An urbanized area in Croatia can gain the status of grad (which can be translated as town or city as there is no distinction between the two terms in Croatian) if it meets one of the following requirements:
A city (town) represents an urban, historical, natural, economic and social whole. The suburbs comprising an economic and social whole with the city, connected with it by daily migration movements and daily needs of the population of local significance, may also be included into the composition of a city as unit of local self-government. [1]
Grad (city/town) is the local administrative equivalent of općina (translated as "municipality"), with the only distinction being that the former usually comprise urban areas whereas the latter commonly consist of a group of villages. Both municipalities and city/towns often comprise more than one settlement, as the administrative territory of a grad may include suburban villages or hamlets near the city/town in question. Settlements (naselja) are the third-level spatial units of Croatia, [2] [3] and the smallest unit for which the decennial census data are published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics but are not administrative entities, i.e. they are governed by the municipal or city/town council of the local administrative unit they belong to.
Croatian cities are administratively subdivided into "city districts" (gradski kotari/gradske četvrti) and/or "local committees" (mjesni odbori) with elected councils. The City of Zagreb, as the capital, not being part of any county, is subdivided into both city districts and local committees. [4]
According to the Constitution, the city of Zagreb, as the capital of Croatia, has a special status. As such, Zagreb performs self-governing public affairs of both city and county. [8]
Cities (in English these would be called "towns"), within their self-governing scope of activities, perform the tasks of local significance, which directly fulfil the citizens' needs, and which were not assigned to the state bodies by the Constitution or law, particularly the tasks referring to urban design of settlements and dwelling, zoning and urban planning, communal activities, child care, social welfare, primary health care, personality development and primary education, culture, physical culture and sports, consumers protection, protection and improvement of the natural environment, fire and civil defence, local transport. [1]
"Big cities" ("big city" is a Croatian legal term, in English these would be just "cities"), i.e. cities with more than 35,000 inhabitants that are also economic, financial, cultural, public health, scientific or traffic centres and cities that are county seats, in addition to these tasks, are also responsible for tasks regarding public roads maintenance and issuing of building and location permits. [1]
City council (Gradsko vijeće) is the representative body of citizens and the body of local self-government. The councillors are elected for a four-year term on the basis of universal suffrage in direct elections by secret ballot using proportional system with d'Hondt method. The executive head of the city is the mayor (gradonačelnik), also elected in direct elections by majoritarian vote (two-round system) for a four-year term (together with one or two deputy mayors). [9] The mayor (with the deputy mayor/s) can be recalled by a referendum. City administrative departments and services manage administrative procedures in their areas of jurisdiction. The mayor names heads (principals) of the departments and services, who are chosen on the basis of a public competition. [1]
The following is a complete list of all officially designated 128 cities/towns in Croatia, sorted by population according to the 2021 population census. At the time of the 2001 census, there had been 123 cities/towns in the country and four former municipalities were administratively upgraded to towns prior to the 2011 census: Vodnjan (in 2003), Kutjevo, Otok, and Sveta Nedelja (in 2006). In addition, the table includes data for Popovača, also a former municipality which was re-designated as town in the administrative revision in April 2013. [7]
The Municipal column in the table lists total population within the geographical boundary of the local administrative subdivision. This means that the figure often includes other smaller settlements such as villages or hamlets located on the outskirts or near the city/town proper. In contrast, the Town/City proper column lists only population of the city/town proper, without the smaller settlements which administratively belong to the city. Both numbers are given as in some cases the figures may vary dramatically (for example Velika Gorica with nearby settlements has a population of around 61,000 but the town proper has only 30,000 residents).
The town of Kaštela is a unique exception in that it only exists as an administrative unit - it is legally treated as an agglomeration of seven separate settlements with populations ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, none of which is actually called "Kaštela". Its town council is located in Kaštel Sućurac.
Another set of exceptions arises from the special status of the City of Zagreb, which is considered both a county and a city, and is further subdivided into city districts, local committees and settlements. Unlike its other districts, the district of Sesvete still has the status of a standalone settlement with a population of about 55,000. This would make it a large city in itself, but it does not have the administrative status of a city. [10] [11]
Zagreb County is a county in Northern Croatia. It surrounds, but does not contain, the nation's capital Zagreb, which is a separate territorial unit. For that reason, the county is often nicknamed "Zagreb ring". According to the 2011 census, the county has 317,606 inhabitants, most of whom live in smaller urban satellite towns.
Sisak-Moslavina County is a Croatian county in eastern Central Croatia and southwestern Slavonia. It is named after the city of Sisak and the region Moslavina just across the river Sava. According to 2021 census, it is inhabited by 141,000 people.
Bjelovar-Bilogora County is a county in central Croatia.
Brod-Posavina County is the southern Slavonian county in Croatia. Its center is the city of Slavonski Brod and it spreads along the left bank of the Sava river, hence the name Posavina. Other notable towns include Nova Gradiška.
The Dubrovnik-Neretva County is the southernmost county of Croatia. The county seat is Dubrovnik and other large towns are Korčula, Metković, Opuzen and Ploče. The Municipality of Neum, which belongs to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, divides the county in two parts which are connected only by the Pelješac Bridge. The southern part of the county consists of Dubrovnik and the surrounding area, including the Pelješac peninsula, and the islands of Korčula, Lastovo, Mljet, Šipan, Lopud and Koločep. The northern part of the county includes the Neretva Delta, the Baćina lakes north of Ploče, and a swath of hinterland near the southernmost slopes of Biokovo and around the hill of Rujnica. The northern part of the Mljet island is a national park. The Lastovo archipelago is a designated nature park. The southernmost tip of the county is the Prevlaka peninsula at the border with Montenegro. It is the only Croatian county that borders Montenegro.
Ližnjan is a village and municipality in Istria, Croatia. It has high biodiversity.
The counties of Croatia are the first-level administrative subdivisions of the Republic of Croatia. Since they were re-established in 1992, Croatia has been divided into 20 counties and the capital city of Zagreb, which has the authority and legal status of both a county and a city. As of 2015, the counties are subdivided into 128 cities and 428 municipalities. The divisions have changed over time since the medieval Croatian state. They reflected territorial losses and expansions; changes in the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and Istria; and political circumstances, including the personal union and subsequent development of relations between the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and the Kingdom of Hungary.
Municipalities in Croatia are the second-lowest administrative unit of government in the country, and along with cities and towns they form the second level of administrative subdisivion, after counties. Each municipality consists of one or more settlements (naselja), which are the third-level spatial units of Croatia.
Popovača is a town in Croatia in the Moslavina geographical region. Administratively it is part of the Sisak-Moslavina County.
Stankovci is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Zadar County.
Mala Subotica is a village and municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia.
Sveta Marija is a village and a municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia. It is located in the south-eastern part of the county, near the Drava River, approximately 27 kilometres south-east of Čakovec and 11 kilometres east of Prelog, the largest and second-largest city of Međimurje County respectively.
Settlements in Croatia, in Croatian naselje are the third-level spatial division of the country, and usually indicate existing or former human settlement. Each Croatian city or town or municipality consists of one or more settlements. A settlement can be part of only one second-level spatial division, whose territory is the sum of exclusive settlement territories. Settlements are not necessarily incorporated places, as second-level local authorities, known as jedinice lokalne samouprave, delegate some of their functions to so-called jedinice mjesne samouprave.
Sveti Kuzam is a village located between Bakar and Rijeka in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia. The village is administered as a part of the City of Rijeka.
Štefanec is a village in Međimurje County, Croatia.
Marinci is a village in the Nuštar municipality in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia located northeast of Vinkovci and southwest of Vukovar. The population is 670.
Grabovo is a settlement south of Vukovar, Croatia. The location was established as a pustara, a Pannonian type of hamlet. It consists of two hamlets, Ovčara and Jakobovac, in the north, which are administratively part of the city of Vukovar, and have a total population of 47, and an uninhabited section in the south which is administratively under the municipality of Tompojevci.
Local advisory referendums were held in Croatia on 2 June 1996, following proposed changes to the system of local and regional self-government. The referendums covered seven municipalities, 3 cities and one county.
Dubrava is a settlement in the Town of Omiš in Croatia. In 2021, its population was 305.
Vir is a municipality on the eponymous island of Vir in Zadar County, Croatia. The municipality was established in 1993, incorporating three settlements, that of Lozice, Torovi and Vir, and the islet of Školjčić. Before the independence of Croatia, Vir was administratively part of the former Municipality of Zadar.