There are lots of interesting little fun facts you probably didn’t know about Croatia. You know it has incredible food, dreamy landscapes, and some of the friendliest people. But there is still so much to learn before packing your bags and heading off to our beautiful country.
1. In Croatian, the country name is Hrvatska, and the language is called Hrvatski.
2. The dog breed Dalmatian can be traced back to Croatia and the Dalmatia region.
3. Rice chocolate was invented in Croatia in 1963 at the Zvečevo factory in the western Slavonian city of Požega.
4. Croatia has the highest number of UNESCO Intangible Goods of any European country together with Spain (lace-making, gingerbread baking, wooden toy carvings, etc.)
5. The hit HBO series Game of Thrones was filmed on the Dalmatian coast in Split and Dubrovnik.
6. Zadar has the world’s first pipe organ played by the sea and is also known for its sunset which Alfred Hitchcock said was the most beautiful in the world.
7. The Walls of Ston are the longest preserved fortification system in the world after the Great Wall of China.
8. The Roman amphitheater in Pula is the 6th largest amphitheatre in the world and the only one with all 3 rows preserved.
9. Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia.
10. Inhabited for over 8,000 years, the eastern Croatian city of Vinkovci is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe.
11. Croatia’s drinking water has one of the highest quality standards in Europe.
12. Picigin is a traditional ball game from Croatia that is played on the beach. An amateur sport played in shallow water consists of players keeping a small ball from touching the water.
13. Croatia is the home of the necktie.
14. Croatia won the biggest haul of gold medals in Europe (per capita) at the Olympic Games in 2016 in Rio.
15. The fortified walls of Dubrovnik are one of the most preserved and most visited fortification systems in Europe.
16. Two winners of the Nobel Prize in chemistry came from Croatia – Lavoslav Ruzicka (1939) and Vladimir Prelog (1975)
17. The richest collection in the world of remains of Neanderthals was discovered in Krapina in central Croatia.
18. On the island of Susak, the women hold the title for having the only national costume that sits above the knee in Europe.
19. Croatia has over 1,200 islands, isles, and inlets.
20. The island of Hvar off the Dalmatian coast is the island with the most hours of sunshine in Europe – more than 2,800 hours a year.
21. 10% of Croatia is protected via 11 Nature Parks, 8 National Parks, and 2 Nature Reserves.
22. Croatian Slavoljub Penkala was the inventor of the mechanical pencil. His company TOZ – Penkala, is still in operation today in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital.
23. The Sphinx in Split was brought over from Egypt for Diocletian and is over 4,000 years old.
24. Krk Island in the north part of Adriatic sea is the largest island in Croatia covering an area of 409 sq km (38 km length – up to 20 km width). It is also the most populated.
25. Red Lake near the city of Imotski, Croatia, is the deepest sinkhole in Europe, 3rd the largest in the world.
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