Editing Croatia (section)

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{Main|Counties of Croatia}}
{{Further|NUTS of Croatia}}
{{Croatian counties}}

Croatia was first divided into counties in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Medieval-Counties">{{cite journal |publisher=[[Školska knjiga]] |journal=Historijski Zbornik |volume=5 |issue=1–2 |year=1952 |url=http://www.historiografija.hr/hz/1952/HZ_5_11_MANDIC.pdf |first=Oleg |last=Mandić |language=hr |title=O nekim pitanjima društvenog uređenja Hrvatske u srednjem vijeku |trans-title=On some issues of social system of Croatia in the Middle Ages |pages=131–138 |access-date=9 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808023945/http://www.historiografija.hr/hz/1952/HZ_5_11_MANDIC.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The divisions changed over time to reflect losses of territory to Ottoman conquest and subsequent liberation of the same territory, changes of the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, and [[Istria]]. The traditional division of the country into counties was abolished in the 1920s when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the subsequent Kingdom of Yugoslavia introduced [[oblast]]s and [[Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia|banovinas]] respectively.{{sfn|Frucht|2005|p=429}}

Communist-ruled Croatia, as a constituent part of post-World War II Yugoslavia, abolished earlier divisions and introduced municipalities, subdividing Croatia into approximately one hundred municipalities. Counties were reintroduced in 1992 legislation, significantly altered in terms of territory relative to the pre-1920s subdivisions. In 1918, the [[Transleithania]]n part was divided into eight counties with their seats in [[Bjelovar]], [[Gospić]], [[Ogulin]], [[Osijek]], [[Požega, Croatia|Požega]], [[Varaždin]], Vukovar, and Zagreb.{{sfn|Biondich|2000|p=11}}<ref name="CountiesAct1992">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Narodne novine]] |date=30 December 1992 |access-date=9 September 2011 |language=hr |title=Zakon o područjima županija, gradova i općina u Republici Hrvatskoj |trans-title=Territories of Counties, Cities and Municipalities of the Republic of Croatia Act |url=http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1992_12_90_2333.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828162010/http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1992_12_90_2333.html |archive-date=28 August 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:Castle of Varazdin (17).jpg|thumb|right|[[Varaždin]], capital of Croatia between 1767 and 1776, is the seat of [[Varaždin county]]; Pictured: Old Town fortress, one of 15 Croatia's sites inscribed on the [[List of World Heritage Sites in Croatia#Tentative list|UNESCO World Heritage tentative list]]]]

As of 1992, Croatia is divided into [[Counties of Croatia|20 counties]] and the [[capital city of Zagreb]], the latter having the dual authority and legal status of a county and a city. County borders changed in some instances, last revised in 2006. The counties subdivide into [[List of cities in Croatia|127 cities]] and [[Municipalities of Croatia|429 municipalities]].<ref name="CountiesAct2006">{{cite news|newspaper=Narodne novine|date=28 July 2006|access-date=9 September 2011|language=hr|title=Zakon o područjima županija, gradova i općina u Republici Hrvatskoj|trans-title=Territories of Counties, Cities and Municipalities of the Republic of Croatia Act|url=http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2006_07_86_2045.html}}</ref> [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics]] (NUTS) [[division of Croatia|division]] is performed in several tiers. NUTS 1 level considers the entire country in a single unit; three NUTS 2 regions come below that. Those are Northwest Croatia, Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia, and Adriatic Croatia. The latter encompasses the counties along the Adriatic coast. Northwest Croatia includes Koprivnica-Križevci, Krapina-Zagorje, Međimurje, Varaždin, the city of Zagreb, and Zagreb counties and the Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia includes the remaining areas—Bjelovar-Bilogora, Brod-Posavina, Karlovac, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Sisak-Moslavina, Virovitica-Podravina, and Vukovar-Syrmia counties. Individual counties and the city of Zagreb also represent NUTS 3 level subdivision units in Croatia. The NUTS [[Administrative division|local administrative unit]] (LAU) divisions are two-tiered. LAU 1 divisions match the counties and the city of Zagreb in effect making those the same as NUTS 3 units, while LAU 2 subdivisions correspond to cities and municipalities.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Council of Europe]]|language=hr|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/cemat/confminist1-15/15eCEMAT_National_Report_Croatia_2010_HR.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/cemat/confminist1-15/15eCEMAT_National_Report_Croatia_2010_HR.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Nacionalno izviješće Hrvatska|trans-title=Croatia National Report|date=January 2010|access-date=25 February 2012}}</ref>