Zagreb - City of Croatia

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. Zagreb is the cultural, scientific, cinematic, economic and governmental center of the Republic of Croatia. It is situated between the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain and both northern and southern bank of the Sava river at an elevation of approximately 122 m above sea level.

Its favorable geographic position in the southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin, which extends to the Alpine, Dinaric, Adriatic and Pannonic regions, provides an excellent connection for traffic between Central Europe and the Adriatic Sea.

The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie its leading economic position in Croatia. Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies and almost all government ministries.

The climate of Zagreb is classified as humid subtropical . Zagreb has with four separate seasons. Summers are hot, and winters are cold, without a discernible dry season. Snowfall is common in the winter months, from December to March, and rain and fog are common in fall .

Zagreb is a city with a rich history, with Roman settlements such as Andautonia existing as early as 1st century AD. The first recorded appearance of the name Zagreb is dated in 1094, at which time the city exists as two different city cores: smaller, eastern Kaptol, inhabited mainly by clergy and housing the Zagreb Cathedral, and larger, western Gradec, inhabited by other people, mainly farmers and merchants. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Zagreb continued to cherish, becoming one of the most important and developed cities in Southeastern Europe.

The first railway line to connect Zagreb with Zidani Most and Sisak was opened in 1862 and in 1863 Zagreb received a gasworks. The Zagreb waterworks was opened in 1878 and the first horse-drawn tramcar was used in 1891. The construction of the railway lines enabled the old suburbs to merge gradually into Donji Grad, characterized by a regular block pattern that prevails in Central European cities.

The cargo railway hub and the international airport Pleso were built south of the Sava river. The largest industrial zone in the southeast represents an extension of the industrial zones on the eastern outskirts of the city, between the river Sava and Prigorje region.

There are 136 primary schools and 100 secondary schools including 30 gymnasiums. There are 5 public higher education institution and 9 private professional higher education schools.

University of Zagreb is the oldest in Croatia and one of the largest and oldest universities in the Southeastern Europe founded in 1669. Ever since its foundation, the university has been continually growing and developing and now consists of 28 faculties, three art academies, the Teacher Academy and the Croatian Studies Center. More than 200,000 students have attained the Bachelor's degree at the university, which has also assigned 18,000 Master's and 8,000 Doctor's degrees.

Zagreb's numerous museums reflect the history, art and culture not only of Zagreb and Croatia, but also of Europe and the world. Around thirty collections in museums and galleries comprise more than 3.6 million various exhibits, excluding church and private collections.

Valuable historical collections are also found in the Croatian School Museum, the Croatian Hunting Museum, the Croatian Sports Museum, the Croatian Post and Telecommunications Museum, the HAZU Glyptotheque and the HAZU Graphics Cabinet.

Zagreb is also the host of Zagrebfest, the oldest Croatian pop-music festival, as well as of several traditional international sports events and tournaments. The Day of the City of Zagreb on the November 16 is celebrated every year with special festivities, especially on the Jarun lake near the southwestern part of the city.

The Archdiocese of Zagreb is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Croatia, serving as its religious center. The current Archbishop is Josip Cardinal Bozanic.

Zagreb is also the Episcopal see of the Metropolitan of Zagreb, Ljubljana and all of Italy of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The current Metropolitan is Jovan.

Islamic religious organization of Croatia has the see in Zagreb. Current president is Mufti Ševko Omerbašic. A mosque used to be located at the Žrtava Fašizma Square, but it was relocated to the neighborhood of Borovje in Pešcenica.

Zagreb is an important tourist center, not only in terms of passengers travelling from Western and Central Europe to the Adriatic Sea, but also as a travel destination itself. Since the end of the war, it has attracted around half a million visitors annually, mainly from Austria, Germany and Italy. However, the city has even greater potential as many tourists that visit Croatia skip Zagreb in order to visit the beaches along the Croatian Adriatic coast and old historic Renaissance cities such as Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar.

Many Zagreb restaurants offer various specialities of national and international cuisine. Domestic products which deserve to be tasted include turkey, duck or goose with mlinci , štrukli , sir i vrhnje , kremšnite and orehnjaca.