Even though Croatia is a small country (56 594 km2 ), it has very diverse topography; from Mediterranean, through Central European, mountainous and flat, to coastal and continental. It ranks as one of the top five European countries with regard to biodiversity, with some parts being among the richest areas of their kind in the world.

During the past two decades Croatia has faced important challenges: gaining independence, conflicts, and political and economic transition from a centrally-planned, socialist state to a market-oriented system focused on accession to the European Union (EU). Trying to combine the expectations of recently gained independence and the requirements of European integration, Croatian modernization processes have been merged with the attempts to keep its Central-European and Mediterranean identity and traditional values (Franić and Mikuš, 2013).

From 2000-2009, Croatia has experienced a period of high and sustained expansion in economic activity, with real GDP growing by an average of 4.4 percent. The main driver of economic expansion was domestic demand, which has grown at more than 6 percent per year. Unfortunately due to growing foreign debt and public spending, deindustrialization, reduced capital inflows, growth of negative trade balance, the global economic crisis and many political issues (corruption, unresolved political questions between Croatia and Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Croatia has been experiencing a deep economic crisis since 2008, which has resulted in a constant decrease in real GDP.