2003

25 September

Photos: HTZ / Ivo Pervan (left), Pablo BM (upper right), HTZ / Renco Kosinović (lower right)

A new Nature Protection Act

More than 10% of Croatia's territory consists of protected areas, namely two strict reserves, eight national parks and 11 nature parks, where you can still come across wolves, lynxes and bears. A natural miracle, the Plitvice Lakes National Park, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979, encompasses a series of 16 terraced lakes and one of the rare primeval forests of Europe. In terms of freshwater resources per inhabitant, Croatia is third in Europe, just behind Iceland and Norway. Besides, thanks to its 1244 islands and islets, the total length of its coastline reaches 5835 km, which makes it the third longest in the Mediterranean, after Greece and Italy.

2003

18 October

Photo: Academia Cravatica

The tie, a Croatian-born fashion accessory

An indispensable attribute of male attire, the tie was born in Croatia from where it conquered the world, elegantly decorating the neck... Tracing its origins to the strip of cloth that Croatian cavalrymen wore during the Thirty Years' War, it came to be accepted at Versailles in the 17th century after having been introduced to France by the "Royal-Croate" recruits, a regiment that entered the service of Louis XIII and was renamed "Royal- Cravate" by Louis XIV. Croatia is also home to the longest tie in the world, 808 metres in length and tied by Academia Cravatica around the Roman amphitheatre in Pula. The word "tie" (Fr. cravate) is merely the Frenchified form of the Croatian word "Hrvat", meaning "Croat".