Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. The origin of the city's name is unclear. In the Middle Ages, both the river and the town were also known by the German name Laibach. This name was in official use as an endonym until 1918, and it remains frequent as a German exonym, both in common speech and official use.

During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the area. Ljubljana itself was first mentioned in the first half of the 12th century. It was under Habsburg rule from the Middle Ages until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. Situated at the middle of a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region, it was the historical capital of Carniola, a Slovene-inhabited part of the Habsburg Monarchy.

The city, with an area of 163.8 square kilometers, is situated in the Ljubljana Basin in Central Slovenia, between the Alps and the Karst.

The city's architecture is a mix of styles. Despite the appearance of large buildings, especially at the city's edge, Ljubljana's historic center remains intact. Although the oldest architecture has been preserved from the Roman period, Ljubljana's downtown got its outline in the Middle Ages.

The central square in Ljubljana is Prešeren Square (Prešernov trg) where the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation is located. Built between 1646 and 1660, it replaced an older Gothic church on the same site.

Ljubljana is famous for its bridges. The most notable bridges of Ljubljana are the Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), the Trnovo Bridge (Trnovski most), the Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most), the Hradecky Bridge (Slovene: Hradeckega most), and the Butchers' Bridge (Mesarski most). The Trnovo Bridge crosses the Gradaščica, whereas the others cross the Ljubljanica.

Each year, over 10,000 cultural events take place in the city, including ten international theater, music, and art festivals. The Ljubljana Festival is one of the two oldest festivals in former Yugoslavia (the Dubrovnik Summer Festival was established in 1950, and the Ljubljana Festival one in 1953).

Zadar is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serves as the seat of Zadar County and the wider northern Dalmatian region.

Zadar County, as an administrative territorial unit consists of 15 settlements: Babindub, Brgulje, Crno, Ist, Kožino, Mali Iž, Molat, Olib, Petrčane, Premuda, Rava, Silba, Veli Iž, Zadar i Zapuntel. Zadar faces the islands of Ugljan and Pašman, from which it is separated by the narrow Zadar Strait. The promontory on which the old city stands used to be separated from the mainland by a deep moat which has since been filled. The harbor, to the north-east of the town, is safe and spacious.

The area of present-day Zadar traces its earliest evidence of human life from the late Stone Age, while numerous settlements have been dated as early as the Neolithic. Before the Illyrians, the area was inhabited by an ancient Mediterranean people of a pre-Indo-European culture. Zadar traces its origin to its 4th-century BC founding as a settlement of the Illyrian tribe of Liburnians known as Iader.

Today, Zadar is a historical center of Dalmatia, Zadar County's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, educational, and transportation centre. Zadar is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zadar. Because of its rich heritage, Zadar is today one of the most popular Croatian tourist destinations, named "entertainment center of the Adriatic" by the The Times and "Croatia's new capital of cool" by the Guardian.