Geographical position: Croatia is a Central European and Mediterranean country, bordering Slovenia in the west, Hungary in the north, Serbia in the east and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the south. It covers a land area of 56,691 square kilometres. Croatia also has a long maritime border with Italy in the Adriatic Sea- total 2,028 km altogether.

Interesting geographical facts: an amazing 5,835 km of coastline, 4,057km of which belongs to islands, cliffs and reefs. There are 1,185 islands in the Adriatic, but only about 50 are populated. The largest island is Krk (near Rijeka), whilst the country's other well known islands include Hvar, Brac, Korcula and Pag.

Population: 4.29 million people (2011 census). Almost 90% of the population is Croat (the majority of whom are Roman Catholics), but there are also Serbian, Bosnian, Hungarian and Italian minorities.

System of government: Multi-party parliamentary republic.

Main population centres: Zagreb, the capital (with a population of just under 800,000), Osijek in the northwest (population: 107,000), and the ports of Rijeka (population: 128,000) on the northern part of the coastline, and Split (population: 178,000) towards the south. Other well known towns include Dubrovnik, Makarska, Porec, Rovinj, Opatija, Zadar and Sibenik.

Official language: Croatian, which is written in the Latin script

Currency: Kuna (1 kuna = 100 lipa). Foreign currency can be exchanged in banks, exchange offices, post offices, travel agencies, hotels, camps, marinas; cheques can be cashed in banks.
Croatian kuna (HRK or KN); 1 EUR = about 7,4 kn, 1 USD = about 5,6 kn

National Parks: island Mljet, Krka waterfalls, Kornati Islands, Plitvice Lakes, North Velebit Mountain, Paklenica, mountain Risnjak, Brijuni Islands.

UNESCO Heritage: old town core of Dubrovnik, Diocletian's Palace in Split, Stari Grad Plain on island Hvar, old town core of Trogir, the Cathedral in Šibenik, Euphrasy's Basilica in Poreč. Plitvice Lakes.

Climate: The climate is Mediterranean along the Adriatic coast, meaning warm dry summers and mild winters, with 2,600 hours of sunlight on average yearly - it is one of the sunniest coastlines in Europe! In the interior of the country, the climate is continental with hot summers and cold, snowy winters.