Croatia Genealogy

Croatia Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Research Strategies Record Finder Finding Town of Origin
Record Types
Cemeteries Census Church Directories Church Records Civil Registration Directories Emigration & Immigration	Genealogies Jewish Records Military Records Online Records Religious Records
Croatia Background
Biography Church History Croatian Word List Gazetteers History	Languages Croatia Letter Writing Guide Maps For Further Reading
Ethnicity
Minorities
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies Family History Centers

Europe

Croatia

Guide to Croatia ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Country Information

Croatia is a country in Central and Southeast Europe bordered by Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Slovenia. The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. The official language is Croatian.

Getting Started

Getting Started with Croatia Research Links to articles on getting started with Croatia research. Getting Started What's the Next Step? Tips for Beginners Beginning Croatian Research Overview See More Research Strategies

Croatia Research Tools Links to articles and websites that assist in Croatia research. Croatia Letter Writing Guide Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Word List Websites See More Research Tools

Finding Your Ancestors' Town in Croatia

• Genealogical records are organized by geographical locality. Civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (christenings/baptisms, marriages, and burials) were kept at the local level. To search these records, you must know the town where your ancestors lived.
• If you do not know your ancestors' town, follow the advice in the Wiki article, Croatia Finding Town of Origin, to search a variety of records that might provide that information.

Croatia Map

Croatia is a country situated in Southeastern Europe, bordering Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Adriatic Sea, and the Gulf of Trieste.

Jurisdictions

Counties and County Seats of Croatia

County	Seat
Bjelovar-Bilogora	Bjelovar
Brod-Posavina	Slavonski Brod
Dubrovnik-Neretva	Dubrovnik
Istria	Pazin
Karlovac	Karlovac
Koprivnica-Križevci	Koprivnica
Krapina-Zagorje	Krapina
Lika-Senj	Gospić
Međimurje	Čakovec
Osijek-Baranja	Osijek
Požega-Slavonia	Požega

County	Seat
Primorje-Gorski Kotar	Rijeka
Sisak-Moslavina	Sisak
Split-Dalmatia	Split
Šibenik-Knin	Šibenik
Varaždin	Varaždin
Virovitica-Podravina	Virovitica
Vukovar-Syrmia	Vukovar
Zadar	Zadar
Zagreb County	Zagreb
City of Zagreb	Zagreb

Regions

• Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia. It is a lowland bounded, in part, by the Drava river in the north, the Sava river in the south, and the Danube river in the east.

• Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south.

• Istria the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner. It is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.

More Croatia Research Strategies

Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for Croatia.

• Beginner's Guide to Croatian Research by Thomas K. Edlund with Kahlile B. Mehr
• Beginner's Guide to Croatian Research/Croatian Microfilming List by Thomas K. Edlund with Kahlile B. Mehr
• Finding your ancestor in the records

Reading Croatian Records

• Croatia Language and Languages
• Serbo-Croation Word List
• Croatian Glagolitic Script

More Croatia Research Tools

Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools for Croatia.

• ARHiNET Croatia Central National Register of Archival Fonds and Collections of the Republic of Croatia. Includes vital registers. Click here for instructions.
• Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1949
• Croatia, Delnice Roman Catholic Church Books (Family Search Historical Records) Presently being indexed.
• Croatian vital registers are slowly becoming available online through FamilySearch and through the Croatian Digital Archives.

FamilySearch Resources

Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.

• Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
• Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
• Historical Records
• Family History Center locator map