Croatia tourist information

Croatia is a country in Europe, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, Central Europe and the Balkans. Its capital is Zagreb. In recent history, it was a republic in the SFR Yugoslavia, but it achieved independence in 1991. It is a candidate for membership in the European Union.

Places to go in Croatia ...

Baska Baska Voda Bol Cavtat Cervar Porat Dubrovnik Fazana Funtana Hvar Kolocep Korcula Krilo Krk Lopud Lovran Makarska Mali Losinj Mlini Novi Vinodolski Novigrad Okrug Gornji Omis Opatija Orebic Podstrana Pomena Primosten Pula Punat Rab Rabac Rijeka Rovinj Savudrija Selce Sibenik Sipan Split Stari Grad Supetar Sveti Petar Tar Tijesno Trpanj Umag Vela Luka Veli Losinj Vis Vodice Vrsar Zadar Zagreb

Croatia is situated between central, southern, and eastern Europe. It has a rather peculiar shape that resembles a crescent or a horseshoe which helps account for its many neighbours: Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Italy across the Adriatic. Its mainland territory is split in two non-contiguous parts by the short coastline of Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum.

Its terrain is diverse, containing:

plains, lakes and rolling hills in the continental north and northeast (Central Croatia and Slavonia, part of the Pannonian plain).
densely wooded mountains in Lika and Gorski Kotar, part of the Dinaric Alps.
rocky coastlines on the Adriatic Sea (Istria, Northern Seacoast and Dalmatia).

The country is famous for its many beautiful national parks.

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Cuisine ^*

Croatian cuisine is heterogeneous and is therefore known as the cuisine of regions, since every region has its own distinct culinary traditions. Its modern roots date back to ancient periods and the differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those on the mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Slavic and the more recent contacts with the more famous gastronomic orders of today - Hungarian, Viennese and Turkish - while the coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine - Italian and French.

Cuisine of the regions
Croatian cuisine can, roughly summarized, be divided into some few regions which all have their specific cooking traditions, characteristic for the area and not necessarily well-known in other parts of Croatia. Meanwhile, however, most dishes can be found all across the country. This is also why the varied cuisine of Croatia is called "cuisine of the regions".

Slavonia: spicy cuisine with many Hungarian influences, many meat and game dishes.
Hrvatsko Zagorje and Medimurje: Strong Austrian influence, famous sweets and dumplings.
Middle Croatia or Croatian heartland: home-made cheese, heavy roast dishes, strong Ottoman influences.
Istria: light food with many herbs, truffle dishes and Italian influences.
Dalmatia: light, simple Mediterranean cuisine with many Italian influences, paradise for lovers of fresh fish.

Meat and game

Some expressions from typical Croatian menus:

Specialities from the grill are called s rostilja or s raznja.
peceno means roasted.
przeno means fried.
pod pekom means that the dish has been put into a stone oven under a metal cover. The cook puts hot coals on the cover so that the meal is being cooked slowly..

Wines
Croatian wine, like most European wine, has a history dating back before the rise of the Roman Empire. Once famous for their rich, fruity white wines, many of the vineyards and wineries along the Adriatic coast in the former Yugoslavia were destroyed during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s. However, Croatian wine has recently started to re-emerge in the world market as local and foreign investors attempt to restore the local wine industry.

History
Like the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, viticulture in the present-day Croatia existed hundreds of years before the rise of the Roman Empire. Under control of the Roman Empire, East European wine manufacturing became more modernized and extensive. Even after the fall of Rome, the wine industry continued to flourish until the end of the 15th century with the arrival of the Ottoman Turks. Due to strict anti-alcohol laws, viticulture in Eastern Europe was almost entirely erased under Islamic law.

Fortunately, since the Ottoman Empire was tolerant of Christianity, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, a Catholic tradition involving wine, is what is thought to have "saved" European wine production from complete extinction; Priests and Monks were permitted to continue producing wine in order to provide for Church services. In the 1700s, much of present-day Croatia came under control of the Habsburg Empire, where wine production flourished through the 19th and 20th centuries.

Since Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian economy has struggled to recover from the war. Even though many of the vineyards and wineries were destroyed during these wars, Croatian wine has started to re-emerge in the world wine market. After the removal of Communism from Eastern Europe, local wine makers and foreign investors have taken advantage of the region's attractive climate and grape variety to restore the Croatian wine industry to its previous success.

Regions
Croatia is divided into two large wine areas: the interior and the coastal area (which includes islands). Since much of the interior region was destroyed during the war, the coastal area remains the most prosperous region for grape cultivation.

Coastal Region - Croatia, which is situated along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea, is ideal for grape cultivation with its hot, humid summers and mild winters. Located along hillsides and slopes, wine regions along the coast receive many hours of sunlight, which is also ideal for grape production. The coastal region includes four primary wine producing areas including: Istria, Northern Dalmatia, the interior of Dalmatia, and Central/Southern Dalmatia. These regions are famous for producing fruity, dry white wines from a wide range of grape varieties, most famously the Malvazija and Grasevina grapes. Along with these native grapes, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay are also grown in the coastal regions of Croatia.

Coffee
Croatia is a country of coffee drinkers (on average 5kg per person annually), not only because it was formerly part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but also because it bordered the former Ottoman Empire. Traditional coffee houses similar to those in Vienna are located throughout Croatia.

History The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.

Culture ^*

Croatian culture is based on a thirteen-century-long history during which the country has attained many monuments and cities, which gave birth to a good number of brilliant individuals. The country includes six World Heritage sites and eight national parks. Two Nobel prize winners came from Croatia, as did numerous important inventors and other notable people — notably, some of the first fountain pens came from Croatia.

Croatia also has a place in the history of clothing as the origin of the necktie (cravat). The country has a long artistic, literary and musical tradition. Of particular interest is also the diverse cuisine.

Transportation

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Terrain Geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands.

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Languages Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German)

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Ethnic Groups Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, Bosniak 0.5%, Hungarian 0.4%, Slovene 0.3%, Czech 0.2%, Roma 0.2%, Albanian 0.1%, Montenegrin 0.1%, others 4.1% (2001)