Officially the Republic of Croatia 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. 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, 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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia
Our Beautiful Homeland - Croatian anthem
Croatian Official English translation
Lijepa naša domovino, Our beautiful homeland,
Oj junačka zemljo mila, Oh dear heroic land,
Stare slave djedovino, Our father's ancient glory,
Da bi vazda sretna bila! May you be blessed forever.
Mila, kano si nam slavna, Beloved, you are our sole glory,
Mila si nam ti jedina. Beloved, you are our sole glory,
Mila, kuda si nam ravna, Beloved, where you are plain,
Mila, kuda si planina! Beloved, where you are mountain
Teci Savo, Dravo teci, Sava, Drava, flow on,
Nit' ti Dunav silu gubi, Nor you Danube, lose your power,
Sinje more svijetu reci, Deep blue sea, tell the world,
Da svoj narod Hrvat ljubi. That a Croat loves his people.
Dok mu njive sunce grije, Whilst the sun warms his fields,
Dok mu hrašće bura vije, Whilst winds lash his oak trees,
Dok mu mrtve grobak krije, Whilst his lost ones are with grave covered,
Dok mu živo srce bije! Whilst his living heart beats.
lyrics: Antun Mihanović music: Josip Runjanin
AUDIO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-AdeKUFGXQ
Links:
Croatian National Tourist Board: http://www.croatia.hr/en-GB/Homepage
www.hr: http://www.hr/croatia
Originally, the sea was known in Latin as Mare Superum.
Later, it was replaced by Mare (H)Adriaticum. The name, derived from the Etruscan colony of Adria (or Hadria), originally designated only the upper portion of the sea (Herodotus vi. 127, vii. 20, ix. 92; Euripides, Hippolytus, 736), but was gradually extended as the Syracusan colonies gained in importance. The name Adria derives from the Illyrian word adur meaning "water" or "sea".
But even then the Adriatic in the narrower sense only extended as far as the Monte Gargano, the outer portion being called the Ionian Sea: the name was sometimes, however, inaccurately used to include the Gulf of Tarentum (the modern-day Gulf of Taranto), the Sea of Sicily, the Gulf of Corinth and even the sea between Crete and Malta (Acts xxvii. 27).
The Adriatic Sea is situated largely between the eastern coast of Italy and Croatia, which are both major tourist attractions. It was used by the ancient Romans to transport goods (including animals and slaves) to Ostia (the Roman port).
The west shore is generally low, merging, in the northwest, into the marshes and lagoons on either hand of the protruding delta of the river Po, the sediment of which has pushed forward the coastline for several miles within historic times—Adria is now some distance from the shore.
On islands within one of the lagoons opening from the Gulf of Venice, Venice has its unique situation. Other notable cities on the Italian coast are Trieste, Ravenna, Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, Bari, and Brindisi.
The east coast is generally bold and rocky, with many islands. South of the Istrian Peninsula, which separates the Gulfs of Venice and Trieste from the Bay of Kvarner, the island-fringe of the east coast extends as far south as Dubrovnik. The island of Cres is the largest island in the sea, slightly larger than nearby Krk.
The islands, which are long and narrow (the long axis lying parallel with the coast of the mainland), rise rather abruptly to elevations of a few hundred feet, with the exception of a few larger islands like Brač (Vidova gora, 778 m) or the peninsula Pelješac (St. Ilija, 961 m). There are over a thousand islands in the Adriatic, 66 of which are inhabited.
On the mainland, notably in the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska; named after the town of Kotor), lofty mountains often fall directly to the sea.
The prevalent colour of the rocks is a light, dead grey, contrasting harshly with the dark vegetation, which on some of the islands is luxuriant. In fact, Montenegro (Black Mountain) was named after the black pines that cover the coast there, and similarly the Greek name for the island of Korčula is Korkyra Melaina meaning "Black Corfu".
It is interesting to note the vast difference between the Italian and Croatian coasts on the Adriatic. Although only a small distance from each other, the Croatian Coast and beaches are generally many times clearer, cleaner and bluer than Italy's. Croatia is known for its Crystal clear water.
WINDS
Winds are of great importance and have a large effect on the climate. The strongest winds are in the winter months of the year, especially in the coastal and mountainous regions of Croatia, where they significantly modify the climate.
BURA
On the Adriatic coast the most known wind is the Bura. Bura blows from the mainland towards the sea; it is cold, dry and is an extremely strong wind that can last for up to a few days. For strength and speed Bura is considerably more noticeable in Rijeka, Senj, Maslenica, Split, Vrulja and Makarska. Its frequency drops from northern Dalmatian towards southern Dalmatia. Bura usually blows in the winter parts of the year, causing at time dangerous traffic conditions. At times during the summer Bura can be strong, and can cause the rapid spread of forest fires.
JUGO
Jugo mostly blows as a southeasterly wind. Jugo usually occurs when air masses from northern Africa, cross over to the Mediterranean, bringing with it large amounts of moisture. In Croatia, Jugo arrives as warm and wet air. Oftentimes dirty rains will fall.
MAESTRAL
During the summer, Maestral blows along the seaboard of Croatia. The wind is of a northwesterly current between the azure maximum and the field of low pressure on the east. Maestral blows at a constant and slow pace, which is very comfortable during the summer as it, alleviates the summer heat on the islands and along the coast.
Links to weather reports in Croatia:
http://meteo.hr/index_en.php
http://www.meteo-info.hr
http://crometeo.net/site/index.php
Links:
http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadransko_more
http://www.hr/hrvatska/geografija/jadran
http://www.izor.hr/web/guest;jsessionid=653A29638B090473B13A703291FFF25F
http://www.hhi.hr/
http://www.adriagate.com/en/croatia/about_croatia.aspx?id=4
http://jadran.gfz.hr/temperatura.html