Croats (Croatian: Hrvati) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group at the crossroads of Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean.

Croats mainly live in homeland Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries Serbia and Slovenia.

Likewise, Croats are an officially recognized minority in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia.

Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have migrated throughout the world, and established a notable Croatian diaspora.

In Western Europe exist larger communities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Italy.

Outside Europe, there are even more significant Croatian communities in the United States, Canada, Chile, Argentina, and Australia.Croats are noted for their cultural diversity, which has been influenced by a number of other neighboring cultures through the ages.

The strongest influences came from Central Europe and the Mediterranean where, at the same time, Croats have made their own contribution.

The Croats are predominantly Roman Catholic by religion.

The Croatian language is an official language in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is a recognized minority language within Croatian autochthonous communities and minorities in Montenegro, Austria (Burgenland), Italy (Molise), Romania (Caraşova, Lupac) and Serbia (Vojvodina).Contemporary scholarship views the rise of "Croats" as an autochthonous, Dalmatian response to the demise of the Avar khanate and the encroachment of Frankish and Byzantine Empires into northern Dalmatia.

They appear to have been based around Nin and Klis, down to the Cetina and south of Liburnia.

Here, concentrations of the "Old Croat culture" abound, marked by some very wealthy warrior burials dating to the ninth century CE.