Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia ), is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe. Its coast lies entirely on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Italy to the west. Its capital and largest city, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, with twenty counties. Other major urban centers include Split, Rijeka and Osijek. The country spans 56,594 square kilometres, and has a population of nearly 3.9 million.
At the time of the Roman Empire, the area of modern Croatia comprised two Roman provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the area was subjugated by the Ostrogoths for 50 years, before being incorporated into the Byzantine Empire.
Culture of Croatia has historically been influenced by Central European, Mediterranean and other Balkan cultures. Croatia's unique culture and identity can be traced back to the historical llyricum. The Croatian language is believed to have been formed in the 6th or 7th century, and the written language is present in Glagolitic texts from the 11th century.
Hrvatska radiotelevizija, or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into three joint companies – Croatian Radio, Croatian Television and Music Production, which includes three orchestras and a choir.
Petar Preradović was a Croatian poet, writer, and military general. He was one of the most important Croatian poets of the 19th century Illyrian movement and the main representative of romanticism in Croatia.
Ferdo Šišić was a Croatian historian, the founding figure of the Croatian historiography of the 20th century. He made his most important contributions in the area of the Croatian early Middle Ages.
Leopold Maria Mandić [Mandich], OFMCap was a Croatian Capuchin friar and Catholic priest, who suffered from disabilities that would plague his speech and stature. He developed tremendous spiritual strength in spite of his disabilities and became extremely popular in his ministry as a confessor, often spending 12–15 hours in the confessional.
The A1 motorway is the longest motorway in Croatia, spanning 476.3 kilometers (296.0 mi). As it connects the nation's capital Zagreb to the second largest city Split, the motorway represents a major north–south transportation corridor in Croatia and a significant part of the Adriatic–Ionian motorway. Apart from Zagreb and Split, the A1 motorway runs near a number of major Croatian cities, provides access to several national parks or nature parks, world heritage sites, and numerous resorts, especially along the Adriatic Coast. National significance of the motorway is reflected through its positive economic impact on the cities and towns it connects as well as its importance to tourism in Croatia.
Igor Mandić was a Croatian writer, literary critic, columnist and essayist. According to Croatian historian Slobodan Prosperov Novak, Mandić was the most important and the most versatile Croatian newspaper writer of the second half of the 20th century. His polemic texts have marked a Yugoslav publicist epoch of the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his fresh, sharp writing style and contrarian views, he has been dubbed "the master of quarrel".
Božidar Kalmeta is a Croatian politician and member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party. From 2003 to 2011 he served in the Croatian Government as Croatia's Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure under HDZ prime ministers Ivo Sanader and Jadranka Kosor.
Lino Červar is a Croatian retired handball coach. In 2003 he guided Croatia men's national handball team to gold in the 2003 World Championship as well as to gold at the 2004 Olympics.
Highways in Croatia are the main transport network in Croatia. The Croatian classification includes several classes of highways:
Antun Šoljan was a Croatian writer in a period of Cold War who appeared as a part of the literary magazine Krugovi. Šoljan was active as a poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, literary critic and translator.
Velika Popina is a village in Croatia. The settlement is administered as a part of Gračac municipality, Zadar County.
Dominik Livaković is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Croatia national team.
Diplomatic relations between the republics of Croatia and Ireland were established on 27 January 1995 following Croatia's independence from SFR Yugoslavia. Ireland recognised Croatia as an independent state on 15 January 1992. Croatia is represented in Ireland through consulate and embassy in Dublin, while Ireland is represented in Croatia through its embassy and consulate in Zagreb. Both countries are full members of Council of Europe and of the European Union. In 2019, Croatian community in Ireland counted around 20,000 people.
The 2018–19 Croatian Second Football League was the 28th season of the Croatian Second Football League, the second-level football competition for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 24 August 2018 and ended in May 2019.
The 2018–19 HT Premijer liga was the 28th season of the HT Premijer liga, the highest professional basketball league in Croatia. It started on October 6, 2018 and finished on May 30, 2019.
On the night of 24–25 July 2020, after 21:00 local time, Zagreb, Croatia, was struck by a storm which produced one of the worst flash floods in the city's history. An episode of intense rainfall dumped more than 50 millimetres (2 in) of rain within two hours. The torrential streams of the mountain overlying Zagreb surged and overwhelmed the city's combined sewer system, causing flooding. The effects were worst felt in the inner city, notably Ilica, Donji grad and Trnje, though many suburbs were also affected, including Buzin, Črnomerec, Jankomir, and Maksimir. Public transport and automobile traffic ceased in many streets, while trapped people had to be rescued from flooded cars and apartments. A firefighter died at an intervention. No financial estimate of damages was released by the authorities. The city government reported receiving over 2,000 damage claims during an eight-day filing period.
