Croatia (Hrvatska) - is located in Southern Europe measuring 56,542 square kilometers, it has a population of over 4.5 million.
The Croatia contains all types of scenery providing the tourist with an infinite choice of wandering: a land of gentle hills, mountains, sandy beaches and rugged Mediterranean coastlines.

Croatia has a shape that resembles a horseshoe which helps account for its many neighbors: Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Italy across the Adriatic.

National Geographic Magazine in 2005 named Croatia as the most beautiful country in the world. Croatia offshore has more than 1,000 islands varying in size.

Croatian culture is based on a thirteen-century long history during which the country has attained many monuments and cities, which gave birth to a good number of brilliant individuals.
The country includes six World Heritage sites and eight national parks. Two Nobel Prize winners came from Croatia, as did numerous important inventors and notable people — some of the first fountain pens came from Croatia.

Croatia also has a place in the history of clothing as the origin of the necktie. The country has a long artistic, musical and literary tradition. Of particular interest is also the diverse traditional cuisine.

Croatia is an attractive tourist destination, particularly because of its extensive coastline and well-preserved coastal Renaissance towns.
Significant tourist destinations in Croatia include Istria, Kvarner & Highlands, and Dalmatia with Dubrovnik - the most famous Croatian site.

Croatia terrain is diverse, containing:

- The lowland, lakes and hilly parts in the continental north and northeast (Central Croatia and Slavonia, part of the Pannonian area).  Most of this area is being used for farming and livestock breading.

- Wooded mountains in Lika and Gorski Kotar, part of the Dinaric Alps, it is the hilly and mountainous area, which separates Pannonian Croatia from its coastal part. This area is less developed but great potential for the production of healthy food, rural and winter tourism.

- Rocky coastlines on the Adriatic Sea (Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia). It is one of the most indented coasts in the world; with 1246  islands and a total coastline of 4058 km. The length of the mainland coast is 1777 km. The largest island is Cres; other great islands include Krk, Hvar, Brac, Korula and Pag.

Adriatic Sea

Adriatic Sea stretches from the northwest to the southeast between the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas for 783 km, its average width being 170 km.
Its average depth is 252 meters: northwestern part is shallow (maximum 23 meters in the Bay of Trieste) and much deeper in the south (1200 m in the South Adriatic basin).

The prevailing winds are:

- the cold "bura" (northeast wind),

- the humid "jugo" (southern wind),

- the refreshing "maestral" (western wind).

The Adriatic Sea is situated largely between the eastern coast of Italy and Croatia, both major tourist attractions.

Climate

Croatia climate varies from Mediterranean along the Adriatic coast to continental inland. The coastal areas have hot, dry summers and rainy winters yet the inland areas are cold in winter and warm in summer.
The high coastal mountains help to shield the coast from cold northerly winds in the winter. Sea temperatures never fall below 10 degrees in the winter and in August it can be as high as 26 degrees.

Summer temperatures range from 22 to 35°C in the continental region, 15 to 25°C in the mountain region and 26 to 38°C in the coastal region.

Winter temperatures range from -2 to 20°C in the continental region, -5 to 0 °C in the mountain region and 5 to 20°C in the coastal region.