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    Croatia - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
    Croatia - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
    Croatia - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
    Ebook191 pages1 hour

    Croatia - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

    By Irina Ban and Culture Smart

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    About this ebook

    Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include: * customs, values, and traditions * historical, religious, and political background * life at home * leisure, social, and cultural life * eating and drinking * do's, don'ts, and taboos * business practices * communication, spoken and unspoken
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKuperard
    Release dateJun 1, 2008
    ISBN9781857336139
    Croatia - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

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      Book preview

      Croatia - Culture Smart! - Irina Ban

      chapter one

      LAND & PEOPLE

      A GEOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW

      The Republic of Croatia is both a Middle-European and a Mediterranean country. It is located in Southern Europe and lies partly in the Balkan Peninsula. The capital is Zagreb. Croatia shares land borders with Slovenia and Hungary in the north, Serbia in the east, Bosnia-Herzegovina in the south and east, and Montenegro in the south. There is a sea border with Italy to the west. Its mainland territory is divided in the south by Bosnia-Herzegovina’s short coastline (9.315 miles; approximately 15 kilometers).

      Croatian territory extends from the furthest eastern edges of the Alps in the northwest to the Pannonian lowlands and the banks of the Danube in the east; its central region is covered by the Dinara mountain range, and its southern parts extend to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The mainland covers approximately 21,831 square miles (56,542 sq. km). The highest peak is Mount Dinara, which has an altitude of 6,007 feet (1,831 meters) above sea level.

      The Adriatic Sea stretches from the Balkan Peninsula to the Apennine Peninsula. The part belonging to the Republic of Croatia is the east coast, which extends all the way from Prevlaka in the south to Cape Savudrija in the west, including all islands, islets, and cliffs along the coast, and the archipelago of Palagruža. The coastline is 3,625 miles (5,835 km) long, of which 2,521 miles (4,058 km) surround 1,185 islands, solitary rocks, and reefs—but of these only fifty islands are inhabited. The largest islands are Krk and Cres, in the Kvarner region.

      There are eight protected national parks (Plitivice Lakes, Brijuni, Risnjak, North Velebit, Paklenica, Krka, Kornati, and Mljet), eleven nature parks, and six UNESCO-listed sites.

      CLIMATE

      There are two climate zones in Croatia: a temperate, continental climate with both snow and sun in the interior, and a pleasant, Mediterranean climate, with an overwhelming number of sunny days, that prevails along the Adriatic coast, giving hot, dry summers and mild, humid winters. Snow is so rare on the coast that on the island of Hvar, which enjoys more sunshine than anywhere else in Croatia, hotels offer free accommodation if snowflakes surprise the guests in January and February.

      Inland, the average temperature ranges from 32–36°F (0–2°C) in January to 70–82°F (21–28°C) in August. Winters are snowy and fog is common in autumn. Subzero temperatures are possible in December and January. Seaside temperatures average 43–59°F (6–15°C) in January and 77–95°F (25–35°C) in August. The sea temperature is about 54°F (12°C) in winter, and 77–81°F (25–27°C) in summer. At the height of summer, temperatures can reach up to 99°F (37°C) in the shade.

      The biggest surprise with Croatian weather could be the humidity—it can be unpleasant in the summer months, particularly inland, where summer winds are rare. By contrast, on the coast there is a welcome west wind (locally known as the maestral) that blows during the hottest part of the day (1:00–4:00 p.m.), and brings some relief. The most pleasant seasons to travel and explore Croatia are spring and fall, when it is not so crowded and the climate is at its most comfortable.

      POPULATION

      Croatia has 4,437,460 inhabitants, according to the most recent census, and slightly more women then men. The average age of the population is 39.3, which makes Croatia an old country, with a life expectancy of 71 for men and 78 for women. About 90 percent of the population are Croats, with Serbs forming the main minority.

      Population distribution varies: Zagreb and Zagreb County have the highest density, while Lika and Gorski Kotar and parts of Slavonia are depopulated and close to being a wasteland. In response the state is introducing programs to encourage entrepreneurship and economic initiatives, aiming to create livelihoods for the people there.

      Croatia has had a high emigration rate. Substantial and active Croatian communities can be found in the USA, Australia, Germany, and New Zealand, mostly centered on church associations, and many young Croats win scholarships and complete their education abroad.

      REGIONS AND CITIES

      There are twenty-one counties, divided among the four main regions: Central Croatia; Istria and the northern seacoast with mountainous Croatia; Slavonia; and Dalmatia.

      Istria and the northern seacoast with mountainous Croatia consists of the Istrian Peninsula, the Kvarner region (the coastline, with the town of Rijeka as capital, and the islands of Krk, Cres, Lošinj, and Rab) and mountainous areas with a low population. The inhabitants of Istria are known for their diligence and stubbornness—a combination of characteristics inherited from their Italian and Austrian neighbors—and their appreciation of a pleasant and comfortable way of life.

      Dalmatia is divided into Northern Dalmatia, with Zadar as its main city, Middle Dalmatia, with Split, and Southern Dalmatia, with Dubrovnik as its capital. Off the coast of Dalmatia there are three island groups: the North Dalmatian Islands (including the Kornati National Park with 150 islets), the Middle Dalmatian Islands (Hvar, Brač, Šolta, and Vis) and the South Dalmatian Islands (Korčula, Lastovo, the Elafitis, and Mljet). The people here tend to be true hedonists—fonder of friendship and pleasure than of money.

      Those who inhabit Slavonia, in easternmost Croatia, are said to have souls as open as the wide fields of this fertile region, which is nicknamed Croatia’s granary.

      Zagreb

      Zagreb, the capital (population 779,145, or 1.2 million including the outskirts), was founded in 1242. The economic, cultural, and administrative center of the country, it has Art Nouveau architecture typical of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with characteristic city parks, fountains, and coffee shops along the main streets. Zagreb is the only substantial Meetings, Incentive, Congress, and Events center in Croatia, though other cities also have some good facilities.

      A feature of Zagreb’s social life is the Saturday walk, when everyone who wants to see and be seen dresses in their best and heads for Flowers Square in the city center for coffee and conversation. This social gathering, resembling nothing so much as a catwalk fashion parade, lasts until 1:00 p.m.

      Zagreb has a famous football team, Dinamo, which has a historic rivalry with Croatia’s other famous club, Hajduk (Pirates) from Split.

      Split

      Split, with 400,000 inhabitants, is the center of Dalmatia and, apart from Dubrovnik, is the main tourist center on the Croatian coastline. It is the beloved hometown of tennis player Goran Ivanisević, who won Wimbledon in 2001. Split has one particularly notable social phenomenon: no matter when you arrive, the streets are alive and the coffee shops full. The city is a perpetual social mingler. Appearances are important here, with designer clothes and a well-toned body de rigueur. It may also be useful to know that Split has a reputation as the town with the most beautiful women in Croatia! Central Split also has some historical charm, due to the famous ruins of Diocletian’s Palace (c. 305 CE), which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Monument.

      Rijeka

      Rijeka, with 250,000 inhabitants, is situated in the Gulf of Kvarner, just two hours’ drive from Zagreb via the new expressway. The town is known for its shipyard and sailing traditions, and also for its exuberant Carnival in February, which was flagged by the London Times in 2007 as an unmissable winter destination. During Carnival week the city puts on a different face, giving itself over to music, dancing, and fun. Just to the north of Rijeka lies the Opatija Rivijera, a smart, exclusive, seven-and-a-half-mile (12-km) seaside parade, with villas and expensive private hotels suitable both for weekend relaxation and for business conferences and events. Friday afternoons can be busy on the road to Rijeka.

      Osijek

      Osijek, in far eastern Slavonia, has 200,000 inhabitants. Known as the greenest city in Croatia, it has an authentically small-town atmosphere: life carries on peacefully and everyone knows everyone else. It has wide avenues, spacious squares, and seventeen parks. Osijek’s surroundings offer plenty of day-trip options, including bicycling along the Danube, fishing in the Drava, hunting and hiking in the Kopački Rit Nature Park, or visiting the castles that are all just a short distance from the city. Kopački Rit is considered to be the best bird-watching location in the

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