Croatia launches a new era for official state cartography

State Geodetic Administration  

Official state cartography is a fundamental tool for understanding, managing and planning space. Reliable, accurate and up-to-date state maps serve as the basis for spatial planning, environmental protection, infrastructure development, security, risk assessment and crisis management, as well as for the everyday needs of citizens, science and the economy. Official state maps must meet the highest standards and as such are the only relevant ones.

Antonio Šustic, State Geodetic Administration Director-General, Croatia 

Croatia has launched a long-term strategic programme designed to enhance the accuracy and accessibility of its official mapping resources.

Between 2025 and 2034, the State Geodetic Administration (SGA) is implementing an Official State Cartography Multi-Annual Programme to create, renew and update official state maps, as well as corresponding topographic and cartographic databases for the entire Republic of Croatia at scales of 1:25,000, 1:50,000, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000.

The Multi-Annual Programme was adopted by the Croatian Parliament in 2025 at the proposal of the Croatian Government, with a planned investment of €36,825,000.00. The implementation includes aerial photogrammetric imaging and creating digital orthophoto maps in three-year cycles, as well as LiDAR aerial imaging for the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia (approximately 56,500 km2), which is being conducted for the second time. As part of the programme, network services for distributing data to the public will also be developed. All data and network services that the SGA develops will be available to interested users, thus ensuring broad application, transparency and openness of data.

By implementing these activities, citizens, and the public and private sectors, will be provided with updated geospatial data of the Republic of Croatia, which are key for:

• Space management and spatial planning.
• Planning and designing infrastructure facilities.
• Environmental protection and waste management.
• Planning and utilisation of renewable energy sources.
• Assessment of the impact of disaster risks, and prevention and determination of priority activities in terms of strengthening capacity and infrastructure for risk response.
• Data distribution through network services will enable access to data in real time, which will facilitate the development of enterprise and public administration.