Zagreb is the capital and largest city of Croatia, a country in the south of Europe on the Adriatic Sea. It sits inland, in the north of the country, on the Sava river, and around a million people live in the wider city. It is Croatia's centre for government, business, universities and culture. Two things are worth knowing about how English speakers say and use this name. First, the sound: it is said ZAH-greb, with the stress on the first part. Many learners want to say za-GREB, and that sounds foreign to an English ear. Second, like other capital cities, Zagreb often stands in for the government of the whole country in news writing. "Zagreb has refused the offer" does not mean the city said anything — it means Croatia's leaders did. You will meet this trick with every capital: Washington, Beijing, Tokyo. Zagreb is also a fairly common tourist word now, because the city has an old Austrian-Hungarian look to it — a hill town of red roofs, a cathedral with two tall towers, and a famous Christmas market. Note that Croatia's beaches and islands, which is what most tourists picture, are on the other side of the country, hours away.