Primorje-Gorski Kotar County

This county's name describes its split personality: Primorje (the coastal littoral) and Gorski Kotar (the forested mountains). The Kvarner Gulf's deep waters made Rijeka, Croatia's largest port and third-largest city, a prize that Austria-Hungary spent centuries developing as its primary maritime outlet. The interior mountains—sometimes called 'Croatian Switzerland'—rise over 1,500 meters, covered in forests that supported a timber and logging industry while remaining largely depopulated.

Rijeka's 100-meter-deep harbor accommodates the largest vessels in the Adriatic. The city is headquarters of Jadrolinija, Croatia's national ferry company operating over 50 vessels. More strategically, the island of Krk now hosts Croatia's only LNG terminal, opened in 2021, reducing the country's dependence on Russian gas pipelines. The port infrastructure—shipyards, oil terminal, refinery—makes this county second only to Zagreb in GDP contribution.

The coastline developed tourism before most of Europe knew the concept. Opatija's first hotel opened in 1844, establishing a resort tradition that now generates 15.3 million overnight stays annually—third highest among Croatian counties. The Kvarner islands of Krk, Cres, Lošinj, and Rab combine beaches with ecological preservation; Cres hosts one of Europe's last griffon vulture populations.

Gorski Kotar tells a different story: Risnjak National Park protects pristine forest ecosystems, but the villages are emptying. The mountain region that once supported forestry families now loses population steadily. By 2026, the county's challenge is whether port modernization and island tourism can generate enough wealth to maintain both the prosperous coast and the depopulating highlands—or whether the mountains become a scenic backdrop for a purely maritime economy.