Hello Steemers! An introduction, of a different kind!

Hello Steemers.
Croatia speaking.

At last I’ve discovered a place and a community which aim to make a difference in the world.

Croatians are obviously too occupied with their failed politics and sinking economy to care about what really matters.

Therefore, I decided to take the matters in my own hands.
A long time ago, I have started a search for the true means to show the world what diamonds of nature and history I have to offer.

Let me introduce you to only a few of the beautiful things I have in store.

Let’s start off with some geography.

I rest in Central Southeast Europe, sharing borders with 6 other countries:
Italy, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro

Major part of my borders is against nothing but the mesmerizing blue of the Adriatic Sea.

A beautiful view on the Islands of Kornati

I also have one practical exclave on the sheer south containing one of my most precious jewels, city of Dubrovnik.

Breathtaking look upon the Old Town Dubrovnik , where GoT was filmed, taken from the hill Srđ
The area I cover is roughly 22 000 square miles, i.e. I could fill North America almost 200 times.
But at the same time length of my coastline is equal to joined coastlines of Thailand and South Africa. My capital Zagreb is hiding behind the Medvednica hill in the central part.

A view on Zagreb from the Medvednica hill

My biodiversity is considered one of the richest in Europe. There are four types of biogeographical regions — Mediterranean along the coast, Alpine in most of Lika and Gorski Kotar,

The mountain Velebit in Gorski Kotar
Pannonian along Drava and Danube, and continental in the remaining areas.

The river Drava

Hilly northern parts of the Croatian Zagorje

The medieval castle Trakošćan in Zagorje
and the flat plains of Slavonia in the east are doodled with major rivers such as Sava, Drava Kupa and Danube.

A plain in Slavonia
The central and southern regions near the sea are reserved for low mountains and forested highlands.

Insular region consists of over a thousand islands and islets, 48 of which are permanently inhabited. Largest islands are Cres and Krk each of the having an area of 156 square miles.

The Island of Mljet

Golden Cape

The place closest to sun is at 6000 feet. It is part of the Dinaric Alps and also one of its highest peaks, called Dinara.

I’m also full of caves (Luke's Pit- 14. deepest in the world) and sinkholes as karst topography makes up about half of me. It also enables Plitvice lakes to exist and present its distinctive colours, ranging from turquoise to mint green, grey or blue.

Plitvice on a sunny day
One of the most significant karst habitats include submerged karst, such as Zrmanja and Krka canyons and tufa barriers.

River Krka on a sunset

Let’s begin with a brief history!
My story begins in the ancient times, before 5,000 BC when people on my territories started farming by using nothing more than stone tools. The famous Krapina Neanderthal who settled on the Hušnjakovo hill has a whole museum in his honor!.

The The first “civilised” life came just after 390 BC when the Greeks started to build colonies along side the coastline. As the Roman empire grew so did its influence over the territory, resulting in a total rulership by the year or 20 AD. It was this time when the name Dalmatia and Pannonia first started to emerge.The Romans built new towns and roads bringing development and life to the lands. Yet by the 5th century AD the Roman Empire weakened, so did its control and number of Roman citizens.

Pula Arena

With the Romans leaving, the land was ready for a new chapter.
Around the year 626. Slavic peoples, Croats, ancestors of what today’s Croatians settled Dalmatia.

Oton Iveković: Arrival of Croats

As they started spreading across the lands, two separate states emerged. One inland and other on the coast. After a few hundred years of struggle, half way through the 11th century,

the king Petar Kresimir managed to organise some sir & vrhnje and unite the two states.

Sir & Vrhnje

The Croatians threw a big party but shortly after the headline DJ came on the stage, the Hungarian king Koloman managed to play the top partybreaker and conquered the charts and land.

During the Middle ages the life in the towns and cities flourished same as the trade life and importance. Even Venetia wanted a bite of me, but after some short lived struggle we settled the matter. It’s worth mentioning that Croatians played an important role in the battle with the Turks.

Hans Rudolf Miller: Battle of Sisak

By the 19th century I became very good friends with Austria, France and Napoleon didn’t seem to like it so we had to show we ain’t no one to mess with and we could chill again.
By WW1 Austria started acting weird so I decided to hang out a bit more with Serbia and Slovenia. We became really close and even started the Yugoslavia crew. In fact two of them!

We initially had some difficulties but decided to stick together after all.
After a fair few years of drinks and parties we started to have big quarrels which escalated into a big fight between Serbia and myself.
At the end we parted our ways, and I don’t wanna jump to any conclusions but let’s say we are in a friendly neighbour relationship at the moment.
I joined allot numerous organisations lately, since that seems to be the overall trend in the world.

Till next time my new friends, sit tight and wait for the next chapter on this wonderful journey through the my jewels of nature and the river flow of the history.
I will leave you with a dazzling sunset view of Dalmatian archipelago as seen from fortress of Klis.