Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Regular elections in Croatia are mandated by the Constitution and legislation enacted by Parliament. The presidency, Parliament, county prefects and assemblies, city and town mayors, and city and municipal councils are all elective offices. Since 1990, seven presidential elections have been held. During the same period, ten parliamentary elections (with two for the upper house when the parliament was bicameral) were also held. In addition, there were nine nationwide local elections. Croatia has also held three elections to elect members of the European Parliament following its accession to the EU on 1 July 2013.
The President of Croatia is elected for a five-year term by a direct vote of all citizens in a majority system, requiring runoff elections if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes in the first round. Members of Parliament are elected for a four-year term in ten multi-seat constituencies, with additional members elected in special constituencies reserved for the Croatian diaspora and national minorities. As of July 2020, legislation provides for the election of 151 members of the unicameral parliament (including three representatives of the Croatian diaspora and eight representatives of national minorities). Out of 31 political parties which won seats in Croatian parliamentary elections held since 1990, only six have won ten seats or more in any one parliamentary election. Those were the Croatian Democratic Union, the Croatian Peasant Party, the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats, the Croatian Social Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party of Croatia and The Bridge. The county prefects, city/town mayors and municipality presidents are elected for four-year term by a majority of votes cast within applicable local government units, with a runoff election if no candidate achieves a majority in the first round of voting. Members of county, city/town and municipal councils are elected for a four-year term through proportional representation, with the entire local government unit as a single constituency. (Full article...)
Image 6Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac with the Croatian communist leader Vladimir Bakarić at the celebration of May Day, shortly before Stepinac was arrested and convicted by the communists, he became a symbol of resistance to the communist regime in Yugoslavia. (from Croatia)
Image 13President Zoran Milanović at the NATO summit on 11 July 2023, Vilnius, Lithuania. The accession of Croatia to NATO took place in 2009. (from Croatia)
Image 16On January 1, 2023, Croatia replaced the kuna as its national currency and adopted the euro, on the same day Croatia became part of the Schengen zone. (from Croatia)
Image 34Ban Josip Jelačić at the opening of the first modern Croatian Parliament (Sabor), June 5, 1848. The Croatian tricolour flag can be seen in the background. (from Croatia)
Image 42The 1835 issue of the magazine Danicza, with lyrics of what would later become the Croatian national anthem "Lijepa naša domovino" ("Our Beautiful Homeland"). (from History of Croatia)
Image 44One of the seats of 14th-century magnate Paul Šubić, in Bribir. Paul held the hereditary titles of the Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia. Croatian historians sometimes refer to Paul as "the uncrowned king of Croatia". (from History of Croatia)
Image 61Croatian borders similar to those established with the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699. Although the peace treaty meant relief from Ottoman pressure, Croatia lost the compactness of its territory. (from History of Croatia)
Image 67Bora is a dry, cold wind which blows from the mainland out to sea, whose gusts can reach hurricane strength, particularly in the channel below Velebit. On the picture Bora in the town of Senj. (from Croatia)
Image 77A map of 10th-century Croatian counties (županije), as they were mentioned in De Administrando Imperio. The counties marked in blue, represent the territories governed by the Croatian Ban. (from History of Croatia)
Image 79The assassination of Croatian MPs in the National Assembly in Belgrade was one of the events which greatly damaged relations between Serbs and Croats in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. (from History of Croatia)
Image 81Ban Josip Jelačić at the opening of the first Croatian civic Parliament (Sabor) whose deputies were elected on 5 June 1848. In earlier Sabors, members represented feudal estates rather than citizens. The Croatian tricolor flag can also be seen in the background. Dragutin Weingärtner, 1885. (from History of Croatia)
Image 82Croatians in a caffe bar on Petar Preradović Square, also known as "Flowers Square" (Cvjetni trg), in Zagreb (from Culture of Croatia)
Image 83"Remnants of the Remnants" (Reliquiae Reliquiarum), shown on this map in yellow, represent the territory under the jurisdiction of Croatian-Slavonian Sabor at the height of the Ottoman advance (from History of Croatia)
Image 85Marko Marulić (18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist who coined the term "psychology". He is the national poet of Croatia. (from Croatia)
The history of the city probably dates back to the 7th century, when the town known as Ragusa was founded by refugees from Epidaurum (Ragusa Vecchia). It was under the protection of the Byzantine Empire and later under the sovereignty of the Republic of Venice. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, Dubrovnik ruled itself as a free state. The prosperity of the city was historically based on maritime trade; as the capital of the maritime Republic of Ragusa, it achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries, as it became notable for its wealth and skilled diplomacy. At the same time, Dubrovnik became a cradle of Croatian literature. In his letter to Nikola Nalješković (1564), poet Ivan Vidalić named it "crown of Croatian cities". (Full article...)
Motovun is a town in central Istria, Croatia. It is situated on a hill 270 meters above sea level. On top of a Motovun hill is probably the most beautiful medieval town in Istria, with houses scattered all over the hill. It is a typical example of Venetian colonial architecture.