Croatia
Area: 56,542 km² (World Rank 123)
Inhabitants: 4.49 Mio. (World Rank 119)
Zagreb is the capital of Croatia
Croatia (IPA: /kroʊˈeɪʃə/) (Croatian: Hrvatska /xrvatska/), officially the Republic of Croatia (Republika Hrvatska listen (help·info)), is a southern Central European and a western Balkanic country at the crossroads between the Pannonian Plain and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb. Croatia borders with Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Serbia to the northeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east, and Montenegro to the far southeast. Its southern and western flanks border the Adriatic Sea, and it also shares a sea border with Italy in the Gulf of Trieste.
Croatia is a member of United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe. The country is also a candidate for membership of the European Union and received a NATO membership invitation on 3 April 2008. On October 17, 2007 Croatia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term.