Croatia is a Central European and Mediterranean country, bordering Slovenia in the west, Hungary in the north, Montenegro in the south, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the east. The country also has a long maritime border with Italy in the Adriatic Sea.

Most of Croatia has a moderately warm and rainy continental climate, but the islands, Adriatic coast and especially its immediate hinterland are characterized by the Mediterranean climate.

During its rich history, which dates from the Greek and Roman times, Croatia was, among others, a duchy, a kingdom, a distinct state under the Hungarian and later Austro-Hungarian governments, and a part of Yugoslavia, until its independence in 1991 and the Croatian War of Independence (Domovinski rat). 

Today, Croatia is a part of the European Union (since 1 July 2013), the Eurozone and the Schengen Area (since 1 January 2023), with tourism as one of its main economic branches.