Central Croatia

The Kingdom of Croatia (red) within the Austrian Empire (white) in 1868

Central Croatia (Croatian: Središnja Hrvatska) or Croatia proper is a term that refers to the areas of the Republic of Croatia that were part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia which excluded Istria, Slavonia, and Dalmatia. Central Croatia included the Croatian Littoral, the Croatian Dinaric Alps (Kordun, Lika, and Gorski kotar), the Croatian Highlands, and Međimurje.

Today the term is used in geography to refer to the region of Croatia that centers around Zagreb, with Varaždin in the north and Karlovac and Sisak in the south. It covers around a third of the country's territory and around a half of the country's population (2.16 million), with 110 people per square kilometer. This would by and large include the modern-day counties:

• Međimurje County
• Varaždin County
• Krapina-Zagorje County
• Koprivnica-Križevci County
• Bjelovar-Bilogora County
• Zagreb County and the city of Zagreb
• Karlovac County
• Sisak-Moslavina County

See also

• History of Croatia
• Croatia in the Habsburg Empire