History

The culture of Croatia has roots in a long history: the Croats have been inhabiting the area for thirteen centuries, but there are important remnants of the earlier periods still preserved in the country.

Some of the earliest remaining historical features include:

• 100,000 year old bones of a Neandertal man near Krapina (Krapina-Zagorje county)
• Neolithic excavation sites in Ščitarjevo near Zagreb, Sopot near Vinkovci, Vučedol near Vukovar, Nakovanj on the Pelješac peninsula and elsewhere
• records of inhabitation of the island of Vis by ancient Greeks (the queen Teuta of Issa)
• many buildings and ruins from the ancient Roman period, including many Roman cities throughout the Dalmatian coast, notably the aqueduct of Salona, emperor Diocletian's Palace in Split, Euphrasius ' Basilica in Poreč

The early middle ages brought the great migration of the Slavs and this period was perhaps a Dark Age in the cultural sense until the successful formation of the Slavic states which coexisted with Italic cities that remained on the coast, each of them were modelled like Venice.

By joining the Hungarian state in the eleventh century, Croatia lost its independence, but it didn't lose its ties with the south and the west, and instead this ensured the beginning of a new era of Central European cultural influence. Similarly, the beginning of the wars with the Ottoman Empire caused many problems but in the long term it both reinforced the northern influence (by having the Austrians as the rulers) and also introduced a distinct oriental cultural influence.

The turbulent twentieth century re-oriented Croatia politically on many occasions and affected it in many other ways, but it couldn't significantly alter its already peculiar position at the crossroads of many different cultures.

Arts and literature

• Croatian language
• Croatian literature
• Music of Croatia

Education

Croatia has six universities in six larger cities:

• University of Zagreb [1]
• University of Split [2]
• University of Rijeka [3]
• University Josip Juraj Strossmayer, Osijek [4]
• University of Zadar [5]
• University of Dubrovnik [6]

Each of the universities is composed of several faculties which focus on more specific branches of education such as natural sciences, philosophy, economy, law, engineering, architecture, etc. The faculties are generally concentrated in the same city but they can also exist in other cities, such as the faculties in Sisak.

There are also a number of scientific institutes.

There's also a Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb.

The Roman Catholic Church was instrumental in the founding of many educational facilities in Croatia. It continues to maintain numerous seminaries and theological faculties in the country, as well as the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome for Croatian students in Rome.

People

Some of the people Croatians take special pride in include:

• founder of the first Croatian kingdom Tomislav
• statesman and soldier Nikola Šubić Zrinski
• poet Marko Marulić
• playwright and prose writer Marin Držić
• inventor of parachutes Faust Vrančić
• physicist and diplomat Ruđer Bošković
• army general and ban Josip Jelačić
• sculptor Ivan Meštrović
• physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla (ethnic Serb)
• inventor of torpedoes Ivan Lupis-Vukić
• chemist Lavoslav Ružička
• inventor of ink pens Eduard Slavoljub Penkala
• parliamentarian Stjepan Radić
• writer Ivo Andrić

This list is far from inclusive: the list of Croatians includes all the people who influenced the Croatian culture and history.

Places

The UNESCO has marked six places in Croatia as World Heritage:

• Episcopal complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the historic centre of Poreč
• the cathedral of St. James in Šibenik
• historic city of Trogir
• historic complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
• old city of Dubrovnik
• Plitvice Lakes

As far as natural beauty goes, Croatia has eight national parks, mostly situated along the Adriatic coast.

Sports and entertainment

• Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• List of football clubs in Croatia
• Croatian national football team
• Science fiction in Croatia
• List of Croatian language television channels

External links

• Arts and literature
  • Croatian Culture Links
  • Preromanesque art of coastal Croatia
  • Croatia Arts and Literature
  • Online library of major Croatian literary works from Renaissance to Modernism. In Croatian only
• Education
  • Ministry of Science: the list of institutes and general survey
  • Higher Education: Complete directory of higher education institutes in Croatia
• History
  • Museum of Croatian Archelogical Monuments
  • Institute for Ethnology and Folklore
  • Lado National Folklore Ansamble
  • The History of Necktie