The county'sarea is 7,854 km2, 3,646 km2 is land, which accounts for 6.4% of the territory of Croatia. The sea area of the county is 3,632 km2 (around 12% of the territorial waters) and the insular area is 580 km2, with more than 300 smaller and larger islands (Zadar Archipelago). The length of its coastline (including the islands) is 1,300 km.[5][6]
Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs.[9] At the2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives electionsAlbanians andSerbs of Croatia fulfilled legal requirements to each elect their own 25 members minority councils of the Zadar County whileBosniaks andSlovenes of Croatia elect individual representatives and withHungarian,German andItalian representatives remaining unelected due to the absence of candidatures.[10] Some municipalities and towns in the county elected their own local minority councils as well but disproportionally high number of local minority elections were not held due to the absence of candidatures.[10]
According to the 2011 census, Zadar County has population of 170,017, accounting for 4.0% of the total Croatia's population.[11]Croats make up the majority with 93.54% of the population, whileSerbs,Bosniaks,Albanians andItalians form the remainder.[12]
The County of Zadar plays a leading role in road and railway traffic links between northern and southern Croatia.
TheAdriatic Highway, the main road along theAdriatic Sea passes through the county, as does theA1 motorway, completed as far as Split in 2005. The Zagreb-Knin-Splitrailway line with branch-lines to Zadar andŠibenik pass through the county.
Maritime traffic is carried by the coastal route of the Adriatic Sea, by the Zadar-Ancona international car ferry route which is the shortest link between Central Europe and Italy, via Zagreb and Zadar to Rome and southward. Another route by which intensive traffic is carried is Zadar - Maslenica Bridge - St. Rok Tunnel - Zagreb.
The Zadar Airport has recently been reconstructed and modernised. With runway improvements still to be undertaken it will eventually have the capacity to handle jumbo-jets.
There is also a very frequent maritime passenger port in the town of Zadar and the cargo maritime port in theGaženica area whose current manipulative capacity amounts to one million tonnes per year. A construction of a wharf would raise this significantly. The port's manipulative and warehouse capacities are used only in part.
The Ravni Kotari area constitutes the greater part of the county's inland, containing most of the cultivated farmland and towns having industry, crafts, trade and traffic development potential.
Tourism is one of the county's most important industries, owing to its geographical position, mild climate, indented coast, clear sea, numerous bays, inlets and beaches on 1,300 km of the sea coast and islands. Tourist amenities of the Zadar County are also the areas of outstanding natural beauty: theVelebit, Telaščica andPaklenica and adjacentKrka andKornati national parks in the south and thePlitvice Lakes national park in the north.
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