Geography of Croatia
Croatia represents a small country, situated in southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea. It's situated between Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. In case you are not familiar with those countries, "towards Italy" might give you a clue of its location. Speaking of its shape, people usually say that it looks like a bird with wide spread wings, a horseshoe or a crescent. Whatever you prefer.
When it comes to continental area, Croatia covers 56,542 km2 (21,830 mile2), plus the sea area of 33,200 km2 (12,818 mile2). Altogether, Croatia covers 89,742 km2 (34,649 mile2) of the European territory. Its population is 4,494,749 inhabitants, according to the research from 2006. Population includes Croats in first place (89.6%) and minorities of Czechs, Serbs, Slovenians and Bosniaks. Around 80% of inhabitants belong to the Roman Catholic religion.
Even though it is relatively small, it has well indented coast. The coastline extends for 5,835 km (3,625 miles). The majority of it is taken up by more than a thousand islands — 4,058 km (2,521 miles). Croatia also has two large peninsulas — Istria and Pelješac. Geographically, the Croatian landscape includes plains and low mountains. Along the coastline, you can usually see hills and low mountains, while heading east you notice valleys and plains. The tradition of cultivating olive trees and making the oil that comes as the final product seems to be one of the Croatian trademarks.
As for the climate, it's a mixture of continental and Mediterranean — hot and dry summers and cold winters. Of course, heading south, you will enjoy mild winters and very hot summers, while continental Croatia is a bit colder. Due to its suitable climate, Croatia is a good environment for a variety of animals and plants. To corroborate that statement, it is probably enough to say that Croatia has 8 national parks (Brijuni, Mljet, Kornati, Krka, Plitvička jezera, Risnjak, Paklenica and Sjeverni Velebit), established to protect its special world of flora and fauna. Runolist and Velebitska degenija are just some of Croatian endemic species. The whole area of Croatia, including the Adriatic Sea, is rich with different animals.
The official language is Croatian, the capital city is Zagreb, situated inland. Other large cities are Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Osijek, Å ibenik, Zadar, and they all present popular tourist destinations. Just like the islands along the shoreline.