Croatia (Croatian: Hrvatska), officially the Republic of Croatia (Republika Hrvatska listen (help·info)), is a country at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and Central Europe. Its capital is Zagreb. Croatia shares land borders with Slovenia and Hungary on the north, Serbia on the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the south and east, and Montenegro on the south, as well as a sea border with Italy to the west. It is a candidate for membership in the European Union and NATO.
The Croats settled in the Balkans in the early 7th century and formed two principalities: Dalmatia and Pannonia. The establishment of the Trpimirović dynasty ca 850 brought strengthening to the Dalmatian Croat Duchy, which together with the Pannonian principality became a Kingdom in 925 under King Tomislav.
In 1102, Croatia entered into a personal union with the Hungarian Kingdom. After the 1526 Battle of Mohács the "reliquiae reliquiarum" of Croatia became a part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1527.
It was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, from 1918-1929, and Kingdom of Yugoslavia, from 1929-1941.
In 1941-1945 an Axis puppet-state known as the Independent State of Croatia was set up, and after the victory of the Allies, Croatia became a constitutive republic of Yugoslavia.
In 1991 Croatia declared independence, and a bitter and costly war was fought by the Croatian government against the invading Serb-led Yugoslav People's Army, Serbian paramilitary forces and rebel Serbs. Later the war mutated into a conflict between independent Croatia and the rebel Serbs, with the support of Serbia proper. The war ended with a decisive Croatian victory in 1995.
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