Editing Geography of Croatia (section)

==Area and borders==
Croatia's territory covers {{convert|56594|km2|abbr=off}},<ref name="Yearbook-2011">{{cite journal|publisher=Croatian Bureau of Statistics|url=http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/ljetopis/2011/SLJH2011.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/ljetopis/2011/SLJH2011.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia|issn=1333-3305|date=December 2011|volume=43|title=Geographical and Meteorological Data|page=41|access-date=28 January 2012}}</ref> making it the 127th largest country in the world.<ref name="CIA">{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Croatia|access-date=9 September 2011}}</ref> The physical geography of Croatia is defined by its location—it is described as a part of [[Southeast Europe]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Politička Misao|publisher=University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Sciences|issn=0032-3241|volume=37|issue=5|date=February 2001|title=Croatia&nbsp;– the "Gateway" to Southeast Europe|first=Vlatko|last=Cvrtila|pages=150–159}}</ref> Croatia borders [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia–Herzegovina]] (for 1,009.1&nbsp;km), [[Slovenia]] for 667.8&nbsp;km in the northwest,  in the east, [[Hungary]] for 355.5&nbsp;km in the north, [[Serbia]] (for 317.6&nbsp;km) in the east, [[Montenegro]] (for 22.6&nbsp;km) in the southeast and the [[Adriatic Sea]] in the west, south and southwest.<ref>[http://arhiva.vlada.hr/en/about_croatia/information/borders_of_the_republic_of_croatia Borders of the Republic of Croatia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222111339/http://arhiva.vlada.hr/en/about_croatia/information/borders_of_the_republic_of_croatia |date=22 December 2015 }}</ref> It lies mostly between latitudes [[42nd parallel north|42°]] and [[47th parallel north|47° N]] and longitudes [[13th meridian east|13°]] and [[20th meridian east|20° E]]. Part of the extreme south of Croatia is separated from the rest of the mainland by a short coastline strip around [[Neum]] belonging to Bosnia–Herzegovina.<ref name="DZS-Stat2010">{{cite journal|publisher=Croatian Bureau of Statistics|url=http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/ljetopis/2010/SLJH2010.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016173344/http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/ljetopis/2010/SLJH2010.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-16 |url-status=live|journal=Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia|title=Geographical and Meteorological Data|issn=1333-3305|date=December 2010|volume=42|access-date=7 October 2011}}</ref> The country's shape is described as a '[[horseshoe shape|horseshoe]]' ({{lang|hr|potkova}}), and it arose as a result of [[medieval]] geopolitics.<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/clanak/48271 | journal = Geoadria | volume = 13 | number = 1 | year = 2008 | doi = 10.15291/geoadria.566 | title = Contributions for Supplement and Modification in Regionalization of the Republic of Croatia | first = Radovan | last = Pavić | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Croatia's {{convert|348|km|adj=on}} border with Hungary was inherited from [[SFR Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. Much of the border with Hungary follows the [[Drava]] River or its former river bed; that part of the border dates from the [[Middle Ages]]. The border in [[Međimurje]] and [[Baranya (region)|Baranya]] was defined as a border between the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Kingdom of Hungary]] and the [[Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes]], later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, pursuant to the [[Treaty of Trianon#Borders of Hungary|Treaty of Trianon]] of 1920.<ref name=Columbia>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Trianon, Treaty of|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-TrianonTr.html|encyclopedia=[[The Columbia Encyclopedia]]|year=2009}}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia of ww1">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of World War I|last=Tucker|first=Spencer|year=2005|edition=1|page=1183|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&pg=PA1183|quote=Virtually the entire population of what remained of Hungary regarded the Treaty of Trianon as manifestly unfair, and agitation for revision began immediately.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-420-2}}</ref> The present outline of the {{convert|956|km|adj=on}} border with Bosnia–Herzegovina and {{convert|19|km|adj=on}} border with Montenegro is largely the result of the [[Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War|Ottoman conquest]] and subsequent recapture of territories in the [[Great Turkish War]] of 1667–1698 formally ending with the [[Treaty of Karlowitz]],{{sfn|Frucht|2005|p=422}} as well as the [[Cretan War (1645–1669)|Fifth]] and [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)|Seventh Ottoman–Venetian Wars]].<ref name="bare_url">{{cite book|first=Frederic Chapin|last=Lane|title=Venice, a Maritime Republic|publisher=JHU Press|year=1973|isbn=978-0-8018-1460-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQpU2JGJCMwC|access-date=18 October 2011|page=409}}</ref> This border had minor modifications in 1947 when all borders of the former Yugoslav constituent republics were defined by demarcation commissions implementing the [[AVNOJ]] decisions of 1943 and 1945 regarding the federal organisation of Yugoslavia. The commissions also defined Baranya and Međimurje as Croatian territories, and moreover set up the present-day {{convert|314|km|adj=on}} border between Serbia and Croatia in [[Syrmia]] and along the [[Danube]] River between [[Ilok]] and the Drava river's mouth and further north to the Hungarian border; the Ilok/Drava section matched the border between the [[Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia]] and [[Bács-Bodrog County]] that existed until 1918 (the end of [[World War I]]). Most of the {{convert|600|km|adj=on}} border with Slovenia was also defined by the commissions, matching the northwestern border of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia,<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Geoadria|publisher=University of Zadar&nbsp;– Croatian Geographic Society|issn=1331-2294|volume=15|issue=1|date=June 2010|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=84078|title=Povijesni razvoj i političko-geografska obilježja granice i pograničja Republike Hrvatske s Republikom Slovenijom na Žumberku i Kupsko-čabranskoj dolini|language=hr|trans-title=Historical development and politico-geographical characteristics of the border and borderland between the Republic of Croatia and Republic of Slovenia on Žumberak and in the Rivers Kupa and Čabranka Valley|first1=Helena Ilona|last1=Bognar|first2=Andrija|last2=Bognar|pages=187–224|access-date=7 March 2012|doi=10.15291/geoadria.549|doi-access=free}}</ref> and establishing a new section of Croatian border north of the [[Istria]]n peninsula according to the ethnic composition of the territory previously belonging to the [[Kingdom of Italy]].<ref name="Kraljević-Razgraničenje-1947">{{cite journal|first=Egon|last=Kraljević|publisher=Croatian State Archives|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=41791 |language=hr|title=Prilog za povijest uprave: Komisija za razgraničenje pri Predsjedništvu Vlade Narodne Republike Hrvatske 1945–1946|trans-title=A part of history of public administration: Boundary demarcation commission of the government presidency of the People's Republic of Croatia, 1945–1946|date=November 2007|journal=Arhivski vjesnik |volume=50|issue=50|issn=0570-9008|access-date=21 June 2012}}</ref>

Pursuant to the [[Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947|1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy]] the islands of [[Cres#History|Cres]], [[Lastovo]] and [[Palagruža]] and the cities of [[Zadar#History|Zadar]] and [[Rijeka]] and most of Istria went to [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|communist Yugoslavia]] and Croatia, while carving out the [[Free Territory of Trieste]] (FTT) as a city-state.<ref name="Klemenčič">{{cite book|pages=198–202|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORSMBFwjAKcC|title=The former Yugoslavia's diverse peoples|first1=Matjaž|last1=Klemenčič|first2=Mitja|last2=Žagar|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2004|isbn=978-1-57607-294-3|access-date=1 February 2012}}</ref> The FTT was partitioned in 1954 as [[Trieste]] itself and the area to the north of it were placed under Italian control, and the rest under Yugoslav control. The arrangement was made permanent by the [[Treaty of Osimo]] in 1975. The former FTT's Yugoslav part was partitioned between Croatia and Slovenia, largely conforming to the area population's ethnic composition.<ref>{{cite book|pages=141–142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TznfHevgsEcC|title=The land and the spirit of Italy|first=John J|last=Navone|publisher=Legas/Gaetano Cipolla|year=1996|isbn=978-1-881901-12-9|access-date=1 February 2012}}</ref>

In the late 19th century, [[Austria-Hungary]] established a [[geodetic network]], for which the [[Metres above the Adriatic|elevation benchmark]] was determined by the Adriatic Sea's average level at the Sartorio pier in Trieste. This benchmark was subsequently retained by [[Austria]], adopted by [[Yugoslavia]], and kept by the states that emerged after its dissolution, including Croatia.<ref>{{cite book|pages=224–225|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WBBJsPJ6C6QC|title=The Adria microplate: GPS geodesy, tectonics and hazards|publisher=Springer|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4020-4234-8|access-date=5 February 2012|first1=Nicholas|last1=Pinter|first2=Gyula|last2=Grenerczy|first3=John|last3=Weber|bibcode = 2006amgg.book.....P}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=International Cartographic Association|title=Cartography in Croatia 2007–2011&nbsp;– National Report to the ICA|first1=Dražen|last1=Tutić|first2=Miljenko|last2=Lapaine|url=http://icaci.org/documents/national_reports/2007-2011/Croatia.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://icaci.org/documents/national_reports/2007-2011/Croatia.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|year=2011|access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=5|Length of land borders of Croatia (including rivers)<ref name="Yearbook-2011"/>
|-
! Country
! Length
|-align=center
| Slovenia || {{convert|670|km|abbr=on}}
|-align=center
| Hungary || {{convert|348|km|abbr=on}}
|-align=center
| Serbia || {{convert|314|km|abbr=on}}
|-align=center
| Bosnia–Herzegovina || {{convert|956|km|abbr=on}}
|-align=center
| Montenegro || {{convert|19|km|abbr=on}}
|-align=center sort=bottom
! Total || {{convert|2237|km|abbr=on}}
|}

===Extreme points===
{{main|Extreme points of Croatia}}
The geographical extreme points of [[Croatia]] are [[Žabnik, Međimurje County|Žabnik]] in [[Međimurje County]] as the northernmost point, [[Rađevac]] near Ilok in [[Vukovar-Syrmia County]] as the easternmost point, Cape Lako near [[Bašanija]] in [[Istria County]] as the westernmost point and the islet of [[Galijula]] in Palagruža archipelago in [[Split-Dalmatia County]] as the southernmost point. On the mainland, Cape Oštra of the [[Prevlaka]] peninsula in [[Dubrovnik-Neretva County]] is the southernmost point.<ref name="Yearbook-2011"/>

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan=5|Extreme points of Croatia<ref name="Yearbook-2011"/>
|-
! Point
! Name
! Part of
! County
! Note
|-align=center
| Northernmost || Žabnik || [[Sveti Martin na Muri]] || Međimurje || {{coord|46|33|N|16|22|E|region:HR_type:landmark|name=Žabnik (Northernmost point)}}
|-align=center
| rowspan=2|Southernmost* || Galijula || Palagruža archipelago || Split-Dalmatia || {{coord|42|23|N|16|21|E|region:HR_type:isle|name=Galijula (Southernmost point)}}
|-align=center
| Cape Oštra || Prevlaka peninsula || Dubrovnik-Neretva || {{coord|42|24|N|18|32|E|region:HR_type:landmark|name=Rt Oštra (Southernmost point)}}
|-align=center
| Easternmost || Rađevac || Ilok || Vukovar-Syrmia || {{coord|45|12|N|19|27|E|region:HR_type:landmark|name=Rađevac (Easternmost point)}}
|-align=center
| Westernmost || Cape Lako || [[Umag]] || Istria || {{coord|45|29|N|13|30|E|region:HR_type:landmark|name=Cape Lako (Westernmost point)}}
|-align=center
| Highest || Dinara peak || [[Dinara]] || [[Šibenik-Knin County|Šibenik-Knin]] || {{convert|1831|m|abbr=on}} [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]],<br>{{coord|44|3|N|16|23|E|region:HR_type:landmark|name=Dinara (Highest point)}}
|-align=center
| Lowest || Adriatic Sea || [[Mediterranean Sea]] || {{n/a}} || sea level, {{coord|43|N|15|E|region:HR_type:landmark|name=Adriatic Sea (Lowest point)}}
|-
| colspan=5|<small>*Cape Oštra is the southernmost point of the mainland, while Galijula is the southernmost point of Croatian territory.</small>
|}

===Maritime claims===
[[File:ZERP.jpg|thumb|right|Croatian Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone of the Adriatic Sea<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Narodne Novine|url=http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2011_01_5_86.html|title=Pravilnik o granicama u ribolovnom moru Republike Hrvatske|trans-title=Ordinance on boundaries of fisheries of the Republic of Croatia|language=hr|date=12 January 2011|access-date=29 May 2012}}</ref>|alt=Map with water in the center]]
{{see also|Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone}}
Italy and Yugoslavia defined their delineation of the [[continental shelf]] in the Adriatic Sea in 1968,{{sfn|Blake|Topalović|Schofield|1996|pp=11–13}} with an additional agreement on the boundary in the Gulf of Trieste signed in 1975 in accordance with the Treaty of Osimo. All the successor states of former Yugoslavia accepted the agreements. Prior to Yugoslavia's break-up, Albania, Italy and Yugoslavia initially proclaimed {{convert|15|nmi|km mi|adj=on}} [[territorial waters]], subsequently reduced to the international-standard {{convert|12|nmi|km mi}}; all sides adopted [[Baseline (sea)|baseline]] systems. Croatia also declared its [[Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone]] (ZERP)—a part of its [[Exclusive Economic Zone]]—as extending to the continental shelf boundary. Croatia's territorial waters encompass {{convert|18981|km2}}; its [[internal waters]] located within the baseline cover an additional {{convert|12498|km2}}.<ref name="EEA-Land-Use">{{cite web|publisher=European Environment Agency|url=http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/countries/hr/land-use-state-and-impacts-croatia|title=Land use&nbsp;– State and impacts (Croatia)|access-date=2 March 2012}}</ref>

===Border disputes===
{{see also|Croatia–Slovenia border disputes|Island of Šarengrad|Island of Vukovar}}

====Maritime border disputes====
Croatia and Slovenia started negotiations to define maritime borders in the [[Gulf of Piran]] in 1992 but failed to agree, resulting in a dispute. Both countries also declared their economic zones, which partially overlap.<ref name="Geoadria-Borders"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukom.gov.si/fileadmin/ukom.gov.si/pageuploads/dokumenti/dogodki/Kronologije_arhiv/chronology05.pdf |title=Chronology of Events 2005 |publisher=Government Communication Office, Republic of Slovenia |access-date=25 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719011408/http://www.ukom.gov.si/fileadmin/ukom.gov.si/pageuploads/dokumenti/dogodki/Kronologije_arhiv/chronology05.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Croatia's application to become an [[Member state of the European Union|EU member state]] was initially suspended pending resolution of its border disputes with Slovenia.<ref name="Geoadria-Borders">{{cite journal|journal=Geoadria|publisher=University of Zadar|issn=1331-2294|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=71443|title=The maritime boundaries of the Adriatic Sea|first1=Mladen|last1=Klemenčić|first2=Duško|last2=Topalović|pages=311–324|volume=14|issue=2|date=December 2009|access-date=1 February 2012|doi=10.15291/geoadria.555|doi-access=free}}</ref> These were eventually settled with an agreement to accept the decision of an [[international arbitration]] commission set up via the [[United Nations|UN]], enabling Croatia to [[Accession of Croatia to the European Union|progress towards EU membership]].<ref name=BBC2009>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8250441.stm|title=Slovenia unblocks Croatian EU bid |work=BBC News|access-date=12 September 2009| date=11 September 2009}}</ref><ref name=BBC2010>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10248037|title=Slovenia backs Croatia border deal in referendum vote |work=BBC News|access-date=7 June 2010 | date=6 June 2010}}</ref><ref name=Durham /> The dispute has caused no major practical problems in areas other than the EU membership negotiations progress, even before the arbitration agreement.<ref name="Geoadria-Borders"/>

The maritime boundary between Bosnia–Herzegovina and Croatia was formally settled in 1999, but a few issues are still contested—the [[Klek (peninsula)|Klek peninsula]] and two islets in the border area. The Croatia–Montenegro maritime boundary is disputed in the [[Bay of Kotor]], at the Prevlaka peninsula. The situation was exacerbated by the peninsula's occupation by the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] and later by the [[Military of Serbia and Montenegro|Serbian-Montenegrin army]], which in turn was replaced by a [[United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka|United Nations observer mission]] that lasted until 2002. Croatia took over the area with an agreement that allowed Montenegrin presence in Croatian waters in the bay, and the dispute has become far less contentious since the independence of Montenegro in 2006.<ref name="Geoadria-Borders"/>

====Land border disputes====
The land border disputes pertain to comparatively small strips of land. The [[Croatia–Slovenia border disputes]] are: along the [[Dragonja]] River's lower course where Slovenia claims three [[hamlet (place)|hamlets]] on the river's left bank; the [[Sveta Gera]] peak of Žumberak where exact territorial claims were never made and appear to be limited to a military barracks on the peak itself; and along the [[Mur (river)|Mura River]] where Slovenia wants the border to be along the current river bed instead of along a former one and claims a (largely if not completely uninhabited) piece of land near [[Hotiza]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Večernji list|url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/zaljevski-rat-na-piranski-nacin/197290/|language=hr|title=Zaljevski rat na piranski način|trans-title=Gulf War in the Bay of Piran|date=7 March 2009|access-date=14 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Vjesnik|url=http://www.vjesnik.hr/Article.aspx?ID=F352D8B7-0206-40C4-9C36-D419147EEFE1|archive-date=14 June 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120614103345/http://www.vjesnik.hr/Article.aspx?ID=F352D8B7-0206-40C4-9C36-D419147EEFE1|language=hr|title=Zasad četiri sporne točke zbog granice na moru i kopnu|trans-title=Four contested points of the land and sea borders so far|date=22 January 2012|access-date=1 March 2012|first=Marko|last=Barišić|url-status=dead}}</ref> These claims are likewise in the process of being settled by binding arbitration.<ref name=BBC2009 /><ref name=BBC2010 /><ref name=Durham>{{cite news|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/news/boundary_news/?itemno=12176|access-date=14 March 2012|title=Croatia and Slovenia submit arbitration agreement to UN|publisher=Durham University}}</ref>

There are also land [[Croatia-Serbia border dispute|border disputes between Croatia and Serbia]]. The two countries presently control one bank of the present-day river each, but Croatia claims that the border line should follow the [[cadastral]] borders between the former municipalities of [[SR Croatia]] and [[SR Serbia]] along the Danube, as defined by a Yugoslav commission in 1947 (effectively following a former river bed); borders claimed by Croatia also include the [[Island of Vukovar|Vukovar]] and [[Island of Šarengrad|Šarengrad]] islands in the Danube as its territory.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Večernji list|url=http://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/granicni-spor-hrvatskom-usporit-ce-put-srbije-eu-clanak-154535|language=hr|title=Granični spor s Hrvatskom usporit će put Srbije u EU|trans-title=Border dispute with Croatia will slow down Serbia's accession to the EU|date=13 June 2010|access-date=1 March 2012}}</ref> There is also a border dispute with Bosnia–Herzegovina,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Dnevni avaz|language=bs|url=http://www.dnevniavaz.ba/vijesti/teme/78512-sastanak-celnika-bih-hrvatske-i-srbije-protekao-mirno-i-bez-rezultata-tadic-odbio-priznati-da-je-rs-nastala-na-genocidu.html|title=Sastanak na Jahorini bez rezultata: Tadić odbio priznati da je RS nastala na genocidu|trans-title=Meeting on Jahorina without any results: Tadić refuses to admit that the Republika Srpska was created through genocide|date=4 February 2012|access-date=1 March 2012|first=A|last=Dučić|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308141750/http://www.dnevniavaz.ba/vijesti/teme/78512-sastanak-celnika-bih-hrvatske-i-srbije-protekao-mirno-i-bez-rezultata-tadic-odbio-priznati-da-je-rs-nastala-na-genocidu.html|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> specifically Croatia claims Unčica [[meander|channel]] on the right bank of [[Una (Sava)|Una]] as the border at [[Hrvatska Kostajnica]],<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Ministry of the Interior (Croatia)|url=http://sisacko-moslavacka.policija.hr/MainPu.aspx?id=14556|title=Policijska postaja Hrvatska Kostajnica|trans-title=Hrvatska Kostajnica police station|access-date=29 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917022310/http://sisacko-moslavacka.policija.hr/MainPu.aspx?id=14556|archive-date=17 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> while Bosnia and Herzegovina claims Una River course as the border there.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Glas Srpske|language=sr|title=Granični sporovi sa Srbijom i Hrvatskom ostaju na čekanju|trans-title=Border dispute with Serbia and Croatia remain on hold|url=http://www.glassrpske.com/novosti/vijesti_dana/Granicni-sporovi-sa-Srbijom-i-Hrvatskom-ostaju-na-cekanju/lat/58204.html|date=23 May 2011|author=Svjetlana Tadić|access-date=29 May 2012}}</ref>