Counties of Croatia

First level administrative division of Croatia

The counties of Croatia are the first level administrative subdivisions of the Republic of Croatia. Since they were re established in 1992, Croatia has been divided into 20 counties and the capital city of Zagreb, which has the authority and legal status of both a county and a city (separate from the surrounding Zagreb County). As of 2015, the counties are subdivided into 128 cities and 428 (mostly rural) municipalities. The divisions have changed over time since the medieval Croatian state. They reflected territorial losses and expansions; changes in the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik and Istria; and political circumstances, including the personal union and subsequent development of relations between the Kingdom of Croatia Slavonia and the Kingdom of Hungary.

County assembly is a representative and deliberative body in each county. Assembly members are elected for a four year term by popular vote (proportional system with closed lists and d'Hondt method) in local elections. The executive branch of each county's government is headed by a county prefect , except that a mayor heads the city of Zagreb's executive branch. Croatia's county prefects (with two deputy prefects), mayor of Zagreb (with two deputy mayors) are elected for a four year term by a majority of votes cast within applicable local government units, with a runoff election if no candidate achieves a majority in the first round of voting (majoritarian vote, two round system). County prefects (with deputy prefects and mayor of Zagreb with his/her deputies) can be recalled by a referendum. County administrative bodies are administrative departments and services which are established for the performance of works in the self governing domain of the county, as well as for the performance of works of state administration transferred to the county. Administrative departments and services are managed by heads (principals) nominated by the county prefect based on a public competition.

The counties are funded by the central government, as well as by revenue generated by county owned businesses, county taxes and county fees. The county taxes include a five per cent inheritance and gift tax, a motor vehicle tax, a vessel tax and an arcade game machine tax. The counties are tasked with performing general public administration services, primary and secondary education, government funded healthcare, social welfare, administration pertaining to agriculture, forestry, hunting, fisheries, mining, industry and construction, and other services to the economy at the county level, as well as road transport infrastructure management and issuing of building and location permits and other documents concerning construction in the county area excluding the area of the big city and the county seat city; the central government and local (city and municipal) governments may also perform each of those tasks at their respective levels according to the law. The Croatian County Association was established in 2003 as a framework for inter county cooperation. County spending accounts for 15 per cent of the total local government spending in Croatia. The balance is spent by cities and municipalities. Approximately one half of the total spent by the counties is channeled into their primary fields of competence – secondary and vocational education, and financing of maintenance and running costs of healthcare and social welfare institutions. There are instances where individual counties also provide services otherwise delegated to lower level self government, such as primary education and spatial planning in cases where those units could not set up those services. The counties are criticized for inefficient spending. The criticism primarily stems from the fact that the counties receive the bulk of the funds needed for specific purposes from the central government budget and transfers them on. This contributes to the sense of absence of responsibility of the counties for the funds. In turn, that leads to very little or no incentive for improvements to spending efficiency or better collection of the county level taxes. After year 2000, all those considerations have contributed to an ongoing debate in Croatia on the need of consolidation or abolition of the counties in political forums. Opinions on the matter differ considerably. They range from improving efficiency while retaining the existing counties, to consolidation to obtain nine counties, and abolition of the counties in favour of establishment of an administrative division of Croatia in five regions and potentially sub regions.

The traditional division of Croatia into counties was abolished in 1922, when the oblasts of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were introduced; these were later replaced by the banovinas of Yugoslavia. Socialist Republic of Croatia, as a constituent part of post World War II Yugoslavia had approximately 100 municipalities as main governmental units and local government entities. The counties were reintroduced in 1992, but with significant territorial alterations from the pre 1922 subdivisions; for instance, before 1922 Transleithanian Croatia was divided into eight counties, but the new legislation established fourteen counties in the same territory. Međimurje County was established in the eponymous region acquired through the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The county borders have sometimes changed since their 1992 restoration (for reasons such as historical ties and requests by cities); the latest revision took place in 2006. After the end of the Croatian War of Independence and during the UNTAES process in eastern Croatia, local Serb population and representatives unsuccessfully proposed various initiatives to preserve the former rebel region as one territorial unit within Croatia, including the proposal to create a new "Serb county" in the region. Present day counties correspond to the 2021 classification of tier three of the European Union NUTS statistical regions of Croatia.

+Defunct counties of Croatia County Period of existenceLivnoFrom 10th century until an undetermined time. Defunct by the 16th century. CetinaImotskiPlivaPset/PesentaPrimorje/KlisBribir (županija)NonaKninSidragaNina/LukaGackaKrbavaLikaModruš 11th – 13th/14th centuryVrbasFrom 12th century until an undetermined time. Defunct by the 16th century. SanaDubicaGlažZagreb12th century – 1922VaraždinKriževačka županija 12th century – 1886Vuka 13th – 16th centuryVirovitica13th – 16th century; 1745 – 1922PožegaSyrmia 1745 – 1848; 1868 – 1922Severin 1778 – 1786Rijeka 1851 – 1886Bjelovar 1871 – 1886Bjelovar Križevci1886 – 1922Lika KrbavaModruš RijekaIn 1922, all counties in existence at the time were abolished.