Croatia

Croatia: capital Zagreb, population 3.9M, area 56,594 km². The 128th most populous country, in Europe. Facts, map, neighbours and more.

Croatia's layers include the copper-working Vučedol culture on the Danube and Tomislav, whom a papal letter addressed as king in 925. Diocletian's Palace became part of a living city, Dubrovnik rebuilt after the earthquake of 1667, and Greek field divisions on Hvar stayed in agricultural use for 24 centuries. A stone tablet from about 1100 records the Croatian name in Glagolitic letters, while klapa singing builds harmony from unaccompanied Dalmatian voices.

• The Vučedol culture flourished from about 3000 to 2200 BC beside the Danube in eastern Slavonia, developing copper and arsenical-bronze metalworking across a wide settlement network.
• By 925, Pope John X's chancellery addressed Tomislav as ‘King of the Croats’; no surviving inscription records when, where or by whom he was crowned.
• The maritime Republic of Ragusa, centered on Dubrovnik, existed under that name from 1358 to 1808 and reached its commercial peak during the 15th and 16th centuries.
• On 6 April 1667, an earthquake destroyed more than three-quarters of Dubrovnik's public buildings; the fires that followed burned for almost 20 days.

• Dubrovnik-born Ruđer Bošković developed an early atomic theory and in 1753 concluded that the Moon had no atmosphere after studying a lunar occultation of a star.
• Fausto Vrančić's Machinae Novae, printed in 1615 or 1616, presented 56 machines in 49 plates, including the Homo Volans design for a framed parachute.
• Sculptor Ivan Meštrović moved to the United States in 1947 and became the first artist of Croatian origin to exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Dražen Petrović led Cibona Zagreb to consecutive EuroLeague titles in 1985 and 1986 before joining the NBA in 1989 and later starting for the New Jersey Nets.

• Diocletian's Palace was built at Split in the late third century as a Roman emperor's retirement residence; roughly half served him and half housed a military garrison.
• Dubrovnik's walls run uninterrupted for about 1,940 metres around the old city, reach up to 25 metres high and were built mainly between the 13th and 17th centuries.
• Plitvice Lakes became a national park in 1949 and a World Heritage site in 1979, protecting 296.85 square kilometres of tufa lakes, caves and linked waterfalls.
• Greek colonists laid out the Stari Grad Plain on Hvar in the fourth century BC; its stone-divided fields, water system, grapevines and olives remain in use 24 centuries later.

• The Baška tablet, carved around 1100 in Glagolitic script, preserves an early Croatian-language inscription and the first surviving native-form mention of the Croatian name and King Zvonimir.
• Croatian lacemaking traditions center on Pag, Hvar and Lepoglava, each with its own materials and patterns; UNESCO added the shared craft to its list in 2009.
• During Sinjska alka, horsemen gallop at a suspended metal ring and score by striking different sections with a lance; UNESCO listed the Sinj tournament in 2010.
• Klapa is unaccompanied multipart singing from Dalmatia, built around blended harmony rather than strong rhythm; UNESCO inscribed the Croatian tradition in 2012.

What is the capital of Croatia?

The capital of Croatia is Zagreb.

What is the population of Croatia?

Croatia has about 3.9M people — the 128th most populous country in the world.

How big is Croatia?

Croatia covers 56,594 km², making it the 124th largest country by area.

Which region is Croatia in?

Croatia is in Southeast Europe, Europe.