The Port of Ploče (Croatian: Luka Ploče) is a seaport in Ploče, Croatia, near the mouth of the Neretva river on the Adriatic Sea coast. It was formally opened in 1945 after a railway was built as a supply route to connect the site with industrial facilities in the Sarajevo and Mostar areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of Yugoslavia. , it ranked as the second largest cargo port in Croatia—after the Port of Rijeka—with a cargo throughput of 4.5 million tonnes, consisting mostly of general cargo and bulk cargo, including 20,420 TEU Containers. In 2008, the Port of Ploče recorded 2,555 ship arrivals. It is managed by the Port of Ploče Authority.
The Port of Ploče recorded a steady growth and development from 1945, but suffered a sharp decline between 1991 and 1996 due to the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War. In the late 2000s, Luka Ploče d.d., the primary concessionaire of the Port of Ploče, embarked on an ambitious investment plan, aiming for a substantial increase in the volume of port operations. Funding was secured in 2007, and Luka Ploče d.d. plans to invest €91 million in port infrastructure and around €180 million in port equipment by 2014.[needs update] (Full article...)
Image 4The assassination of Croatian MPs in the National Assembly in Belgrade was one of the events which greatly damaged relations between Serbs and Croats in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. (from History of Croatia)
Image 24A map of 10th-century Croatian counties (županije), as they were mentioned in De Administrando Imperio. The counties marked in blue, represent the territories governed by the Croatian Ban. (from History of Croatia)
Image 25Bora is a dry, cold wind which blows from the mainland out to sea, whose gusts can reach hurricane strength, particularly in the channel below Velebit, largest mountain range in Croatia. On the picture: the northern part of the Velebit channel. (from Croatia)
Image 33Ban Josip Jelačić at the opening of the first modern Croatian Parliament (Sabor), June 5, 1848. The Croatian tricolour flag can be seen in the background. (from Croatia)
Image 39Dubrovnik is one of Croatia's most popular tourist destinations. (from Croatia)
Image 40Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac with the Croatian communist leader Vladimir Bakarić at the celebration of May Day, shortly before Stepinac was arrested and convicted by the communists (from Croatia)
Image 43One of the seats of 14th-century magnate Paul Šubić, in Bribir. Paul held the hereditary titles of the Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia. Croatian historians sometimes refer to Paul as "the uncrowned king of Croatia". (from History of Croatia)
Image 51The 1835 issue of the magazine Danicza, with lyrics of what would later become the Croatian national anthem "Lijepa naša domovino" ("Our Beautiful Homeland"). (from History of Croatia)
Image 52Croatian borders similar to those established with the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699. Although the peace treaty meant relief from Ottoman pressure, Croatia lost the compactness of its territory. (from History of Croatia)
Image 72"Remnants of the Remnants" (Reliquiae Reliquiarum), shown on this map in yellow, represent the territory under the jurisdiction of Croatian-Slavonian Sabor at the height of the Ottoman advance (from History of Croatia)
Image 73Ban Josip Jelačić at the opening of the first Croatian civic Parliament (Sabor) whose deputies were elected on 5 June 1848. In earlier Sabors, members represented feudal estates rather than citizens. The Croatian tricolor flag can also be seen in the background. Dragutin Weingärtner, 1885. (from History of Croatia)
Image 82Marko Marulić (18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist who coined the term "psychology". He is the national poet of Croatia. (from Croatia)
Matthias Corvinus (Hungarian: Hunyadi Mátyás; Romanian: Matia/Matei Corvin; Croatian: Matija/Matijaš Korvin; Slovak: Matej Korvín; Czech: Matyáš Korvín; 23 February 1443 – 6 April 1490) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and adopted the title Duke of Austria in 1487. He was the son of John Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, who died in 1456. In 1457, Matthias was imprisoned along with his older brother, Ladislaus Hunyadi, on the orders of King Ladislaus the Posthumous. Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee Hungary. After the King died unexpectedly, Matthias's uncle Michael Szilágyi persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim the 14-year-old Matthias as king on 24 January 1458. He began his rule under his uncle's guardianship, but he took effective control of government within two weeks.
As king, Matthias waged wars against the Czech mercenaries who dominated Upper Hungary (today parts of Slovakia and Northern Hungary) and against Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, who claimed Hungary for himself. In this period, the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and Bosnia, terminating the zone of buffer states along the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary. Matthias signed a peace treaty with Frederick III in 1463, acknowledging the Emperor's right to style himself King of Hungary. The Emperor returned the Holy Crown of Hungary with which Matthias was crowned on 29 April 1464. In this year, Matthias invaded the territories that had recently been occupied by the Ottomans and seized fortresses in Bosnia. He soon realized he could expect no substantial aid from the Christian powers and gave up his anti-Ottoman policy. (Full article...)
Of the 718 islands, only 47 are inhabited in the sense that at least one person resides on that island. Some sources indicate that Croatia has 67 inhabited islands, counting those that have a settlement, but 20 of those have lost all of their permanent population as a result of the population decline occurring throughout the Croatian islands due to insufficient economic activity.
...that Saint Marinus from Croatian island of Rab founded Republic of San Marino, oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world?
Human heads on the external part belong to unknown individuals, but it is commonly speculated that Juraj Dalmatinac made them after the local residents of Šibenik at the time.