- Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is a city in Central Croatia and the capital of Croatia.

Zagreb is a vibrant city of around a 800 000 people (metropolitan area: 1 200 000). The city boasts a charming medieval 'old city' with architecture and cobbled streets reminiscent of Vienna, Budapest, Prague and other Central-European capitals. In 2005 it was visited by over half a million tourists, mainly from Austria, Germany and Italy.

The area between the railway and the Sava river witnessed a new construction boom after World War II. After the mid-1950s, construction of new residential areas south of the Sava river began, resulting in Novi Zagreb (Croatian for New Zagreb), originally called "Južni Zagreb" (Southern Zagreb). The city also expanded westward and eastward, incorporating Dubrava, Podsused, Jarun, Blato, and other settlements. The cargo railway hub and the international airport Pleso were built south of the Sava river. The largest industrial zone (Žitnjak) in the southeastern part of the city represents an extension of the industrial zones on the eastern outskirts of the city, between Sava and the Prigorje region. Zagreb was also the hosting city of the Summer Universiade in 1987.

In 1991, it became the capital of the country following secession from Second Yugoslavia. During the 1991–1995 Croatian War of Independence, it was a scene of some sporadic fighting surrounding its JNA army barracks, but escaped major damage. In May 1995, it was targeted by Serb rocket artillery in two Zagreb rocket attacks that killed seven civilians.

Urbanized area connects Zagreb with the following surrounding districts: Sesvete, Zaprešić, Samobor, Dugo Selo and Velika Gorica; Sesvete was the first and the closest one to become a part of the agglomeration and is in fact already administratively included in the City of Zagreb