CROATIA

The country of Croatia is a parliamentarian republic situated in Central Europe. The official language is Croatian, a Slavic language and its capital is Zagreb. Croatia achieved independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. A member of the UN, NATO and the WTO; it joined the EU in 2013. Croatia has more than a thousand islands of various sizes. The country has many Blue Flag beaches and gains a quarter of its national income through tourism. Some of the scenes for the popular TV series Game of Thrones were shot in Croatia. The Dalmatian breed of dogs are originally from the region of Dalmatia situated within its borders. The modern necktie is traced back to the Croatian mercenaries fighting for the French during the 30 year war.