Editing Croatia (section)

== Population and culture ==

Most inhabitants are Croats. Serbs form the largest national minority, alongside Bosniak, Roma, Italian, Hungarian, Albanian, Czech, Slovene, and other communities. Croatian is the official language and uses the Latin alphabet. Minority languages have official local status in municipalities where the required population and legal conditions are met.

Roman Catholicism is the largest religious tradition. Serbian Orthodox, Islamic, Protestant, Jewish, and other religious communities maintain places of worship and cultural institutions. Religious and regional traditions vary between the continental interior, Slavonia, Istria, the Croatian Littoral, Dalmatia, and the islands.

Croatian culture developed through Central European, Adriatic, Mediterranean, and South Slavic influences. Zagreb contains the main national government, academic, museum, theatre, and publishing institutions. Dubrovnik preserves the urban and literary traditions of the former Republic of Ragusa. Split developed around the Roman palace of Emperor Diocletian, while Zadar, Trogir, Šibenik, Pula, and Poreč contain major Roman, medieval, Venetian, and Habsburg sites.

Regional food, music, architecture, and dialects differ between the coast and the interior. Coastal traditions include fishing, shipbuilding, stone construction, olive cultivation, and maritime festivals. Continental traditions developed around agriculture, crafts, river settlements, market towns, and the cultural centres of Zagreb and Slavonia.

Football is the most widely followed sport. Handball, water polo, basketball, rowing, skiing, tennis, and athletics also have established national competitions and clubs. The Adriatic coast supports sailing and other maritime sports.

Primary and secondary education is provided throughout the country. The [[University of Zagreb]], founded in 1669, is the oldest and largest university. Other major universities operate in Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar, Dubrovnik, and Pula.