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Croatian
hrvatski
Pronunciation [xř̩ʋaːtskiː]
Native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia (Vojvodina), Montenegro, Romania(Caraș-Severin County), Slovenia,
Native speakers 5.55 million  (2001)
Language family
Indo-European
  • Balto-Slavic
    • Slavic
      • South Slavic
        • Western
          • Serbo-Croatian
            • Shtokavian
              • Neo-Shtokavian
                • Eastern Herzegovinian
                  • Croatian
Writing system Latin (Gaj's alphabet)
Croatian Braille
Official status
Official language in Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbia (Vojvodina)
Recognised minority language in Montenegro
Austria (in Burgenland)
Hungary (in Baranya County)
Italy (in Molise)
Romania(in Carașova, Lupac)
Language codes
ISO 639-1 hr
ISO 639-2 hrv
ISO 639-3 hrv



Croatian is a standardized register of the Serbo-Croatian language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries. It is the official and literary language of Croatia and one of the official languages of the European Union. Croatian is also one of the official languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and neighboring countries.

Standard Croatian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian, more specifically on Eastern Herzegovinian, which is also the basis of Standard Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. The other Serbo-Croatian dialects spoken by Croats are Chakavian, Kajkavian, and Torlakian (by the Krashovani). These four dialects, and the four national standards, are usually subsumed under the term "Serbo-Croatian" in English, though this term is controversial for native speakers and paraphrases such as "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" are therefore sometimes used instead, especially in diplomatic circles.

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