Croatia

The pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Chapel, a symbol of faith and unity for the inhabitants of Rogoznica for 300 years, has been included in the Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia as part of the Adriatic Sea pilgrimages

Kristijan Iličić, travel blogger, became the first Croatian to visit every country in the world; "behind the number 197 are a thousand stories that have woven a single dream" he said

Tens of thousands of people from all over Croatia and the diaspora marched through Vukovar in a procession commemorating 18 November 1991: a defining moment in national history when the town fell to the Yugoslav People’s Army, JNA and Serbian paramilitary

'Freedom Tree' on the island of Rab has been named the Croatian tree of the year 2024, which will represent the country at the European award; this holm oak was planted on 23 April 1921 on the occasion of the departure of Italian soldiers

Croatian marathon swimmer Dina Levačić has now been inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an honorary member, the first Croatian woman to receive this honour

The mayor of Zagreb unveiled plans to invest in five new road routes, marking the city's first major road and tram projects in 20 years; Zagreb has seen a significant increase in car use, with 34% more vehicles than 10 years ago

Croatian real estate prices are rising more than elsewhere in Europe; looking at the situation on an annual span, average prices of residential buildings have increased by 10%

Thousands of Yugoslavian monuments to the anti-fascist struggle of World War II were destroyed, looted and left to rot, with great loss to the collective memory and to the architectural and cultural heritage

As of 1 January 2025, lightweight plastic bags, typically found in rolls in the fruit and vegetable departments of shops or market stalls, will no longer be available for free

With Cyclone Boris, the first snowfall arrived in the country, although still during the summer

With 34 and possibly more bat species, Croatia is among the European countries with the greatest biodiversity of bat fauna, but their conservation status is poor or inadequate, said the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition

Compulsory military service, lasting two months, will be reintroduced in the country from 1 January 2025; compulsory conscription had been suspended in 2008 and the government began considering reinstating it after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022