CROATIAN LYRICS

Lijepa nasa domovino,
Oj junacka zemljo mila,
Stare slave djedovino,
Da bi vazda sretna bila!
Mila, kano si nam slavna,
Mila si nam ti jedina.
Mila, kuda si nam ravna,
Mila, kuda si planina!

Teci Savo, Dravo teci,
Nit' ti Dunav silu gubi,
Sinje more svijetu reci,
Da svoj narod Hrvat ljubi.
Dok mu njive sunce grije,
Dok mu hrasce bura vije,
Dok mu mrtve grobak krije,
Dok mu zivo srce bije!

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION
 
Our beautiful homeland,
Oh dear, heroic land,
Fatherland of ancient glory,
May you always be happy!
Dear, as much as you are glorious,
Only you are dear to us.
Dear, where your land is flat,
Dear, where it is mountainous.

Flow Sava, Drava flow,
Nor you, Danube, lose your power,
Azure sea, tell to the world
That a Croat loves his nation.
As long as sun warms his plougned land,
As long as storms lash his oak trees,
As long as the grave hides his dead,
As long as his living heart beats!


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Croatia
"Lijepa nasa Domovino" (Our Beautiful Homeland)

Words by:Antun Mihanovic
Music by:Josip Runjanin
Adopted:1972

The lyrics to the anthem were first printed in Danica (The Morning Star)
magazine in 1835, under the title "Hrvatska domovina" ("Croatian Homeland").
The music was composed later (1840s) by Josip Runjanin, a Croatian Serb, on the
basis of Donizetti's "O sole piu ratto" from the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor".
Later, in 1861, the score went through some minor changes done by V.
Lichtenegger. In 1891 the song was first sung as the unofficial national anthem
at an exhibition held by the Croatian-Slavonian Economic Society in Zagreb.
(Croatia, still being part of the Austro-Hungarian_Empire, had that nation's
anthem as its official one.) It remained unofficial until February 29, 1972,
when the first amendment to the Croatian Constitution declared it official
(despite being part of Yugoslavia at the time) with a slight change in the
lyrics upon 1990 independence.

Special thanks to:Josip Rakonca and Brunislav Matasovic for some of this
information.
