page_title: Geography of Croatia
section_title: Land use
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Croatia / Physical geography / Land use
caption_attribution_description: English: Papuk Nature Park from air
context_page_description: The Geography of Croatia is defined by its location—it is described as a part of Central Europe and Southeast Europe, a part of the Balkans and Mitteleuropa. Croatia's territory covers 56,594 km², making it the 127th largest country in the world. Bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia in the east, Slovenia in the west, Hungary in the north and Montenegro and the Adriatic Sea in the south, it lies mostly between latitudes 42° and 47° N and longitudes 13° and 20° E. Croatia's territorial waters encompass 18,981 square kilometres in a 12 nautical miles wide zone, and its internal waters located within the baseline cover an additional 12,498 square kilometres.
  The Pannonian Basin and the Dinaric Alps, along with the Adriatic Basin, represent major geomorphological parts of Croatia. Lowlands make up the bulk of Croatia, with elevations of less than 200 metres above sea level recorded in 53.42% of the country. Most of the lowlands are found in the northern regions, especially in Slavonia, itself a part of the Pannonian Basin plain. The plains are interspersed with horst and graben structures, believed to have broken the Pliocene Pannonian Sea's surface as islands.
context_section_description: As of 2006, 46.8% of Croatia was occupied by 26,487.6 square kilometres (10,226.9 sq mi) of forest and shrub, while a further 22,841 square kilometres (8,819 sq mi) or 40.4% of the land was used for diverse agricultural uses including 4,389.1 square kilometres (1,694.6 sq mi), or 7.8% of the total, for permanent crops. Bush and grass cover was present on 4,742.1 square kilometres (1,830.9 sq mi) or 8.4% of the territory, inland waters took up 539.3 square kilometres (208.2 sq mi) or 1.0% and marshes covered 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) or 0.4% of the country. Artificial surfaces (primarily consisting of urban areas, roads, non-agricultural vegetation, sports areas and other recreational facilities) took up 1,774.5 square kilometres (685.1 sq mi) or 3.1% of the country's area. The greatest impetus for land use changes is the expansion of settlements and road construction.
  Because of the Croatian War of Independence, there are numerous leftover minefields in Croatia, largely tracing former front lines. As of 2006, suspected minefields covered 954.5 square kilometres (368.5 sq mi). As of 2012, 62% of the remaining minefields are situated in forests, 26% of them are found in agricultural land, and 12% are found in other land; it is expected that mine clearance will be complete by 2019.
caption: Forest-covered Papuk
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