Hrvatska / Croatia / Croácia - a photo on Flickriver

A country to Visit
Is a country in central and southeastern Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital (and largest city) is Zagreb. Croatia borders Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and Serbia and Montenegro to the east.
The Croats arrived in the early seventh century in what is Croatia today. They organized the state into two dukedoms. The first king, King Tomislav was crowned in AD 925 and Croatia was elevated into the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for almost two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Demetrius Zvonimir. Croatia entered a union with Hungary in 1102. In 1526, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, Croatia declared independence from Austria–Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. An independent Croatian state briefly existed during World War II, during which Croatia was a dependency of Nazi Germany during 1941–1945. After World War II, Croatia became a founding member of the Second Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence and became a sovereign state.
Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization and CEFTA. The country is a candidate for European Union membership and is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia is classified as an emerging and developing economy by the International Monetary Fund and a high income economy by the World Bank.

History
Early History
The area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period. Fossils of Neanderthals dating to the middle Paleolithic have been unearthed in the area of Krapina and Vindija. More recent (late Mousterian) Neanderthal remains have been discovered in Mujina pećina near the coast.
In the early Neolithic period, the Starčevo, Vučedol and Hvar cultures were scattered around the region. The Iron Age left traces of the Hallstatt culture (early Illyrians) and the La Tène culture (Celts).
Much later the region was settled by Liburnians, Dacians and Illyrians, and Greek colonies were established on the islands of Vis (by Dionysius I of Syracuse) and Hvar. In 9 AD the territory of today's Croatia became part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian built a massive palace in Split where he retired from politics in AD 305. During the 5th century the last Roman Emperor Julius Nepos ruled his small empire from Diocletian's Palace before he was killed in AD 480. The early history of Croatia ends with the Avar invasion in the first half of the 7th century and the destruction of almost all Roman towns. Roman survivors retreated to strategically better defended points on the coast, islands and mountains. The modern city of Dubrovnik was founded by those survivors.

Kingdom of Croatia
The Croats arrived in what is today Croatia probably in the early 7th century. They organized into two dukedoms; the duchy of Pannonia in the north and the duchy of Littoral Croatia in the south. Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote that Porga, duke of the Dalmatian Croats, who had been invited into Dalmatia by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, sent to Heraclius for Christian teachers. According to Constantine, at the request of Heraclius, Pope John IV (640–642) sent Christian teachers and missionaries to the Croatian Provinces. These missionaries converted Porga, and also a great many of the clan that was under his immediate authority, to the Christian faith in 640. The Christianization of the Croats was mostly complete by the 9th century. Both duchies became Frankish vassals in late 8th century, and eventually became independent in the following century.
The first native Croatian ruler recognized by the Pope was duke Branimir, whom Pope John VIII called dux Croatorum ("duke of Croats") in 879. Duke Tomislav of Littoral Croatia was one of the most prominent members of the House of Trpimirović. He united the Croats of Dalmatia and Pannonia into a single Kingdom in 925. Traditionally it's stated that Tomislav's state extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Drava river, and from the Raša river to the Drina river, but the precise borders are unknown. Under his rule, Croatia became one of the most powerful kingdoms in Medieval Europe. Tomislav defeated the invasions of the Arpads in battle and forced them across the Drava. He also annexed a part of Pannonia. This included the area between the rivers Drava, Sava and Kupa, so his Duchy bordered with Bulgaria for a period of time. This was the first time that the two Croatian Realms were united, and all Croats were in one state. The union was later recognised by Byzantium, which gave the royal crown to Stjepan Držislav and papal crown to king Zvonimir. The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak during the reign of Kings Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Zvonimir (1075–1089).

Kingdom of Croatia existed ever since it's foundation in 925 till the end of WWI, first as an indeprndent kingdom and later as a crown in different multietnic empires such as Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg monarchy or Austria-Hungary.

Personal union with Hungary
Following the extinction of the Croatian ruling dynasty in 1091, Ladislaus I of Hungary, the brother of Jelena Lijepa, the last Croatian queen, became the king of Croatia. Croatian nobility of the Littoral opposed this crowning, which led to 10 years of war and the recognition of the Hungarian ruler Coloman as the king of Croatia and Hungary in the treaty of 1102 (often referred to as the Pacta conventa). In return, Coloman promised to maintain Croatia as a separate kingdom, not to settle Croatia with Hungarians, to guarantee Croatia's self-governance under a Ban, and to respect all the rights, laws and privileges of the Croatian Kingdom. During this union, the Kingdom of Croatia never lost the right to elect its own king, had the ruling dynasty become extinct. In 1293 and 1403 Croatia chose its own king, but in both cases the Kingdom of Hungary declared war and the union was reestablished.
For the next four centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia was ruled by the Sabor and Bans appointed by the Hungarian king. The Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia remained a legally distinct constitutional entity, but the advent of a Hungarian king brought about other consequences such as: the introduction of feudalism and the rise of native noble families such as the Frankopans and the Šubićs. The 1273 Congregatio Regni tocius Sclavonie Generalis, the oldest surviving document written by the Croatian parliament, dates from this period. Subsequent kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by granting certain privileges to towns.
The first period of personal union between Croatia and Hungary ended in 1526 with the Battle of Mohács and the defeat of Hungarian forces by the Ottomans. After the death of King Louis II, Croatian nobles at the Cetingrad assembly chose the Habsburgs as new rulers of the Kingdom of Croatia, under the condition that they provide the troops and finances required to protect Croatia against the Ottoman Empire.

Republic of Ragusa
The city of Dubrovnik/Ragusa was founded in 7th century after Avar and Slavic raiders destroyed the Roman city of Epidaurum. The surviving Roman population escaped to a small island near the coast where they founded a new settlement. During the Fourth Crusade the city fell under control of the Republic of Venice until the 1358 Zadar treaty when Venice, defeated by the Hungarian kingdom, lost control of Dalmatia and the Republic of Ragusa became a tributary of that kingdom. Through the next 450 years the Republic of Ragusa would be a tributary Republic protected by Ottomans and Habsburgs until the Napoleon abolished in 1808 when Ragusa, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia was briefly the Illyrian Provinces. During this time the republic became rich through trade.
The republic became the most important publisher of Croatian literature during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Aside from poets and writers like Marin Držić and Ivan Gundulić, whose works were important for Croat literature development, the most famous person from the Republic of Dubrovnik was the scientist Ruđer Josip Bošković, who was a member of the Royal Society and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The republic would survive until 1808 when it was annexed by Napoleon. Today the city of Dubrovnik features on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list and is a famous tourist destination.

Ottoman wars
Shortly after the Battle of Mohács, the Habsburgs unsuccessfully sought to stabilise the borders between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Croatia by creating a captaincy in Bihać. However, in 1529, the Ottoman army swept through the area and captured Buda and besieged Vienna; an event which brought violence and turmoil to the Croatian border areas (see Ottoman wars in Europe). After the failure of the first military operations, the Kingdom of Croatia was split into civilian and military units in 1553. The latter became Croatian Krajina and Slavonian Krajina and both eventually became parts of the Croatian Military Frontier which was directly under the control of Vienna. Ottoman raids on Croatian territory continued until the Battle of Sisak in 1593, after which the borders stabilised for some time. The kingdom of that time became known as the Reliquiae reliquiarum olim inclyti Regni Croatiae ("The remains of the remains of the once famous Kingdom of Croatia"). An important battle during this time was the Battle of Szigetvár (1566), when 2,300 soldiers under the leadership of ban Nikola Šubić Zrinski held back for two months 100,000 Ottoman soldiers led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, fighting to the last man. Cardinal Richelieu was reported to have called the event "the battle that saved civilization."
During the Great Turkish War (1667–1698), Slavonia was regained but hilly western Bosnia, which had been a part of Croatia until the Ottoman conquest, remained outside Croatian control and the current border, which resembles a crescent or a horseshoe, is a remnant of this historical outcome. The southern part of the 'horseshoe' was created by the Venetian conquest following the Siege of Zara and was defined by the 17–18th century wars with the Ottomans. The de jure reason for Venetian expansion was the decision of the king of Croatia, Ladislas of Naples, to sell his rights on Dalmatia to Venice in 1409.
During more than two centuries of Ottoman wars, Croatia underwent great demographic changes. The Croats left the riverland areas of Gacka, Lika and Krbava, Moslavina in Slavonia, and an area in present day north-western Bosnia to move towards Austria where they remained and the present day Burgenland Croats are direct descendants of these settlers. To replace the fleeing Croats, the Habsburgs called on the Orthodox populations of Bosnia and Serbia to provide military service in Croatian and Slavonian Krajina. Serbian migration into this region, which had started in the 16th century, peaked during the Great Serb Migrations of 1690 and 1737–39. The rights and obligations of new populace of the Military frontier were decided with the Statuta Valachorum in 1630.

National Revival
National revival in Croatia started in 1813 when the bishop of Zagreb Maksimilijan Vrhovac issued a plea for the collection of "national treasures". At the beginning of the 1830s, a group of young Croatian writers gathered in Zagreb and established the Illyrian movement for national renewal and unity of all South Slavs within the Habsburg Monarchy. The most important focus of the Illyrians was the establishment of a standard language as a counter-weight to Hungarian, and the promotion of Croatian literature and official culture. Important members of this movement were Count Janko Drašković, who initiated the movement by writing a pamphlet in 1832, Ljudevit Gaj who received permission from the royal government of Habsburg for printing the first newspaper in the Croatian language, Antun Mihanović, who wrote the lyrics for the Croatian national anthem, Vatroslav Lisinski, composer of the first Croatian language opera, "Ljubav i zloba" ("Love and Malice", 1846), and many others.
Fearful first of Hungarian and then Habsburg (Austrian) pressure of assimilation, the Kingdom of Croatia had always refused to change the status of Latin as its official language until the middle of the 19th century. Only on 2 May 1843 the Croatian language was first spoken in parliament, finally gaining official status in 1847 due to the popularity of the Illyrian movement.
Even with a large Slavic (Croatian) majority, Dalmatia retained large Italian communities in the coast (in the cities and the islands, largest concentration in Istria). According to the 1816 Austro-Hungarian census, 22% of the Dalmatian population was Italian-speaking. Starting in the 19th century, most Dalmatian Italians and Morlachs with an Istro-Romanian language gradually assimilated to the prevailing Croatian culture and language.

Austria–Hungary
On January 1, 1527, Croatian noblemen gathered in the Cetin fortress in the city of Cetingrad for the Parliament on Cetin and elected Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria as the new king of the Croatian kingdom. Croatia of that time was carring a name triune kingdom; Kingdom of Croatia, Kingdom of Dalmatia and Kingdom of Slavonia. Kingdom of Croatia and kingdom of Slavonia united in 1868, creating Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.
The Croatian answer to the Hungarian revolution of 1848 was a declaration of war. Austrian, Croatian and Russian forces together defeated the Hungarian army in 1849 and the following 17 years were remembered in Croatia and Hungary for the policy of Germanization. The eventual failure of this policy resulted in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the creation of a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The treaty left unanswered the question of the status of Croatia. The following year the Croatian and Hungarian parliaments created a constitution for union of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and the Kingdom of Hungary.
After the Ottoman Empire lost military control over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary abolished Croatian Krajina and Slavonian Krajina, restoring the territories to Croatia in 1881. During the second half of the 19th century pro-Hungarian and pro-Austrian political parties played Croats against Serbs with the aim of controlling the parliament. This policy failed in 1906 when a Croat-Serb coalition won the elections. The newly created political situation remained unchanged until the advent of World War I.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia
On 29 October 1918, the Croatian Sabor (parliament) declared independence, creating the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Pressured by the Italian army, which was entering its territory from south and west, the National Council (Narodno vijeće) started expedient negotiations with the Kingdom of Serbia and on November 23, 1918, a delegation was sent to Belgrade with the aim of a proclamation of union. The National Council delegation delivered 11 points which needed to be fulfilled for the creation of a future state.[25] The most important of these points was the first, which referred to the need of a constitution for the new state, a proposal that was passed with a two thirds majority. Eventually, a constitution for a centralized state was passed with a majority of 50% + 1 vote and caused the end of state autonomy. On 1 December 1918, the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, colloquially known as Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was created. This decision created public outcry among Croats, which started a political upheaval for the restoration of state autonomy by the leadership of the Croatian Peasant Party.
The unhealthy political situation in Yugoslavia became much worse after Stjepan Radić, the president of CPP, was killed in the Yugoslav parliament building in 1928 by Serbian ultranationalist Puniša Račić.
The ensuing chaotic period ended the next year when King Alexander abolished the Constitution, prorogued the Parliament and introduced a personal dictatorship. The next four years of the Yugoslav regime were described by Albert Einstein in 1931 as a "horrible brutality which is being practised upon the Croatian People". During the dictatorship, Vladko Maček, leader of the Croatian Peasant Party, was imprisoned, only becoming free after king Alexander was killed in a plot organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Upon Maček's release, the political situation was restored to that before the murder of Stjepan Radić, continuing Croatian demands for autonomy. The Croatian question was solved only on August 26, 1939 by the Cvetković-Maček Agreement, when Croatia received autonomy and an extension of its borders and Maček became Yugoslav vice-prime minister. The ensuing peace was terminated by the German invasion of 1941.

Geography
Croatia is located between South-Central Europe and Middle Europe. Its shape resembles that of a crescent or a horseshoe, which flanks its neighbours Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. To the north lie Slovenia and Hungary; Italy lies across the Adriatic Sea. Its mainland territory is split in two non-contiguous parts by the short coastline of Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum.
Its terrain is diverse, including:
plains, lakes and rolling hills in the continental north and northeast (Central Croatia and Slavonia, part of the Pannonian Basin);
densely wooded mountains in Lika and Gorski Kotar, part of the Dinaric Alps;
rocky coastlines on the Adriatic Sea (Istria, Northern Seacoast and Dalmatia).
Phytogeographically, Croatia belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Central European and Illyrian provinces of the Circumboreal Region and the Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region. According to the WWF, the territory of Croatia can be subdivided into three ecoregions: the Pannonian mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests.
The country is famous for its many national parks. Croatia has a mixture of climates. In the north and east it is continental, Mediterranean along the coast and a semi-highland and highland climate in the south-central region. Istra has a temperate climate, while the Palagruža archipelago is home to a subtropical climate.
Insular Croatia consists of over one thousand islands varying in size. The largest islands in Croatia are Cres and Krk which are located in the Adriatic Sea. The Danube, Europe's second longest river, runs through the city of Vukovar. Dinara, the eponym of the Dinaric Alps, is the highest peak of Croatia at 1,831 metres (6,007 ft) above sea level.
Karst topography makes up more than 50% of Croatia and is especially obvious in the area south of Karlovac. There are 49 caves deeper than 250 m (820.21 ft) in Croatia, 14 of them are deeper than 500 m (1,640.42 ft) and three deeper than 1,000 m (3,280.84 ft) (the Lukina jama-Trojama, Slovacka jama and Velebita cave systems). The deepest Croatian pits are mostly found in two regions – Mt. Velebit and Mt. Biokovo.

Other Info
Oficial name:
Republika Hrvatska

Establishment:
Founded First half of 7th century
- Medieval duchy March 4, 852
- Independence May 21, 879
- Elevated to kingdom 925
- Union with Hungary 1102
- Joined Habsburg Empire January 1, 1527
- Independence from Austria-Hungary, October 29, 1918
- Joined Yugoslavia (co-creator), December 1, 1918
- Declared independence June 25, 1991

Area:
56.542 km2

Inhabitants:
5.250.000

Languages
Croatian [hrv] 4,800,000 in Croatia (1995). Population total all countries: 6,214,643. Also spoken in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia. Alternate names: Hrvatski. Dialects: Kaykavski, Chakavski, Shtokavski (Ijekavski). Shtokavski is the official dialect, but the others are recognized as valid dialects, with a large body of literature. Other dialects in other countries, like Burgenland Croatian in Austria, are less intelligible. Classification: Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western
More information.

Istriot [ist] 1,000 (2000 Salminen). Western coast of Istrian Peninsula, now only in the towns of Rovinj (Rovigno) and Vodnjan (Dignano). Dialects: Reported to be an archaic Romance language, often confused with Istro-Rumanian. Perhaps closer to Friulian or Dalmatian than to Istro-Rumanian. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Italo-Dalmatian
More information.

Italian [ita] 70,000 in Croatia whose first language is Italian or Venetian (1998 Eugen Marinov). Population includes 30,000 ethnic Italian and 40,000 ethnic Croats and Istrian people. Ethnic population: 30,000 (1998). Istria. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Italo-Dalmatian
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Romanian, Istro [ruo] 555 to 1,500 (1994). Northeast Istrian Peninsula, Zejane village and a few villages to the south. Alternate names: Istro-Romanian. Dialects: Structurally a separate language from Romanian (F. B. Agard). Split from the other 3 Romanian languages between 500 and 1000 A.D. Not the same as the Istriot language. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Eastern
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Venetian [vec] 100,000 in Croatia and Slovenia (1994 Tapani Salminen). See also Italian in Croatia. Istrian Peninsula and Dalmatia. Dialects: Istrian, Tretine, Venetian Proper. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Italian
More information.

Capital city:
Zagreb

Meaning country name:
Latinization of the Croatian name Hrvatska, derived from Hrvat (Croat): a word of unknown origin, possibly from a Sarmatian word for "herdsman" or "cowboy"[citation needed]. May be related to an aboriginal tribe of Alans.

Description Flag:
The Croatian flag consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in the pan-Slavic colours red, white and blue. In the middle is the Coat of Arms of Croatia.
The red-white-blue tricolour has been used as the Croatian flag since 1848, symbolising the Pan-Slavic colours. While Croatia was part of Yugoslavia its tricolour was the same, but it had a five-pointed red star with a yellow border in place of the coat of arms. The star was replaced by the coat in May of 1990, shortly after the first multi-party elections. The current flag and the coat of arms were formally adopted on December 21, 1990, about ten months before the proclamation of independence from Yugoslavia.

Coat of arms:
The Coat of arms of Croatia consists of one main shield and five smaller shields which form a crown over the main shield. The main coat of arms is a checkerboard (chequy) that consists of 13 red and 12 silver (white) fields. It's commonly known as šahovnica ("chessboard", from šah, "chess" in Croatian). The five smaller shields represent five different geographical regions that comprise Croatia.
History
The red and white checkerboard has been a symbol of Croatian kings since at least the 10th century, ranging in size from 3×3 to 8×8, but most commonly 5×5, like the current coat. It was traditionally conjenctured that the colours originally represented two ancient Croat tribes, Red Croats and White Croats, but there is no generally accepted proof for this theory. The oldest source confirming the coat as an official symbol is a genealogy of the Habsburgs, dated from 1512 to 1518. In 1525 it was used on a votive medal.
The oldest known example of the šahovnica in Croatia is to be found on the wings of four falcons on a baptismal font donated by king Petar Krešimir IV of Croatia (1058–1074) to the Archbishop of Split.
The oldest known coat of arms of Croatia (six-pointed star over a moon), coat of arms of Dalmatia and coat of arms of Slavonia (as well as the šahovnica) were all at times used as the Coat of Arms to represent the whole Croatia, especially in early heraldic period. Towards the Late Middle Ages the distinction for the three crown lands (Croatia 'proper', Dalmatia, Slavonia) was made. The šahovnica was used as the coat of arms of Croatia proper & together with the shields for Slavonia and Dalmatia was often used to represent the whole of Croatia in Austria-Hungary. An example of where the Croatian coat of arms was constituted of the šahovnica & Dalmatian (top half of coat of arms), & Slavonian (bottom half of coat of arms) crests include the:
Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia in Habsburg Empire (1848-1852) - as depicted on the roof of St Mark's Church in Zagreb;
Triune Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia (1867 - 1918).
The two are the same except for the position of the šahovnica & Dalmatian coat of arms which are switched around & with different crowns used above the shield - the later employing St Stephen's crown (associated with Hungarian kings).
By late 19th century šahovnica had come to be considered a generally recognized symbol for Croats and Croatia and in 1919, it was included in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) to represent Croats. When the Banovina of Croatia was formed, the šahovnica (chequy gules and argent) was retained as the official symbol.
The Ustashe regime which had ruled Croatia during the World War II superimposed their ideological symbol, the letter "U" above or around the šahovnica (upper left square white) as the official national symbol during their rule.
After the Second World War, the new Socialist Republic of Croatia became a part of the federal Second Yugoslavia. The šahovnica was included in the new socialist coat of arms which like the Ustashe before them, superimposed their ideological symbols. It was designed in the socialist tradition, including symbols like wheat for peasants and an anvil for workers, as well as a rising sun to symbolize a new morning and a red star for communism.
During the change to multiparty elections in Croatia (as part of the collapse of Communist rule in Eastern Europe from the late 1980s), and prior to the establishment of the current design, the šahovnica, shedding the communist symbols that were the hallmark of Croatia in the second Yugoslavia, reappeared as a stand-alone symbol as both the 'upper left square red' and 'upper left square white' variants.
The current design
On 21 December 1990, the post-communist government of Croatia, passed a law prescribing the design created by the graphic designer Miroslav Šutej, under the aegis of a commission chaired by Nikša Stančić, then head of the Department of Croatian History at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb.
The new design added the five crowning shields which represent the historical regions from which Croatia originated. They are, from left to right:
the oldest known Croatian coat of arms: a golden six-pointed star (representing the morning star) over a silver moon on a blue shield. It represents the capital city Zagreb and central Croatia in general.
an older coat of arms of the Republic of Dubrovnik: two red stripes on a dark blue shield. The coat of arms on the flags and stone portals of Dubrovnik were painted black as a sign of grief by Dubrovnik' s citizens after the invasion by Napoleon.
the coat of arms of Dalmatia: three golden, crowned leopards, two over one, on a blue shield. This coat of arms originates from the Roman Emperor Diocletian who made his palace (the core of city of Split) the capital of the Western Roman Empire. His palace, to this day, still stands in Split.
the coat of arms of Istria: a golden goat with red hooves and horns, on a dark blue shield.
the coat of arms of Slavonia: two silver stripes on blue shield (representing the rivers Drava and Sava that mark the northern and the southern border of Slavonia), between them on a red field a black, running marten (kuna in Croatian - note national currency is related to the marten - Croatian kuna), above a six-pointed, golden star. This coat was to Slavonia was officially recognised by king Ladislaus Jagiello in 1496.
Some of the more traditional heraldic pundits have criticized the latest design for various unorthodox solutions, such as adding a crown to the coat, varying shades of blue in its even fields, and adding the red border around the coat. The government has accepted their criticism insofar as not accepting further non-traditional designs for the county coats of arms, but the national symbol has remained intact.
Unlike in many countries, Croatian design more commonly uses symbolism from the coat-of-arms, rather than from the Croatian flag. This is partly due to the geometric design of the shield which makes it appropriate for use in many graphic contexts (e.g. the insignia of Croatia Airlines or the design of the shirt for the Croatia national football team), and partly due to the fact that neighbouring countries like Slovenia and Serbia use the same Pan-Slavic colours on their flags as Croatia.
Trivia
The pattern of šahovnica resembles an autochthonous flower called kockavica, which is sometimes associated with the coat of arms.
Some right-wing Croats claimed that the colour of the top left square is a mark of whether Croatia is independent or ruled by foreigners, white or red respectively. However, this notion is contradicted by the coat of arms during the quisling Independent State of Croatia, periods of the Habsburg rule & domination by the Magyar monarchs - all with an upper left square white. In the case of Republic of Croatia the first square is red. The preferred design also varies by geography with 'upper left square white' historically preferred by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 'upper left square red' by those in Hrvatsko Zagorje and parts of Dalmatia. The stand-alone 'upper left square white' design being associated with nationalists is a red herring because of its adoption by politically neutral groups and that existing on many historic buildings and cultural artifacts in Croatia and other parts of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, is the šahovnica in both its 'upper left square red' and 'upper left square white' variants; stand-alone or with other crests and predate the perceived political connotations of the modern era. The choice of 'upper left square red' or 'upper left square white' is more often dictated by heraldic laws and aesthetic requirements.
On the issue of whether the upper left square should be white or red, the following is stated on a 'vexillology and heraldry' website ("Croatia - History of the National Flag" - by Željko Heimer)
"What does heraldry say on that? Heraldic definition of chequered red and white does not say anything on which one goes first. However, most of books refer that if the shield stands for its own, it should have red first, mainly for aestethical purposes, making the borders of the shield more visible. If the shield stands together with others, e.g. in the trierced shield of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, or the one of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it is better to have the white one first, so that more metal (white) than colour (red) is against the coloured fields (red, blue) of the other two."
In heraldry sources, the šahovnica is often referred to as chequy arms.
The Croatian Coat of arms bears a strong resemblance with the flag of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant

National Anthem: Lijepa naša domovino

Croatian Official

Lijepa naša domovino,
Oj junačka zemljo mila,
Stare slave djedovino,
Da bi vazda sretna bila!
Mila, kano si nam slavna,
Mila si nam ti jedina.
Mila, kuda si nam ravna,
Mila, kuda si planina!
Teci Dravo, Savo teci,
Nit ti Dunav silu gubi,
Sinje more svijetu reci,
Da svoj narod Hrvat ljubi.
Dok mu njive sunce grije,
Dok mu hrašće bura vije,
Dok mu mrtve grobak krije,
Dok mu živo srce bije!

English Translation

Our beautiful homeland,
O so fearless and gracious,
Our fathers' ancient glory,
May you be blessed forever.
Dear, you are our only glory,
Dear, you are our only one,
Dear, we love your plains,
Dear, we love your mountains.
Drava, Sava, keep on flowing,
Danube, do not lose your vigor,
Deep blue sea, tell the world,
That a Croat loves his homeland.
Whilst his fields are kissed by sunshine,
Whilst his oaks are whipped by wild winds,
Whilst his dear ones go to heaven,
Whilst his live heart beats.

Internet Page:www.croatia.com
www.croatia.hr
www.visit-croatia.co.uk

Croatia in diferent languages

eng | cym | ina | rup: Croatia
bre | fao | fin | kal | nor | swa: Kroatia
arg | ita | lld | roh: Croazia
ast | glg | spa: Croacia
deu | ltz | nds: Kroatien / Kroatien
cat | oci: Croàcia
dan | swe: Kroatien
dsb | hsb: Chorwatska
fra | jnf: Croatie
jav | lin: Kroasia
kaa | uzb: Xorvatiya / Хорватия
lim | nld: Kroatië
afr: Kroasië
aze: Xorvatıstan / Хорватыстан; Xorvatiya / Хорватија
bam: Kɔrɔwasi
bos: Hrvatska / Хрватска
ces: Chorvatsko; Charvátsko
cor: Kroati
crh: Hırvatistan / Хырватистан
csb: Chòrwackô
epo: Kroatujo; Kroatio
est: Horvaatia; Kroaatia
eus: Kroazia
frp: Croacie
fry: Kroaasje
fur: Cravuazie
gag: Horvatiya / Хорватия
gla: Croàisia
gle: An Chróit / An Ċróit
glv: Yn Chroit
hat: Kroasi
hrv: Hrvatska
hun: Horvátország
ibo: Kroetia
ind: Kroasia / كرواسيا
isl: Króatía
kmr: Xorvatî / Хорвати / خۆرڤاتی
kur: Xirvatistan / خرڤاتستان; Krovatya / کرۆڤاتیا
lat: Croatia; Crovatia; Chorbatia; Chrobatia; Liburnia
lav: Horvātija
lit: Kroatija
mlg: Krôasia
mlt: Kroazja
mol: Croaţia / Кроация
mri: Koroātia
msa: Croatia / كرواتيا
nrm: Croassie
pol: Chorwacja
por: Croácia
que: Hurwatsuyu
rmy: Kroatiya / क्रोआतिया
ron: Croaţia
scn: Croazzia
slk: Chorvátsko
slo: Horvatia / Хорватиа; Horvatzem / Хорватзем
slv: Hrvaška
sme: Kroátia
smg: Kroatėjė
som: Korweeshiya
sqi: Kroacia
srd: Croàtzia
szl: Chorwacyjo
tet: Kroásia
ton: Koloēsia
tuk: Horwatiýa / Хорватия
tur: Hırvatistan
vie: Crô-a-ti-a
vol: Kroatän
vor: Horvaatia
wln: Crowåceye
wol: Korwaasi
zza: Xırvatıstan
chu: Хръватія (Ĥrŭvatīja); Хръватьска (Ĥrŭvatĭska)
abq | alt | kir | kjh | kom | krc | kum | rus | tyv | udm: Хорватия (Ĥorvatija)
che | chv | oss: Хорвати (Ĥorvati)
mon | xal: Хорват (Ĥorvat)
bak: Хорватия / Ĥorvatiya
bel: Харватыя / Charvatyja
bul: Хърватия (Ĥǎrvatija); Хърватско (Ĥǎrvatsko)
chm: Хорватий (Ĥorvatij)
kaz: Хорватия / Xorvatïya / حورۆاتيا
kbd: Хорватие (Ĥorvatie)
mkd: Хрватска (Hrvatska)
srp: Хрватска / Hrvatska
tat: Хорватия / Xorvatiä
tgk: Хорватия / خاروتیه / Xorvatija
ukr: Хорватія (Ĥorvatija)
ara: كرواتيا (Kurwātiyā)
ckb: کرواتیا / Kirwatya; کرواتسان / Kirwatistan
fas: کرواسی (Koroāsī)
prs: کروویشیا (Krōvēšiyā); کروشیا (Krōšiyā)
pus: کرووېشيا (Krowešiyā); کروشيا (Krošiyā)
uig: كرودىيە / Krodiye / Кродия; خورۋاتىيە / Xorwatiye / Хорватия
urd: کروشیا (Karošiyā); کروایشیا (Kroʾešiyā)
div: ކްރޮއޭށިއާ (Kro'ēŝi'ā); ކުރޮއޭޝިއާ (Kuro'ēši'ā)
syr: ܟܪܘܬܝܐ (Krōtiyā)
heb: קרואטיה (Qrôʾaṭyah)
lad: קרואסיה / Kroasia
yid: קראָאַטיע (Kroatye)
amh: ክሮኤሽያ (Kro'ešya); ክሮዌሺያ (Krowešiya)
ell: Κροατία (Kroatía)
hye: Խորվաթիա (Ĥorvaṭia); Հորվաթիա (Horvaṭia)
kat: ხორვატია (Ĥorvatia); ჰორვატია (Horvatia)
hin: क्रोशिया (Krošiyā); क्रोएशिया (Kroešiyā)
nep: क्रोएसिया (Kroesiyā)
ben: ক্রোয়েশিয়া (Kroyešiyā)
pan: ਕਰੋਟੀਆ (Kroṭīā)
kan: ಕ್ರೊಯೇಶಿಯ (Kroyēšiya)
mal: ക്രൊയേഷ്യ (Kroyēṣya)
tam: குரோசியா (Kurōčiyā)
tel: క్రొయేషియా (Kroyēṣiyā)
zho: 克羅地亞/克罗地亚 (Kèluódìyà)
jpn: クロアチア (Kuroachia)
kor: 크로아티아 (Keuroatia)
mya: ခရုိအေးရ္ဟား (Kʰáẏo'èšà)
tha: โครเอเชีย (Kʰrō'ēčʰiya)
khm: ក្រូអាត (Krū'āt)

Taken on: March 9, 2010

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