PRIMORSKO - GORANSKA COUNTY

The whole area of the Republic of Croatia is divided into 21 counties, among which there is our Primorsko-Goranska County .

Primorsko-Goranska County lies in the northern part of the Croatian Adriatic. Its importance lies in its geographical position, the County is located on the crossroads of Central European and Adriatic - Mediterranean transport routes. This region also connects two most important Croatian centres: Zagreb , the capital city, and Rijeka , the biggest Croatian port.

According to natural and economic features, there are three regions in the County:

• The highland region with developed forestry and timber and wood-processing industry,
• The islands with developed tourism and catering, and with some agriculture and fishing,

• The coastal region is an industrial centre with strongly-developed transport facilities.

Primorsko-Goranska County covers an area of 8,000 sq km (more than a half of it is seaborne). The population of the County is 323,000, living in 582 settlements. The largest town is Rijeka (164,000 inhabitants) which is an administrative, business, economic, cultural and sports centre of the County. The other bigger settlements are Opatija (9,000 inhabitants), Mali Lošinj, Crikvenica, Bakar, etc.

The biggest islands in the County are Krk, Cres, Rab and Lošinj.

There are several types of climate in the County. The island and coastal regions have Mediterranean climate, while the hinterland region has a continental one.

The development of the Primorsko-Goranska County is strongly influenced by its links to all the major transportation networks, owing to its attractive geographic position. Therefore, the existing economic facilities are mainly located in the coastal region of the County, including Business and Commercial Zone and Free Trade Zone.