GEOGRAPHY
Croatia serves as a gateway
to eastern Europe. It lies along the east coast of the Adriatic
Sea and shares a border with Yugoslavia (Montenegro and Serbia),
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Hungary, and Slovenia. The republic
swings around like a boomerang from the Pannonian Plains of Slavonia
between the Sava, Drava, and Danube Rivers, across hilly, central
Croatia to the Istrian Peninsula, then south through Dalmatia
along the rugged Adriatic coast. Croatia is made up of 20 counties,
plus the city of Zagreb and controls 1,185 islands in the Adriatic
Sea, 67 of which are inhabited.
Official Name: Republic
of Croatia
Area: 56,538 sq. km. (slightly smaller than West Virginia).
Major cities (2001 census est.): Capital--Zagreb (770,000).
Others--Split (200,000), Rijeka (168,000), Osijek (130,000).
Terrain: Croatia is situated between central and eastern
Europe. Its terrain is diverse, containing rocky coastlines, densely
wooded mountains, plains, lakes and rolling hills.
Climate: Croatia has a mixture of climates. In the north
it is continental, Mediterranean along the coast and a semi-highland
and highland climate in the central region.
