General information

Croatia is a Central European and Mediterranean country, bordering Slovenia in the west, Hungary in the north, Serbia in the east and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the south. Croatia also has a long maritime border with Italy in the Adriatic Sea. These borders total 2,028 km altogether. Croatia extends from the furthest eastern edges of the Alps in the north-west to the Pannonian lowlands and the banks of the Danube in the east; its central region is covered by the Dinara mountain range, and its southern parts extend to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Capital: Zagreb

Croatia has an amazing 5,835km of coastline, 4,057km of which belongs to islands, cliffs and reefs. There are 1,185 islands in the Adriatic, but only about 50 are populated. The largest island is Krk (near Rijeka) which has a land area of 462 square km.

The climate is Mediterranean along the Adriatic coast, meaning warm dry summers and mild winters, with 2,600 hours of sunlight on average yearly - it is one of the sunniest coastlines in Europe! In the interior of the country, the climate is continental with hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

History

Slavic Croatian tribes settled in the area in the early 7th century (arriving from present day Poland), accepting Christianity in around 800 A.D., and soon establishing their own state ruled by princes or dukes. In 925, Croatia became a kingdom under the rule of King Tomislav. In 1102 the country formed a union with Hungary which lasted until 1918. After the end of the First World War, Croatia joined Serbia, and Yugoslavia (the land of South Slavs) was formed, until its demise in 1991. The first Yugoslavia (1918-1941) was ruled by the Serbian royal family, Karadjordjevic, which naturally favoured the Serbs and caused enormous resentment in Croatia. The country was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1941, which gave Croatia independence under the fascist dictator Ante Pavelic. This regime was known for its harsh rule and for committing numerous atrocities, and therefore many Croats (over 200,000) actively joined the resistance movement under Tito which liberated the country in May 1945. (Winston Churchill was so impressed with the Croatian resistance that in 1944 he sent his son Randolph and the writer Evelyn Waugh to Croatia as his personal emissaries.) Croatia became one of the Yugoslav republics ruled by the communist government until 1991 when Croatia declared its independence, prompting Serbian invasion. Almost all Croats rose to defend their country under the leadership of its first president, the late Franjo Tudjman (who died in December 1999), and after five years the country was liberated.

Croatia Today

Croatia will start negotiations to join the EU on March 17th 2005, and most experts predict that it will join in 2008.

Climate

The two climate zones; a temperate continental climate, locally also a mountainous climate, prevails in the interior, whereas a pleasant Mediterranean climate prevails along the Adriatic coast, with an overwhelming number of sunny days, dry and hot summers, mild and humid winters; average temperature in the inland: January 0 to 2?C, August 19 to 23?C; average temperature at the seaside: January 6 to 11?C, August 21 to 27 ?C; the temperature is about 12?C in winter, and 25?C in summer.

Currency:

kuna (1 kuna = 100 lipa). Foreign currency can be exchanged in banks, exchange offices, post offices, travel agencies, hotels, camps, marinas; cheques can be cashed in banks.

Croatian cuisine

Croatian cuisine is Varied and is known as "the cuisine of regions". Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Proto-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. In general people from the Croatian Adriatic eat food that is very similar to Italian cuisine, where dishes are similar to those of Central Europe (Austro-Hungarian).

Electricity:

Voltage of city power grid ? 220V, frequency 50HZ

Time zone:

GMT plus one hour in winter and GMT plus two in summer.

Medical service:

There are hospitals and clinics in all larger cities and first aid clinics and pharmacies in all places. Foreign tourists do not pay for medical services if the Health Care Convention was signed between Croatia and the country they come from. Expenses of health services provided to persons coming from the countries with which the Health Care Convention was not signed are charged directly to users according to the price list. For patients whose lives are in danger, there is emergency transport by air(helicopter) or sea (speadboat).

Working hours:

Shops and department stores are open between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., or to 3 p.m. A smaller number of stores close between noon and 4 p.m. stores are also open on Sundays, especially in the summer, and a smaller number in the Many larger cities are open 24 hours a day. Public services and companies usually work from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

Important telephone numbers:

International dialling prefix for Croatia: 385

Ambulance 94

Fire-service 93

Police 92