Croatian is a South Slavic language spoken primarily in Croatia, where it is the official language. It is also spoken by Croatian communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the global diaspora. Croatian belongs to the Indo-European language family and is one of the standardized varieties of the Serbo-Croatian language.
Croatian is written using the Latin alphabet and is known for its phonetic spelling, where words are pronounced as they are written. The language has a complex grammatical structure, including seven grammatical cases, grammatical gender, and verb aspect. Stress and intonation play a role in meaning, though they are not marked in writing.
Croatian has a strong literary and cultural tradition and is central to national identity, education, and public life. It is widely used in government, media, literature, and everyday communication in Croatia.
