News: PM Modi hopes India and Croatia to make long term plans for defence cooperation, after a trip to Croatia.
Key Facts about Croatia
- Location: It is a small, crescent-shaped country located in the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula in the southeastern Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
- Borders: It borders Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and shares a maritime border with Italy to the west.
- Capital: Zagreb
- Topography: Karst topography makes up about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps.
- Climate: It experiences the Mediterranean and continental climate, but continental climate remains dominant with hot summers and cold winters in the hinterlands while mild winters, dry summers persist along coast.
- Rivers: The major rivers of Croatia are the Danube, Sava, Drava, Mura, and Kupa, which primarily drain into the Black Sea basin, while important rivers flowing to the Adriatic Sea include the Neretva, Cetina, Krka, and Zrmanja.
- Governance: Croatia is a parliamentary republic with a prime minister who is the head of government and a president who is the head of state.
- International co-operation: It is a member of the European Union (since 2013), the Schengen Area, and the Eurozone (since 2023).
- Economy: The economy is service-based, with tourism playing a major role, especially along the Adriatic coast.
- Tourism, shipbuilding, food processing, and chemical engineering are key industries, while agriculture plays a smaller role.
- Ports: The country’s major ports—Rijeka, Split, and Ploce—are integral components of the European Union’s core TEN-T network, supporting trans-European transport infrastructure.
- Historically, Croatia was part of Yugoslavia until its independence in 1991, after which it underwent significant reconstruction and democratic reforms.
