Central Croatia

Central Croatia (Croatian: Središnja Hrvatska) or Croatia proper is a historical region of Croatia that encompasses territory around Zagreb, located between Slavonia in the east and the Adriatic Sea in the west. The region has no official definition, and its borders and extent are described differently by various sources. Since re-establishment of the counties of Croatia, Central Croatia is considered to encompass the area of the nation's capital, Zagreb, and the eight counties surrounding the city. Central Croatia is the most significant economic area of the country, contributing 54.5 percent of Croatia's gross domestic product. The city of Zagreb has the largest population and is the economic centre of the region and the whole country.

Central Croatia comprises several microregions: Međimurje, Podravina, Posavina, Kordun, Banovina, Prigorje, Turopolje, Moslavina, and Žumberak. The region covers 19,403 square kilometres (7,492 square miles) of land and has a population of 2,071,092. Central Croatia straddles the boundary between the Dinaric Alps and the Pannonian Basin. The boundary of these two geomorphological units runs from Žumberak to Banovina, along the Sava River. The Dinaric Alps area, south of the boundary, is typified by karst topography, while the Pannonian Basin exhibits plains, especially in the river valleys—along the Sava, Drava, and Kupa—interspersed with hills and mountains developed as horst and graben structures. The tallest mountains are Žumberak, Ivanšćica, and Medvednica. The region belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin and includes most of the large rivers flowing in Croatia.

The boundaries of the region were shaped by territorial losses of medieval Croatia to the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman conquest starting in the 15th century. In effect, Central Croatia loosely corresponds to what was termed reliquiae reliquiarum olim magni et inclyti regni Croatiae (the relics of the relics of the formerly great and glorious Kingdom of Croatia) and the subsequent Kingdom of Croatia within the Habsburg Empire. The region contains most of the 180 preserved or restored castles and manor houses in Croatia, as it was spared any large-scale war damage throughout its history. Varaždin and Zagreb occupy prominent spots in terms of culture among the region's cities.