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Interesting Facts about Croatia

Trivia, oddities, and curious tidbits about Croatia.

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17 curious facts about Croatia.

Two Croatian sailors, Ivan Malogrudic from Senj and Marino Masalarda from Dubrovnik, came to Canada with the expedition of Jacques Cartier in 1534.
The bura is a cold, dry, northeast wind that blows across the central European plain into northwestern Croatia. The wind can be so strong as to overturn cars.
Croatia's white-headed griffon vulture has a wingspan of 2.5 metrersand can live up to 60 years. The vulture feeds on carrion and can spot a carcass from a distance of six kilometers.
Signed in 1214, the Statute of the Island of Korcula was the first such document in Europe to prohibit trading in slaves. Korcula is also the birthplace of Marco Polo, the renowned explorer.

Croatians have a spectacular variety of traditional costumes, which creatively co-ordinate fabrics, leather, shapes and colours and an abundance of lace. Golden and multicoloured threads depict the prosperity of the various regions.
Much of the marble used in the White House in Washington D.C. comes from the Croatian island of Brac.
In May 1994, the kuna replaced the dinar as the national currency. The Croatian kuna or marten is an indigenous animal whose pelt was used as a means of currency in Croatia during the Middle Ages.
Skier Janica Kostelic recently set a world record by winning four medals in alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She captured three gold and one silver.
Alka, a game held in August, is actually a loose staging of the historic defeat of the Turks in 1715 by the Croatians of Sinj. The galloping alkari horsemen, dressed in traditional costumes, attempt to push their lances through a ring hanging from a rope.
The healing quality of the Ivanic Grads mud baths has been confirmed by medical opinion. The baths are famous for alleviating psoriasis, a chronic, inflammatory skin disease.