Geo-Communication position

As an Adriatic, Central European country, and encompassing part of the Danube valley, Croatia enjoys a favourable geo-communication position. Thus, several pan-European transport corridors and their branches pass through Croatia, as defined at a ministerial conference in 1997 in Helsinki: Corridor X links Central Europe and the Near East, while branches of Corridor V link northern and southern Europe with final destinations in Croatian ports.

Croatian sea ports have traditionally been points of exit for several Central European land-locked countries (Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and for neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Due to the shape and indentation of its territory, good transport communications are important for Croatia too, particularly in linking the interior with the coast, and the Pannonian region with the Adriatic front. In terms of transport communications, optimum solutions direct Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina and vice versa. In addition, the narrow B&H exit to the sea near Neum divides the territory of Croatia into two sections. The Dubrovnik coastal region has been fully connected to the rest of Croatia in 2022 through the construction of a bridge and a road across the Pelješac peninsula. Following several years of preparations, construction began in 2018 with the use of EU-approved funds. It is expected to be completed in 2022.

There is a long tradition of building transport communications in Croatia. The modern roads were built as early as the 18th century, leading from the interior to the northern Adriatic ports, while in 1862 the branch railway line was constructed and linked Zagreb and Sisak to the Vienna–Trieste line.

Road transport is the most developed, most important form of land communication, and transports the greatest amount of passenger and goods traffic. The existing highway network is well developed and enables good connections within the country and with foreign countries. About 1,000 km of modern highways have been built since 2000 in international corridors. Croatia has nine airports (Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Rijeka, Osijek, Brač, Mali Lošinj). Sea ports are of particular significance in the transport network. The largest, most important Croatian port is Rijeka, followed by Ploče, which handles all the traffic towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other Croatian ports are primarily important as passenger terminals and provide communication between the mainland and islands. The total length of inland waterways is 804.1 km, and international traffic primarily uses the Danube (for which the main port is Vukovar) and, to a lesser extent, the Drava and Sava. The Danube waterway, in which Croatia participates, is one of the pan-European transport corridors (VII). Plans have been drawn up for a Danube–Sava canal to link the waterways.

The current state of transport communications is satisfactory in terms of road traffic, particularly the extent of highway connections. Particular deficiencies exist in the renovation and modernisation of the railway infrastructure and inland waterways.