography
Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...
, Croatia is part of the
Boreal Kingdom
The Boreal Kingdom or Holarctic Kingdom (Holarctis) is a floristic kingdom identified by botanist Ronald Good (and later by Armen Takhtajan), which includes the temperate to Arctic portions of North America and Eurasia. Its flora is inherit ...
; specifically, it is part of the Illyrian and Central European provinces of the
Circumboreal Region
The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan.
It is the largest floristic region i ...
and the Adriatic province of the
Mediterranean Region
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...
. The
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
divides land in Croatia into three ecoregions—
Pannonian mixed forests
The Pannonian mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Europe. It covers an area of 307,720 km2 in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Croatia.
...
,
Dinaric Mountains mixed forests
The Dinaric Mountains mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome in Southeastern Europe, according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agenc ...
and
Illyrian deciduous forests
The Illyrian deciduous forests is a terrestrial ecoregion in southern Europe, which extends along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It belongs to the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, and is in the Palearctic realm.
Geogra ...
.
Biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
s in Croatia include
temperate broadleaf/mixed forest and
Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub; all are in the
Palearctic realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sib ...
.
![Karstformationen Nationalpark-Nord-Velebit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Karstformationen_Nationalpark-Nord-Velebit.JPG)
Croatia has 38,226 known
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
, 2.8% of which are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
; the actual number (including undiscovered
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
) is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000.
The estimate is supported by nearly 400 new taxa of
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s discovered in Croatia in 2000–2005 alone.
There are more than a thousand endemic species, especially in the Velebit and Biokovo mountains, Adriatic islands and karst rivers. Legislation protects 1,131 species.
Indigenous
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s of plants and
breeds of domesticated animals are also numerous; they include five breeds of horses, five breeds of cattle, eight breeds of sheep, two breeds of pigs and a poultry breed. Even the indigenous breeds include nine endangered or critically endangered ones.
There are 444
Croatian protected areas, encompassing 8.5% of the country. These include 8
national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
, 2 strict
reserves and 11
nature parks, accounting for 78% of the total protected area.
The most famous protected area and the oldest
national park in Croatia is the Plitvice Lakes National Park, a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO
Man and the Biosphere Programme
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB's work engag ...
. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up as the first step in preparation for EU membership and joining the
Natura 2000 network.
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
represents a threat to biodiversity in Croatia, as developed and agricultural land is expanded into previous natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s, while
habitat fragmentation occurs as roads are created or expanded. A further threat to biodiversity is the introduction of
invasive species, with ''
Caulerpa racemosa
''Caulerpa racemosa'' is a species of edible green alga, a seaweed in the family Caulerpaceae. It is commonly known as sea grapes (along with the related ''Caulerpa lentillifera'') and is found in many areas of shallow sea around the world. There ...
'' and ''
C. taxifolia'' identified as especially problematic ones.
The invasive algae are monitored and regularly removed to protect the
benthic habitat.
Agricultural
monoculture
In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...
s have also been identified as a threat to biodiversity.
Ecology
![Jakuševec landfill 20090627 0123](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Jaku%C5%A1evec_landfill_20090627_0123.JPG)
The
ecological footprint of Croatia's population and industry varies significantly between the country's regions since 50% of the population resides in 26.8% of the nation's territory, with a particularly high impact made by the city of Zagreb and Zagreb County areas—their combined area comprises 6.6% of Croatia's territory while encompassing 25% of the population.
The ecological footprint is most notably from the increased development of settlements and the sea coast leading to
habitat fragmentation. Between 1998 and 2008, the greatest changes of
land use
Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...
pertained to artificially developed areas, but the scale of development is negligible compared to EU member states.
The Croatian Environment Agency (CEA), a public institution established by the
Government of Croatia to collect and analyse information on the environment, has identified further ecological problems as well as various degrees of progress in terms of curbing their environmental impact. These problems include inadequate legal
landfills as well as the presence of illegal landfills; between 2005 and 2008, 62 authorised and 423 illegal landfills were
rehabilitated. In the same period, the number of issued
waste management
Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal.
This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...
licences doubled, while the annual
municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste ...
volume increased by 23%, reaching per capita. The processes of
soil acidification
Soil acidification is the buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the soil pH. Chemically, this happens when a proton donor gets added to the soil. The donor can be an acid, such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, or carbonic acid. It can also be a ...
and
organic matter degradation are present throughout Croatia, with increasing
soil salinity levels in the
Neretva river plain and spreading areas of
alkali soil
Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico ...
in
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...
.
[
Croatian ]air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
levels reflect the drop in industrial production recorded in 1991 at the onset of the Croatian War of Independence—pre-war emission levels were only reached in 1997. The use of desulfurised fuels has led to a 25% reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions between 1997 and 2004, and a further 7.2% drop by 2007. The rise in NOx emissions halted in 2007 and reversed in 2008.[ The use of ]unleaded petrol
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic com ...
reduced emissions of lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
into the atmosphere by 91.5% between 1997 and 2004. Air quality
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
measurements indicate that the air in rural areas is essentially clean, and in urban centres it generally complies with legal requirements.[ The most significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Croatia are energy production (72%), industry (13%) and agriculture (11%). The average annual increase of GHG emissions is 3%, remaining within the Kyoto Protocol limits. Between 1990 and 2007, the use of ozone depleting substances was reduced by 92%; their use is expected to be abolished by 2015.][
Even though Croatia has sufficient water resources at its disposal, these are not uniformly distributed and public ]water supply network
A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following:
# A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...
losses remain high—estimated at 44%. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of stations monitoring surface water pollution
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...
increased by 20%; the CEA reported 476 cases of water pollution in this period. At the same time organic waste
Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane or simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digesti ...
pollution levels decreased slightly, which is attributed to the completion of new sewage treatment
Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding e ...
plants; their number increased 20%, reaching a total of 101. Nearly all of Croatia's groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...
s are top quality
Quality may refer to:
Concepts
*Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something
*Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property
*Quality (physics), in response theory
* Energy quality, used in various science discipl ...
, unlike the available surface water; the latter's quality varies in terms of biochemical oxygen demand
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) needed (i.e. demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at a certain temperature over a specific time period. ...
and bacteriological water analysis
Bacteriological water analysis is a method of analysing water to estimate the numbers of bacteria present and, if needed, to find out what sort of bacteria they are. It represents one aspect of water quality. It is a microbiological analytical p ...
results. As of 2008, 80% of the Croatian population are served by the public water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...
system, but only 44% of the population have access to the public sewerage network, with septic system
Onsite sewage facilities (OSSF), also called septic systems, are wastewater systems designed to treat and dispose of effluent on the same property that produces the wastewater, in areas not served by public sewage infrastructure.
A septic tank a ...
s in use. Adriatic Sea water quality monitoring between 2004 and 2008 indicated very good, oligotroph
An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates o ...
ic conditions along most of the coast, while areas of increased eutrophication
Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...
were identified in the Bay of Bakar, the Bay of Kaštela
Kaštela (;) is a town in Split-Dalmatia County. The town is an agglomeration of seven individual settlements which are administered as a single municipality with populations individually ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 residents. The town is loc ...
, the Port of Šibenik
Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...
and near Ploče
Ploče (; it, Porto Tolero) is a town and seaport in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia.
Geography
Ploče is located on the Adriatic coast in Dalmatia just north of the Neretva Delta and is the natural seaside endpoint of most north-south ...
; other areas of localised pollution were identified near the larger coastal cities. In the period between 2004 and 2008, the CEA identified 283 cases of marine pollution (including 128 from vessels), which was a drop of 15% relative to the period encompassed by the previous report,[ 1997 to August 2005.][
]
Land use
As of 2006, 46.8% of Croatia was occupied by of forest and shrub, while a further or 40.4% of the land was used for diverse agricultural uses including , or 7.8% of the total, for permanent crop
A permanent crop is one produced from plants which last for many seasons, rather than being replanted after each harvest.
Traditionally, "arable land" included any land suitable for the growing of crops, even if it was actually being used for the ...
s. Bush and grass cover was present on or 8.4% of the territory, inland waters took up or 1.0% and marshes covered or 0.4% of the country. Artificial surfaces (primarily consisting of urban areas, roads, non-agricultural vegetation, sports areas and other recreational facilities) took up or 3.1% of the country's area. The greatest impetus for land use changes is the expansion of settlements and road construction.
Because of the Croatian War of Independence, there are numerous leftover minefields in Croatia
Minefields in Croatia cover of territory. As of 2020, the minefields (usually known as "mine suspected areas") are located in 45 cities and municipalities within 8 counties. These areas are thought to contain approximately 17,285 land mines, in a ...
, largely tracing former front lines. As of 2006, suspected minefields covered . As of 2012, 62% of the remaining minefields are situated in forests, 26% of them are found in agricultural land, and 12% are found in other land; it is expected that mine clearance
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contr ...
will be complete by 2019.
Regions
Croatia is traditionally divided into numerous, often overlapping geographic regions, whose borders are not always clearly defined. The largest and most readily recognisable ones throughout the country are Central Croatia
Croatia proper ( hr, Hrvatska) is one of the four historical regions of the Republic of Croatia, together with Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia. It is located between Slavonia in the east, the Adriatic Sea in the west, and Dalmatia to the south ...
(also described as the Zagreb macro-region), Eastern Croatia (largely corresponding with Slavonia), and Mountainous Croatia
Croatia proper ( hr, Hrvatska) is one of the four historical regions of the Republic of Croatia, together with Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia. It is located between Slavonia in the east, the Adriatic Sea in the west, and Dalmatia to the south ...
(Lika and Gorski Kotar; to the west of Central Croatia). These three comprise the inland or continental part of Croatia. Coastal Croatia consists of a further two regions: Dalmatia or the southern littoral, between the general area of the city of Zadar
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...
and the southernmost tip of the country; and the northern littoral located north of Dalmatia, encompassing the Croatian Littoral
Croatian Littoral ( hr, Hrvatsko primorje) is a historical name for the region of Croatia comprising mostly the coastal areas between traditional Dalmatia to the south, Mountainous Croatia to the north, Istria and the Kvarner Gulf of the Adria ...
and Istria. The geographical regions generally do not conform to county boundaries or other administrative divisions, and all of them encompass further, more specific, geographic regions.
Human geography
Demographics
The demographic features of the Croatian population are known through censuses, normally conducted in ten-year intervals and analysed by various statistical bureaus since the 1850s. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics
The Croatian Bureau of Statistics ( hr, Državni zavod za statistiku or DZS) is the Croatian national statistics bureau.
History
The bureau was formed in 1875 in Austria-Hungary as the ''Zemaljski statistički ured'' for the Kingdom of Croati ...
has performed this task since the 1990s. The latest census in Croatia was performed in April 2011. The permanent population of Croatia at the 2011 census had reached 4.29 million. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 75.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, and the overall life expectancy in Croatia at birth is 75.7 years. The population rose steadily (with the exception of censuses taken following the two world wars) from 2.1 million in 1857 until 1991, when it peaked at 4.7 million. Since 1991, Croatia's death rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
has continuously exceeded its birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
; the natural growth rate of the population is thus currently negative. Croatia is currently in the demographic transition
In demography, demographic transition is a phenomenon and theory which refers to the historical shift from high birth rates and high death rates in societies with minimal technology, education (especially of women) and economic development, to l ...
's fourth or fifth stage. In terms of age structure, the population is dominated by the 15‑ to 64‑year‑old segment. The median age of the population is 41.4, and the gender ratio of the total population is 0.93 males per 1 female.
Croatia is inhabited mostly by Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...
(89.6%), while minorities include Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
(4.5%) and 21 other ethnicities (less than 1% each) recognised by the Constitution of Croatia
The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Ustav Republike Hrvatske) is promulgated by the Croatian Parliament.
History
While it was part of the socialist Yugoslavia, the Socialist Republic of Croatia had its own Constitution under the ...
. The demographic history of Croatia is marked by significant migrations, including: the Croats' arrival in the area; the growth of the Hungarian and German speaking population after the personal union of Croatia and Hungary
The Kingdom of Croatia ( la, Regnum Croatiae; hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska, ''Hrvatsko kraljevstvo'', ''Hrvatska zemlja'') entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102, after a period of rule of kings from the Trpimirović and Svetosl ...
; joining of the Habsburg Empire
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
; migrations set off by the Ottoman conquests; and the growth of the Italian-speaking population in Istria and Dalmatia during the Venetian rule there. After Austria-Hungary's collapse, the Hungarian population declined, while the German-speaking population was forced out or fled during the last part of and after World War II, and a similar fate was suffered by the Italian population. The late 19th century and the 20th century were marked by large scale economic migrations abroad. The 1940s and the 1950s in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
were marked by internal migrations in Yugoslavia, as well as by urbanisation
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...
. The most recent significant migrations came as a result of the Croatian War of Independence when hundreds of thousands were displaced.
The Croatian language is Croatia's official language, but the languages of constitutionally-recognised minorities are officially used in some local government units. Croatian is the native language identified by 96% of the population. A 2009 survey revealed that 78% of Croatians claim knowledge of at least one foreign language—most often English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. The largest religions of Croatia are Roman Catholicism (86.3%), Orthodox Christianity
Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Chur ...
(4.4%) and Islam (1.5%). Literacy in Croatia stands at 98.1%. The proportion of the population aged 15 and over attaining academic degrees has grown rapidly since 2001, doubling and reaching 16.7% by 2008. An estimated 4.5% of GDP is spent for education. Primary and secondary education are available in Croatian and in the languages of recognised minorities. Croatia has a universal health care
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
system and in 2010, the nation spent 6.9% of its GDP on healthcare. The net monthly income in September 2011 averaged 5,397 kuna ( ). The most significant sources of employment in 2008 were wholesale and retail trade, the manufacturing industry and construction. In October 2011, the unemployment rate was 17.4%. Croatia's median equivalent household income tops the average Purchasing Power Standard
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of a basket ...
of the ten countries which joined the EU in 2004, while trailing the EU average. The 2011 census recorded a total of 1.5 million private households; most owned their own housing.
Political geography
Croatia was first subdivided into counties in the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. The divisions changed over time to reflect losses of territory to Ottoman conquest and subsequent liberation of the same territory, in addition to changes in the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and Istria. The traditional division of the country into counties was abolished in the 1920s, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the subsequent Kingdom of Yugoslavia introduced oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
s and banovinas respectively. Communist-ruled Croatia, as a constituent part of post-WWII Yugoslavia, abolished earlier divisions and introduced (mostly rural) municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, subdividing Croatia into approximately one hundred municipalities. Counties were reintroduced in 1992 by legislation, significantly altered in terms of territory relative to the pre-1920s subdivisions—for instance, in 1918 the Transleithania
The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ( hu, a Szent Korona Országai), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River) were the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, throughout the latter's entire exis ...
n part of Croatia was divided into eight counties with their seats in Bjelovar, Gospić, Ogulin, Požega, Vukovar, Varaždin, Osijek and Zagreb, while the 1992 legislation established 14 counties in the same territory. Međimurje County was established in the eponymous
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
region acquired through the 1920 Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...
. (The 1990 Croatian Constitution provided for a Chamber of the Counties as part of the government, and for counties themselves without specifying their names or number. However, the counties were not actually re-established until 1992, and the first Chamber of the Counties was elected in 1993.)
Since the counties were re-established in 1992, Croatia has been divided into 20 counties and the capital city of Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, the latter having the authority and legal status of a county and a city at the same time (Zagreb County
Zagreb County ( hr, Zagrebačka županija) is a county in Northern Croatia. It surrounds, but does not contain, the nation's capital Zagreb, which is a separate territorial unit. For that reason, the county is often nicknamed "Zagreb ring" ( hr, ...
outside the city is administratively separate as of 1997). The county borders have changed in some instances since (for reasons such as historical ties and requests by cities), with the latest revision taking place in 2006. The counties subdivide into 127 cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and 429 municipalities.
The EU Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) division of Croatia is performed in several tiers. NUTS 1 level places the entire country in a single unit, while there are three NUTS 2 regions; these are Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia, Northwest Croatia and Adriatic Croatia. The last encompasses all counties along the Adriatic coast. Northwest Croatia includes the city of Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje, Varaždin, Koprivnica-Križevci, Međimurje and Zagreb counties, and the Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia includes the remaining areas—Bjelovar-Bilogora, Virovitica-Podravina, Požega-Slavonia, Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Vukovar-Syrmia, Karlovac and Sisak-Moslavina counties. Individual counties and the city of Zagreb represent NUTS 3 level subdivision units in Croatia. The NUTS Local administrative unit
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, ...
divisions are two-tiered. The LAU 1 divisions match the counties and the city of Zagreb—in effect making these the same as NUTS 3 units—while the LAU 2 subdivisions correspond to the cities and municipalities of Croatia.
Urbanisation
The average urbanisation rate in Croatia stands at 56%, with a growing urban population and shrinking rural population. The largest city and the nation's capital is Zagreb, with an urban population of 686,568 in the city itself. Zagreb's metropolitan area encompasses 341 additional settlements and, by the year 2001, the population of the area had reached 978,161; approximately 60% of Zagreb County's residents live in Zagreb's metropolitan area, as does about 41% of Croatia's urban population. The cities of Split and Rijeka are the largest settlements on the Croatian Adriatic coast, with each city's population being over 100,000. There are four other Croatian cities exceeding 50,000 people: Osijek, Zadar, Pula and Slavonski Brod; the Zagreb district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
of Sesvete, which has the status of a standalone settlement but not a city, also has such a large population. A further eleven cities are populated by more than 20,000.
See also
* Geography of Europe
Europe is traditionally defined as one of seven continents. Physiographically, it is the northwestern peninsula of the larger landmass known as Eurasia (or the larger Afro-Eurasia); Asia occupies the eastern bulk of this continuous landmass and ...
References
Works cited
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Geography of Croatia