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60 free Croatia trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Croatia trivia quiz runs from Diocletian's retirement palace and the Republic of Ragusa to the Homeland War, EU accession and the Vatreni's three World Cup medals. Along the way it takes in the Adriatic islands, Plitvice's lakes, the Pula arena, the Baška tablet, the necktie and the Dalmatian, Tesla and Penkala, paški sir and štrukli, and why the flag has a checkerboard on it. The first questions are for anyone who has been on a Dalmatian beach; the last ones test people who know which king Pope John X wrote to in 925 and where Zlatni Rat is. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation after you answer. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
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Q 01What is the capital and largest city of Croatia?
Zagreb
It has the dual status of a county and a city, and its central square is named after Ban Josip Jelačić.
Q 02Croatia's coastline lies on which sea?
Adriatic Sea
The coast makes up the country's entire southwest border and draws most of its tourists in July and August.
Q 03Croatia declared independence from which country in 1991?
Yugoslavia
The declaration came on 25 June 1991 and was followed by a war of independence that lasted until 1995.
Q 04Which menswear item derives from a garment worn by 17th-century Croatian mercenaries in France?
The necktie
The French word for Croats, Croates, gave the world the word cravat; International Necktie Day is 18 October.
Q 05The cravat spread from Croatian mercenaries serving in France during which war?
Thirty Years' War
The word cravat comes from the gap between the Croatian Hrvati and the French Croates.
Q 06Which spotted dog breed traces its origins to a historical region of Croatia?
Dalmatian
The puppies are born pure white; their spots usually appear within ten days.
Q 07Croatia adopted which currency on joining the Eurozone in 2023?
The euro
It joined the Schengen Area the same year, ten years after becoming the EU's 28th member.
Q 08The kuna, Croatia's currency from 1994 to 2023, was named after which animal?
Marten
Marten pelts were used as currency and tax in medieval Slavonia; the lipa subunit means linden tree.
Q 09Croatia joined the European Union as its 28th member in which year?
2013
Accession negotiations had run from 2004; NATO membership had come earlier, in April 2009.
Q 10Roughly how many islands and islets does Croatia have?
Over 1,000
Only 48 are permanently inhabited; the largest, Cres and Krk, are each about 405 square kilometres.
Q 11Which two islands, each around 405 square kilometres, are Croatia's largest?
Cres and Krk
A floating LNG terminal off one of them began operating in 2021, and the same island yielded the Baška tablet.
Q 12Croatia's highest point, the 1,831-metre Dinara, lies near the border with which country?
Bosnia
The peak gives its name to the whole Dinaric Alps range.
Q 13Croatia's territory around Dubrovnik is cut off from the rest of Croatia by whose coast?
Bosnia
The 2.4-kilometre Pelješac Bridge, opened in 2022, links the exclave to the mainland without crossing the border at Neum.
Q 21Croatia reached the FIFA World Cup final for the first time in which year?
2018
They lost to France but Luka Modrić won the Golden Ball; the team took bronze in 1998 and 2022.
Q 22Which Croatian striker won the Golden Shoe at the 1998 World Cup with six goals?
Davor Šuker
Croatia had only joined FIFA in 1994, ranked 125th, and finished third at its debut World Cup.
Q 23Who in 2018 became the first player other than Messi or Ronaldo to win the Ballon d'Or since 2007?
Luka Modrić
The Real Madrid midfielder dedicated it to Xavi, Iniesta, Sneijder and others he felt had deserved it.
Q 14Which Roman emperor built a retirement palace that now forms half of the old town of Split?
Diocletian
He was born nearby at Salona and moved in on 1 May 305 AD; the complex was listed by UNESCO in 1979.
Q 15The Roman amphitheatre in Pula is the only one in the world to retain what?
Its entire circular wall
Built under Augustus and expanded under Vespasian, it later served as a fortress, quarry and pasture, and appeared on the 10-kuna note.
Q 16By what historical name was Dubrovnik known as capital of an independent maritime republic?
Ragusa
The republic banned trafficking in Slavic slaves in 1416 and lasted until Napoleon's forces abolished it in 1808.
Q 17The walls of Dubrovnik and Fort Lovrijenac stood in for which fictional city in Game of Thrones?
King's Landing
Filming moved there from Malta for the second season, and Dubrovnik hotel bookings jumped 120% between 2014 and 2016.
Q 18Plitvice Lakes, Croatia's oldest national park, is famous for how many lakes visible from the surface?
Sixteen
Founded in 1949 in the karst country near the Bosnian border, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Q 19The Croatian flag's shield shows what pattern?
A red and white checkerboard
The pan-Slavic tricolour has flown since 1868; the chequy shield replaced the communist red star in 1990.
Q 20Because of the pattern on their shirts, the Croatian football team is nicknamed the Vatreni and also what?
Kockasti (Checkered Ones)
The chequers clash with so many red-and-white opponents that Croatia often wears its dark away kit at home.
Q 24Goran Ivanišević is the only player to win Wimbledon as what?
A wild card
He was ranked 125th in 2001 after losing three earlier finals, and held the Wimbledon aces record until Federer passed it in 2019.
Q 25Croatian basketball star Dražen Petrović had his number 3 shirt retired by which NBA team?
New Jersey Nets
His career three-point percentage still ranks among the best in NBA history; he entered the Hall of Fame posthumously in 2002.
Q 26Skier Janica Kostelić is the only woman to have won how many Olympic alpine gold medals?
Four
Three came at Salt Lake City in 2002, Croatia's first ever Winter Olympic medals, and one at Turin in 2006.
Q 27Inventor Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan, a village in which region of present-day Croatia?
Lika
The village was then part of the Austrian Empire's Military Frontier; his family were ethnic Serbs.
Q 28Croatian engineer Slavoljub Penkala registered a 1906 patent for what?
A mechanical pencil
He followed it a year later with the first solid-ink fountain pen; the Pen in Penkala is a coincidence he happily exploited.
Q 29Hvar-born Ivan Vučetić, who emigrated to Argentina, pioneered which police technique?
Fingerprint identification
The Argentine police adopted his classification system in the 1890s and it spread worldwide.
Q 30Faust Vrančić's 1616 book Machinae Novae included Homo Volans, an early design for what?
A parachute
Legend says he tested it by jumping from St Mark's Campanile in Venice, though no evidence of a jump exists.