Area:

• 56,542 square kilometres, with an additional 31,067 square kilometres of territorial waters.
• Population: 4.290.000
• The majority of the population are Croats. The national minorities include Serbs, Hungarians, Czechs, Italians and other. 
• Capital town: Zagreb (792.875) 
• Length of coast: 5,835 km - including 4,058 km of island, islet and reef coastline. 
• Number of islands, islets and reefs: 1,185 among which 67 islands are inhabited. The largest islands are Krk, Cres, Brač and Hvar. 
• Official language and alphabet: Croatian language and Latin alphabet.

Climate:

Two climate zones can be distinguished in Croatia; temperate continental climate in the interior and pleasant Mediterranean climate along the Adriatic coast.

The average temperature in the inland:

August 19 - 23°C
January 0 - 2°C

The average temperature at the seaside:

August 21 - 27 °C
January 6 - 11°C

Water temperature:

The Adriatic Sea has a very marked annual change of the surface temperature. The average annual temperature is 11°C. During the winter, the sea is the coldest and the surface temperature is about 7°C. In the summer the surface of the sea reaches a very high temperature, of up to 22 to 25°C, and in the southern Adriatic and Istria up to 27°C.

Currency:

Kuna (1 kuna = 100 lipa). Foreign currency can be exchanged in banks, exchange offices, post offices, travel agencies, hotels, marinas.

The teritory of Croatia has stood for centuries on the border of Western and Eastern cultural influences: Western and Eastern Roman Empire, Frankish and Byzantine Empires,Western Catholilicism and Eastern Ortodoxy, Christianity and Islam.

This union of cultures and resultant synthesis is reflected in a number of distinctive monuments of art which can please the expectations of the most demanding art experts. There is no country anywhere in the world whose cultural heritage and artistic contribution can be regarded as being equally valuable throughout all the periods of its history.

Three Croatian urban towns and two historical architectural complex have been designated as Monuments of World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO: Antique Diocletian Palace in Split, the Basilica of St. Euphrasius in Porec, Sibenik Cathedral and cities of Dubrovnik and Trogir.

Adriatic Sea, which got its name over an ancient port, is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. It is from 58 to 140 mi (93-225 km) wide, with a maximum depth of c.4, 100 ft (1,250 m). The name has existed since the antiquity; in Latin it was Mare Hadriaticum. In modern languages, it's Mare Adriatico in Italian and Jadransko more in Croatian.

The northern part of the sea is very shallow, and between the southern promontories of Istria and Rimini the depth rarely exceeds 25 fathoms (46 m). Between Šibenik and Ortona a well-marked depression occurs, a considerable area of which exceeds 100 fathoms (180 m) in depth. The deepest part of the sea lies east of Monte Gargano, south of Dubrovnik, and west of Durrës where a large basin gives depths of 500 fathoms (900 m) and upwards, and a small area in the south of this basin falls below 800 (1,460 m). The mean depth of the sea is estimated at 133 fathoms (240 m).

The climate at the Adriatic is typically a Mediterranean one, with mild rainy winters, and hot and dry summers. Summer temperatures rise up to 34°C in July in the northern part, and even up to 38°C in the southern part (Dubrovnik).

As well as art, Croatian cuisine was impacted by the same influences over the same period. The mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Proto-Slavic and the more recent contacts with the Hungarian, Viennese and Turkish gastronomic orders. The coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine - Italian and French.

In Croatia, there are more than fifty different indigenous dishes and as many autochthonous kinds of cheese and dessert. In the coastal area, popular dishes include Dalmatinian-style fish stew, seafood soup and seafood salad.

Croatia can offer a variety od excellent wines. The popular red wines of Mediterranean Croatia are teran, merlot, cabernet, opolo, plavac, dingac and postup. Popular white wines are malvazija, posip, pinot, kujundzusa and muscat.