The lowlands, in the valleys of the Drave, Danube, Save and Kulpa, belong partly to the great Hungarian Plains, or Alföld. Besides the sterile and monotonous steppes, valuable only as pasture, and so sparsely populated that it is possible to travel for many hours without encountering any sign of human life except a primitive artesian well or a shepherd’s hut, there are wide expanses of fen-country, regularly flooded in spring and autumn. The marshes which line the Save below Sissek are often impassable except at Brod and Mitrovica, and the river is constantly scooping out fresh channels in the soft soil, only to abandon each in turn. The total area liable to yearly inundation exceeds 200 sq. m. But along the Drave and Danube the plains are sometimes strikingly fertile, and yield an abundance of grain, fruit and wine.
The main rivers of Croatia-Slavonia, the Danube, Drave and Save, are fully described under separate headings. After reaching Croatian territory 13 m. N.W. of Warasdin, the Drave flows along the northern frontier for 155 m., receiving the Bednja and Karasnica on the right, and falling, near Esseg, into the Danube, which serves as the Hungaro-Slavonian boundary for an additional 116 m. The Save enters the country 16 m. W. of Agram, and, after winding for 106 m. S.E. to Jasenovac, constitutes the southern frontier for 253 m., and meets the Danube at Belgrade. It is joined by the Sotla, Krapina, Lonja, Ilova, Pakra and Oljana, which drain the central watershed; but its only large tributaries are the Una, a Bosnian stream, which springs in the Dinaric Alps, and skirts the Croatian border for 40 m. before entering the Save at Jasenovac; and the Kulpa, which follows a tortuous course of 60 m. from its headwaters north of Fiume, to its confluence with the Save at Sissek. The Mrežnica, Dobra, Glina and Korana are right-hand tributaries of the Kulpa. In the Croatian Karst the seven streams of the Lika unite and plunge into a rocky chasm near Gospić, and the few small brooks of this region usually vanish underground in a similar manner. Near Fiume, the Recina, Rjeka or Fiumara falls into the Adriatic after a brief course. There is no large lake in Croatia-Slavonia, but the upland pools and waterfalls of Plitvica, near Ogulin, are celebrated for their beauty. After a thaw or heavy rain, the subterranean rivers flood the mountain hollows of the Karst; and a lake thus formed by the river Gajka, near Otočac, has occasionally filled its basin to a depth of 160 ft.
Minerals.—The mineral resources of the kingdom, though capable of further development, are not rich. They are chiefly confined to the mountains, where iron, coal, copper, lead, zinc, silver and sulphur are mined in small quantities. Warm mineral springs rise at Krapina, at Toplice near Warasdin, at Stubica near Agram, and elsewhere.
Climate.—The climate of Croatia-Slavonia varies greatly in different regions. In the Karst it is liable to sudden and violent changes, and especially to the bora, a fierce N.N.E. wind, which renders navigation perilous among the islands off the coast, and, in winter, blocks the roads and railway-cuttings with deep snowdrifts. The sheltered bays near Fiume enjoy an equable climate; but in all other districts the temperature in mid-winter falls regularly below zero, and the summer heats are excessive. Earthquakes are common among the mountains, and the eastern lowlands are exposed to the great winds and sandstorms which sweep down the Alföld. At Agram, during the years 1896-1900, the mean annual temperature was 52° F., with 34.6 in. of rain and snow; at Fiume, the figures for the same period were 57° and 71 in.
Agriculture.—The agricultural inquiry of 1895 showed that 94.5% of the country consisted of arable land, gardens, vineyards, meadows, pastures and forests; but much of this area must be set down as mountainous and swampy pasture of poor quality. The richest land occurs in the Zagorje and its neighbourhood, in the hills near Warasdin and in the northern half of Syrmia. The Karst and the fens are of least agricultural value. Indian corn heads the list of cereals, but wheat, oats, rye and barley are also cultivated, besides hemp, flax, tobacco and large quantities of potatoes. The extensive vineyards were much injured by phylloxera towards the close of the 19th century. The Slavonian plum orchards furnish dried prunes, besides a kind of brandy largely exported under the name of sliwowitz or shlivovitsa. Near Fiume the orange, lemon, pomegranate, fig and olive bear well; mulberries are planted on many estates for silkworms; and the heather-clad uplands of the central region favour the keeping of bees. Large herds of swine fatten in the oak and beech forests; and dairy-farming is a thriving industry in the highlands between Agram and Warasdin, where, during the last years of the 19th century, systematic attempts were made to replace the mountain pastures by clover and sown grass. The proportion of sheep to other live-stock is lower than in most of the South Slavonic lands, and the scarcity of goats is also noteworthy. Horsebreeding is a favourite pursuit in Slavonia; and between 1900 and 1902 many thousands of remounts were shipped to the British army in South Africa. The local administration endeavours to better the quality of live-stock by importing purer breeds, distributing prizes, and other measures; but the native farmers are slow to accept improvements.
Forests.—Forests, principally of oak, pine and beech, covered 3,734,000 acres in 1895, about one-fifth being state property. Especially valuable are the Croatian oak-forests, near Agram and Sissek. Timber is exported from Fiume and down the Danube.
Industries.—Apart from the distilleries and breweries scattered throughout the country, the rude flour-mills which lie moored in the rivers, and a few glass-works, saw-mills, silk-mills and tobacco factories, the chief industrial establishments of Croatia-Slavonia are at Agram, Fiume, Semlin, Buccari and Porto Ré. Only 8.3 of the population was, in 1900, engaged in industries other than farming, which occupied 85.2%. The exports mainly consist of foodstuffs, especially grain, of live-stock, especially pigs and horses, and of timber. The imports include textiles, iron, coal, wine and colonial products; with machinery and other finished articles. Goods in transit to and from Hungary figure largely in the official returns for Fiume[2] and Semlin, which are the centres of the foreign trade. In 1900 Croatia-Slavonia possessed 253 banking establishments.
Communications.—The commerce of the country is furthered by upwards of 2000 m. of carriage-roads, the most remarkable of these being the Maria Louisa, which connects Karlstadt with Fiume, and the Josephina, which passes inland from Zengg. Many excellent highways were built for strategic purposes before the abolition of the Military Frontier in 1881. The railways, which are all owned and managed by the Hungarian state, intersect most parts of the country except the mountains south of Ogulin, where there is, nevertheless, a considerable traffic over the passes into Dalmatia and Bosnia. Agram is the principal railway centre, from which lines radiate S. W. to Fiume, W. into Austria, N.N.E. to Warasdin and into Hungary, and S.E. into Bosnia by way of Kostajnica. The main line eastward from Agram passes through Brod, where it meets the Bosnian system, and on to Belgrade; throwing out two branch lines to Brčka and Šamac in Bosnia, and several branches on the north, which traverse the central watershed, and cross the Hungarian frontier at Zákány, Barcs, Esseg, Erdar and Peterwardein. Above Agram the Save is used chiefly for floating rafts of timber; east of Sissek it is navigable by small steamboats, but, despite its great volume, the multitude of its perpetually shifting sandbanks interferes greatly with traffic. Steamers also ply on the Una, the Drave below Barcs, and the Danube. The marshes of Syrmia are partially drained by the so-called “Canal of Probus,” the one large artificial waterway in the country, said to have been cut by the Romans in the 3rd century.
Chief Towns,—The principal towns are Agram, the capital, with 61,002 inhabitants in 1900; Esseg, the capital of Slavonia (24,930); Semlin (15,079); Mitrovica (11,518); Warasdin (12,930); Karlstadt (7396); Brod (7310); Sissek (7047); Djakovo (6824); Karlowitz (5643); Peterwardein (5019); Zengg (3182); and Buccari (1870). These are described in separate articles. The centre of the coasting trade is Novi, and other small seaports are San Giorgio (Sveto Juraj), Porto Ré (Kraljevica) and Carlopago. Agram, Gospić (10,799), Ogulin (8699), Warasdin and Bjelovar (6056) are respectively the capitals of the five counties which belong to Croatia proper,—Agram (Hung. Zágráb), Modruš-Fiume, Lika-Krbava, Warasdin (Varasd) and Bjelovar (Belovár-Körös); while the capitals of the three Slavonian counties, Virovitica (Veröcze), Požega (Pozsega) and Syrmia (Szerém), are Esseg, Požega (5000) and Semlin.
Population and National Characteristics.—The population rose from 1,892,499 in 1881 to 2,416,304 in 1900, an increase of little less than one-third, resulting from a uniformly low death rate, with a high marriage and birth rate, and characterized by that preponderance of male over female children which is common to all the South Slavonic lands. More than 75% of the inhabitants are Croats, the bulk of the remainder being Serbs, who predominate in eastern Slavonia. Outside Croatia-Slavonia, the Croats occupy the greater part of Dalmatia and northern Bosnia. There are large Croatian settlements in the south of Hungary, and smaller colonies in Austria. The numbers of the whole nation may be estimated at 3,500,000 or 4,000,000. The distinction between Croats and Serbs is religious, and, to a less extent, linguistic. Croats and Serbs together constitute a single branch of the Slavonic race, frequently called the Serbo-Croatian branch. The literary language of the two nations is identical, but the Croats use the Latin alphabet,[3] while the Serbs prefer a modified form of the Cyrillic. The two nations have also been politically separated since the 7th century, if not for a longer period; but this division has produced little difference of character or physical type. Even the costume of the Croatian peasantry, to whom brilliant colours and intricate embroideries are always dear, proclaims their racial identity with the Serbs; their songs, dances and musical instruments, the chief part of their customs and folk-lore, their whole manner of life, so little changed by its closer contact with Western civilization, may be studied in Servia (q.v.) itself. In both countries rural society was based on the old-fashioned household community, or zadruga, which still survives in the territories that formed the Military Frontier, though everywhere tending to disappear and be replaced by individual ownership. The Croatian peasantry are least prosperous in the riverside districts, where marsh-fevers prevail, and especially beside the Save. Even in many of the towns the houses are mere cabins of wood and thatch. As in Servia, there is practically no middle class between the peasants and the educated minority; and the commercial element consists to a great extent of foreigners, especially Germans, Hungarians, Italians and Jews. Numerically this alien population is insignificant. The Italians are chiefly confined to the coast; the Germans congregate at Semlin and Warasdin; the Slovenes are settled along the north-western frontier, where they have introduced their language, and so greatly modified the local dialect; the gipsies wander from city to city, as horse-dealers, metal workers or musicians; there are numerous Moravian and Bohemian settlements; and near Mitrovica there is a colony of Albanians. It is impossible to give accurate statistics of the alien population; for, in the compilation of the official figures, language is taken as a test of nationality, an utterly untrustworthy method in a country where every educated person speaks two or three languages. Croatian nationalists also maintain that official figures are systematically altered in the Hungarian interest.