Croatia

Country Briefs: The Croatian beauty is famous across the globe. But not many people know that there are many other reasons that glorify the country.

 Geographically speaking Croatia lies in the southeastern portion of Europe, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia and bordering the Ardiatic Sea.

Croatia covers an area of more than fifty-six thousand square kilometers on the globe and its population is above four million.

The largest city Zagreb is also the capital of this country. Zagreb has an ideal geographic location and is a wonderful tourist destination.

Croatia has a rich historical background. The Slavic people had come to inhabit the region first. Initially they resided in the place known as Galicia today and from there they moved to the Croatia.

The Croatians were nominally under the East Roman Empire and then under the Frankish authority.

In 925 Croatia came to be ruled by king Tomislav. Tomislav turned the country into a strong and independent kingdom. But this could not last long. As in 1102, Croatia came under the domination of Hungarian authority and this brought an end to ten complete years of dynastic struggle.

In 1400s the Ottoman Turks were teeming with the aim of expansion of their empire. They had conquered the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Hungarian rule in Croatia too was badly shaken by the Ottomans. Besides this there were countless other changes taking place in the world at that time for instance Dalmatia turned Venetian.

In 1526 Croatia witnessed the Battle of Mohacs. This battle led to Hapsburgs being invited to assume control over Croatia by the Croatian Parliament.

The Habsburgs posed great challenge to the Ottomans and were able to free much of Croatia from Turkish control.

However it is believed that the crescent shape of the country is a token of the Ottoman rule over it. Between 1797 and 1815 Istria, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik, all came under the Hapsburg Monarchy.

After the First World War, Croatia became one with State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Soon it even joined Serbia to form Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes that came to be known as Yugoslavia later.

The Second World War brought a defeat to Yugoslavia. As a result Croatia was turned into a fascist state and was named as Independent State of Croatia.

By this time Croatians wanted to be free of Yugoslavia. So along with Slovenians the Croatians too announced their urge for independence from Yugoslavia. But this led to the Croatian War of independence.

After an year of struggle Croatia was freed of Yugoslavia in 1992. Croatia and several other states were declared as independent by Yugoslavia.

Soon after this Croatia was confronted with an uprising by the majority of Serbs in the country. The Serbs with the support of the Yugoslav army demanded their own state, Republic of Serbian Krajina. But in 1995 the Croatian army used force to conquer the rebel areas and his led to the exodus of the Serbian population.

However Croatia and many other countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina acquired peace with the Dayton Agreement.

At present Croatia is expected to become a member of European Union. 

Croatia Counties

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