Southern Europe · HRV

Croatia

The story · 11 chapters

How it was drawn

Illyrian, Roman and then Croatian, a medieval kingdom tied to Hungary was cut by Venice and the Ottomans into its crescent shape, then joined Yugoslavia until independence in 1991.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Croatia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Roman Republic229 BC to 9
Rome fought the Illyrians from 229 BC and took the coast in stages. The last great resistance, the Great Illyrian Revolt led by two chiefs both named Bato, lasted from AD 6 to 9 before Tiberius crushed it.
Avar Khaganate568 to 796
The Avars, nomads from the steppe, and the Slavs who came with them overran Roman Dalmatia and Pannonia. Salona, the provincial capital, was destroyed in the early seventh century. Charlemagne's Franks broke Avar power in the 790s.
Kingdom of the Franks788 to 822
The Franks took control of the northern Adriatic and Pannonia after 788. Ljudevit, duke of Pannonian Croatia, rebelled against them in 819 and fought for three years before fleeing in 822.
First Bulgarian Empire926 to 927
Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, at war with Byzantium, sent an army against Tomislav's Croatia. The Croats destroyed it in the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands in 926 or 927, and papal envoys then brokered peace.
Republic of Venice1000 to 1797
Doge Pietro II Orseolo's fleet sailed down the Dalmatian coast in 1000. Venice and Hungary fought over Zadar for centuries, and in 1202 Venice used the Fourth Crusade to sack it. In 1409 Venice bought Dalmatia and held it until 1797.
Kingdom of Hungary1091 to 1102
After the last native king died, Ladislaus I of Hungary took Slavonia in 1091. The Croat king Petar Snacic was killed fighting the Hungarians at Gvozd Mountain in 1097, and in 1102 Coloman was crowned King of Croatia.
Ottoman Empire1463 to 1699
After taking Bosnia in 1463, the Ottomans pushed into Croatia. They crushed the Croatian nobility at Krbava Field in 1493. Nikola Zrinski died defending Szigetvar in 1566, and the Ottoman advance was stopped at Sisak in 1593.
Revolutionary Hungary1848 to 1849
When Hungary's revolutionaries refused Croatian autonomy in 1848, Ban Josip Jelacic led a Croatian army against them on the side of the Habsburgs. Hungary's revolution was crushed in 1849 with Russian help.
Kingdom of Italy1918 to 1947
Italy claimed the eastern Adriatic after the First World War, took Istria and Zadar in 1920 and Rijeka in 1924, and annexed much of Dalmatia in 1941. After 1945 it lost most of these lands to Yugoslavia.
Serbia and the Yugoslav army1991 to 1998
Backed by Serbia and the Yugoslav army, Croatian Serbs took nearly a third of Croatia in 1991. Vukovar fell after an 87-day siege, and Dubrovnik was shelled. Croatia retook most of the land in Operation Storm in 1995, and Eastern Slavonia peacefully in 1998.
SloveniaSince 1991Still open
Since 1991 Croatia and Slovenia have disputed their sea border in the Bay of Piran. An arbitration tribunal ruled mostly in Slovenia's favour in 2017, but Croatia had already left the process and does not accept the ruling.
SerbiaSince 1991Still open
Croatia and Serbia disagree about their border along the Danube, whose course has shifted since the old land registry lines were drawn. Croatia claims the old lines, Serbia the middle of the river, and the dispute is unresolved.

Today

Croatia now

The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent communist state consisting of six socialist republics, including Croatia, under the strong hand of Josip Broz, aka TITO.

Capital: Zagreb
Government: parliamentary republic
Head of government: Andrej Plenković
Head of state: Zoran Milanović
Languages: Croatian
Area: 88,070 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population3.9 million2023 · 3.9 million in 1950
Life expectancy78.6 years2023 · 58.5 years in 1950
GDP per person$26,9862022
Living in cities58%2025 · 22% in 1950
Literacy98%2001
Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending2.0% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

France
United Kingdom
United States

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Croatia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Roman Republic229 BC to 9

Rome fought the Illyrians from 229 BC and took the coast in stages. The last great resistance, the Great Illyrian Revolt led by two chiefs both named Bato, lasted from AD 6 to 9 before Tiberius crushed it.

Avar Khaganate568 to 796

The Avars, nomads from the steppe, and the Slavs who came with them overran Roman Dalmatia and Pannonia. Salona, the provincial capital, was destroyed in the early seventh century. Charlemagne's Franks broke Avar power in the 790s.

Kingdom of the Franks788 to 822

The Franks took control of the northern Adriatic and Pannonia after 788. Ljudevit, duke of Pannonian Croatia, rebelled against them in 819 and fought for three years before fleeing in 822.

First Bulgarian Empire926 to 927

Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, at war with Byzantium, sent an army against Tomislav's Croatia. The Croats destroyed it in the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands in 926 or 927, and papal envoys then brokered peace.

Republic of Venice1000 to 1797

Doge Pietro II Orseolo's fleet sailed down the Dalmatian coast in 1000. Venice and Hungary fought over Zadar for centuries, and in 1202 Venice used the Fourth Crusade to sack it. In 1409 Venice bought Dalmatia and held it until 1797.

Kingdom of Hungary1091 to 1102

After the last native king died, Ladislaus I of Hungary took Slavonia in 1091. The Croat king Petar Snacic was killed fighting the Hungarians at Gvozd Mountain in 1097, and in 1102 Coloman was crowned King of Croatia.

Ottoman Empire1463 to 1699

After taking Bosnia in 1463, the Ottomans pushed into Croatia. They crushed the Croatian nobility at Krbava Field in 1493. Nikola Zrinski died defending Szigetvar in 1566, and the Ottoman advance was stopped at Sisak in 1593.

Revolutionary Hungary1848 to 1849

When Hungary's revolutionaries refused Croatian autonomy in 1848, Ban Josip Jelacic led a Croatian army against them on the side of the Habsburgs. Hungary's revolution was crushed in 1849 with Russian help.

Kingdom of Italy1918 to 1947

Italy claimed the eastern Adriatic after the First World War, took Istria and Zadar in 1920 and Rijeka in 1924, and annexed much of Dalmatia in 1941. After 1945 it lost most of these lands to Yugoslavia.

Serbia and the Yugoslav army1991 to 1998

Backed by Serbia and the Yugoslav army, Croatian Serbs took nearly a third of Croatia in 1991. Vukovar fell after an 87-day siege, and Dubrovnik was shelled. Croatia retook most of the land in Operation Storm in 1995, and Eastern Slavonia peacefully in 1998.

SloveniaSince 1991Still open

Since 1991 Croatia and Slovenia have disputed their sea border in the Bay of Piran. An arbitration tribunal ruled mostly in Slovenia's favour in 2017, but Croatia had already left the process and does not accept the ruling.

SerbiaSince 1991Still open

Croatia and Serbia disagree about their border along the Danube, whose course has shifted since the old land registry lines were drawn. Croatia claims the old lines, Serbia the middle of the river, and the dispute is unresolved.

Croatia now

Capital

Zagreb

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of government

Andrej Plenković

Head of state

Zoran Milanović

Languages

Croatian

Area

88,070 km²

Then and now

Population3.9 million2023 · 3.9 million in 1950

Life expectancy78.6 years2023 · 58.5 years in 1950

GDP per person$26,9862022

Living in cities58%2025 · 22% in 1950

Literacy98%2001

Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending2.0% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025