A Mediterranean and Central European country with 1,244 islands, with an area of 87,661 m2, of which 56,594 m2 is land, and 31,479 m2 is sea. It has a coastline that is 6,278 km long, 1,880 km of coastline along the mainland and a coastline of 4,398 km along the islands.
It stretches between the Pannonian Lowlands and mountainous Croatia, to the beautiful Adriatic Sea. The highest peak is Dinara at 1,831m while the Podravina Lowlands have a desert, the Djurdjevac Sands.
Because of all this, you can enjoy a variety of climates, from Mediterranean to continental and mountainous. This is a rare place where you can enjoy the snow, and only 30 km away and a half-hour drive, enjoy beautiful sunny beaches.
With an average of 2,600 hours of sunshine each year, the Croatian Adriatic coast is one of the sunniest in the Mediterranean.
Croatia is the homeland of three Nobel prize winners: Lavoslav Ružička (Chemistry), Vladimir Prelog (Chemistry), and Ivo Andrić (Literature), as well as the homeland of Nikola Tesla, the world-famous inventor (alternating current system, electric motor, radio transmission, wireless telegraphy.....), Ruđer Bošković (force theory, structure of matter....), Faust Vrančić (parachute, metal and suspension bridges...) to modern young innovators and enthusiasts like Mate Rimac.
Croatia is also home to many of the world's technical and technological achievements: torpedo, MP3 player, pen, typography, rocket engine, lightning rod, tungsten filament lamps, ties, the fastest electric car in the world, but also the homeland of the Dalmatian dog, the oldest arboretum, the first quarantine in the world, the first sea organ in the world, the smallest city in the world, but also the homeland of Marco Polo.
According to the report of the Greatest Sporting Nation portal for 2018, Croatia ranks second in the world regarding athletes' success on par with the population. Champions, runners-up, gold, silver and bronze medalists in numerous world competitions or Olympic Games, in numerous sports: football, handball, basketball, water polo, skiing, rowing, tennis, athletics, and gymnastics, with very famous names such as Luka Modrić, Davor Šuker, Dražen Petrović, Domagoj Duvnjak, Ivano Balić, Janica and Ivica Kostelić, the Sinković brothers, Goran Ivanišević, Tin Srbić, Sandra Perković ... and many others.
Croatia is a small country with a great cultural and natural heritage:
- with 10 Unesco-protected sites of cultural and natural heritage
- 8 national parks
- 14 nature parks
- 2 nature reserves
One of the cleanest seas in the world, beautiful beaches, hidden bays, clean rivers and lakes, hills, hillocks and mountain peaks - all of this can be found in Croatia. Unlike rarely elsewhere, you can drink clean natural water.
