ZAGREB, the capital of Croatia-Slavonia, Yugoslavia (Ger man, Agram), lies on the Sava, with a background of mountains and surrounded by vineyards and country houses. Pop. (1931) 185,581. In 1910 it was only 79,083, but the influx of officials and business men since the formation of the state of Yugoslavia, has more than outweighed the exodus of Magyars and Germans. Zag reb is the second city of the kingdom and its commercial and financial centre, with many important trade associations. It is also the headquarters of one of the five army provinces. The older part of the town, with narrow, winding streets, contains the 5th century Gothic cathedral and the bishop's palace, while the newer part, with wide streets, open squares, a park and botanical gardens, contains the business and industrial quarters. Here too are the palace of justice, the South Slavonic academy, the univer sity, a synagogue, and a Protestant church. Roman Catholic schools and churches are numerous, and there is also a School of Music. Tobacco, leather, linen, carpets, war material, hats and caps, boots, paper, chemicals, varnish and oil-colours are made.
Recent excavations have shown that a settlement existed at Zagreb in Roman times, and though the Croats probably built a town there in the 7th century, the first written record of the city occurs in 1093 when King Ladislaus of Hungary made it the see of a bishop. The older part of Zagreb, known as the Kaptol, con tains the bishop's palace and the 15th century Gothic cathedral surrounded by the towers of the nth century fortress. In 1242
a walled town, now called the Upper Town, arose on a neighbour ing hill, and was raised to the rank of a royal free town by King Bela of Hungary. For centuries a bitter feud raged between the Kaptol and the Upper Town, until these rivals were forced to join hands against the Turks.
Zagreb, already the political centre of Croatia-Slavonia, was selected as the capital in 1867. It suffered severely from earth quakes in 1880 and 1901. It is the home of an aristocracy and a seat of culture on a level with more famous European centres. Previously the centre of the Yugoslav movement, it is now par ticularist and Croat in sympathy. There were national disturb ances in the town in 1912, and the two military courts of justice which sat here during the World War (1914-18) were considered too strongly Croat in sympathy by the authorities at Vienna and Budapest, so that in 1918 prisoners on trial for treason or mili tary offences, were sent to Bratislava (Pressburg). In that year, when the Austrian empire was breaking up, an independent nation. alist body assembled at Zagreb. In 1924 there was serious rioting between the Croat Nationalists and the Yugoslav Sokols at a meeting of these patriotic athletic societies in the town.