The President of the Republic (Croatian: Predsjednik/ica Republike) is the head of state and the commander in chief of the Croatian Armed Forces and is directly elected to serve a five-year term. The government (Croatian: Vlada), the main executive power of Croatia, is headed by the prime minister, who has four deputy prime ministers who serve also as government ministers. Twenty ministers are in charge of particular activities. The executive branch is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies. The parliament is a unicameral legislative body. The number of Sabor representatives (MPs) ranges from 100 to 160; they are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The powers of the legislature include enactment and amendment of the constitution and laws; adoption of the government budget, declarations of war and peace, defining national boundaries, calling referendums and elections, appointments and relief of officers, supervising the Government of Croatia and other holders of public powers responsible to the Sabor, and granting of amnesties. The Croatian constitution and legislation provides for regular presidential and parliamentary elections, and the election of county prefects (county presidents) and assemblies, and city and municipal mayors and councils. (Full article...)
Image 7Croatians in a caffe bar on Petar Preradović Square, also known as "Flowers Square" (Cvjetni trg), in Zagreb (from Culture of Croatia)
Image 8One of the seats of 14th-century magnate Paul Šubić, in Bribir. Paul held the hereditary titles of the Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia. Croatian historians sometimes refer to Paul as "the uncrowned king of Croatia". (from History of Croatia)
Image 9The 1835 issue of the magazine Danicza, with lyrics of what would later become the Croatian national anthem "Lijepa naša domovino" ("Our Beautiful Homeland"). (from History of Croatia)
Image 27On January 1, 2023, Croatia replaced the kuna as its national currency and adopted the euro, on the same day Croatia became part of the Schengen zone. (from Croatia)
Image 32Marko Marulić (18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist who coined the term "psychology". He is the national poet of Croatia. (from Croatia)
Image 33Ban Josip Jelačić at the opening of the first Croatian civic Parliament (Sabor) whose deputies were elected on 5 June 1848. In earlier Sabors, members represented feudal estates rather than citizens. The Croatian tricolor flag can also be seen in the background. Dragutin Weingärtner, 1885. (from History of Croatia)
Image 38Ban Josip Jelačić at the opening of the first modern Croatian Parliament (Sabor), June 5, 1848. The Croatian tricolour flag can be seen in the background. (from Croatia)
Image 39Dinara Nature Park, second largest Croatian nature park (the largest is the Velebit Nature Park) (from Croatia)
Image 42The assassination of Croatian MPs in the National Assembly in Belgrade was one of the events which greatly damaged relations between Serbs and Croats in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. (from History of Croatia)
Image 45Croatian borders similar to those established with the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699. Although the peace treaty meant relief from Ottoman pressure, Croatia lost the compactness of its territory. (from History of Croatia)
Image 51Bora is a dry, cold wind which blows from the mainland out to sea, whose gusts can reach hurricane strength, particularly in the channel below Velebit. On the picture Bora in the town of Senj. (from Croatia)
Image 62Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac with the Croatian communist leader Vladimir Bakarić at the celebration of May Day, shortly before Stepinac was arrested and convicted by the communists, he became a symbol of resistance to the communist regime in Yugoslavia. (from Croatia)
Image 73A map of 10th-century Croatian counties (županije), as they were mentioned in De Administrando Imperio. The counties marked in blue, represent the territories governed by the Croatian Ban. (from History of Croatia)
Image 74"Remnants of the Remnants" (Reliquiae Reliquiarum), shown on this map in yellow, represent the territory under the jurisdiction of Croatian-Slavonian Sabor at the height of the Ottoman advance (from History of Croatia)
Image 78President Zoran Milanović at the NATO summit on 11 July 2023, Vilnius, Lithuania. The accession of Croatia to NATO took place in 2009. (from Croatia)
Grič Tunnel (Croatian: Tunel Grič) is a pedestrian tunnel located in the city centre of Zagreb, Croatia, under the historic neighbourhood of Grič (also called Gradec or Gornji Grad), which gave the tunnel its name. The tunnel consists of a central hall, which is connected by two passageways to Mesnička Street in the west and Stjepan Radić Street in the east, and four passageways extending to the south. It was built during World War II by the Ustaše government to serve both as a bomb shelter and a promenade, but following the war it quickly fell into disrepair and disuse. The tunnel saw renewed use only in the 1990s, hosting one of the first raves in Croatia, and functioning as a shelter during the Croatian War of Independence. In 2016, the tunnel was remodeled and opened to the public, serving as a tourist attraction and hosting cultural events. Planned expansions include a museum and a lift. (Full article...)
Hvar (local Croatian dialect: Hvor or For, Greek: Pharos, Latin: Pharina, Italian: Lesina) is a town on the eponymous island of Hvar in Dalmatia, Croatia. The municipality has a population of 4,138 (2001) while the city itself is inhabited by 3,672 people, making it the largest settlement on the island of Hvar.
The town's harbour provided a suitable location for a port, being geographically ideal and also protected by islands, making it a safe haven for boats hiding from hazardous winds.