Facts and figures about Croatia

In the 17th century, Croatian soldiers used to wear a little piece of cloth around their neck; this was the birth of the Cravat or necktie.

Among the 47 European countries Croatia is the 26th with respect to its population.

Croatia is slightly smaller than West Virginia.

The book 101 Dalmatians was written by British author Dodie Smith and published in 1956.

William Shakespeare set his comedy Twelfth Night in Illyria, by which he probably meant Croatia.

Croatia is bigger than Belgium, Denmark, Holland and Switzerland.

Croatia has borders with six countries, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

1936 is considered as the date of the official start of nudism on the island of Rab when English king Edward VIII visited the island and received the permission of the Rab authorities to bathe naked with his wife in Kandarola Bay.

At depths over 30 m the temperature of the Adriatic is mostly constant throughout the entire year.

Hum in Istria with a varying population of 17 to 23 people holds the Guinness World Record for being the smallest town in the world.

The White House was built using stones from the island of Brač near Split.

Croats had their own alphabet until the 18th century which was called “glagoljica” or Glagolitic.

The Amphitheatre in Pula is one of only 3 preserved in the world, which was once the site of gladiator fights. Built in the 1st century AD during the reign of Emperor Vespasian, it is the 6th largest amphitheatre in existence.

The first torpedo was constructed by Ivan Lupis Vukic in the 19th century in the city of Rijeka.

With 13 entries on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Croatia is, with Spain, the European country with the highest number of entries.

Croatia was for the first time acknowledged in history on 7 June 879, when Pope John VIII granted Duke Branimir the title dux Croatorum.