Modern infrastructure The Northern Croatia region is at the borders with Hungary and Slovenia. The north–south highway corridor provides access to the
Adriatic, which is a geographic advantage to the other countries in
Southern Europe. All of North Croatia is connected to the rest of Croatia by highways. 95% of the houses in the region have sufficient
ADSL internet access, and some businesses have used
fibre optics to do their business. The region has a very well maintained gas network. Northern Croatia is well connected by railway. The first railway in Croatia was built in
Međimurje in 1860, then ruled by Hungary. Some of the major lines in Northern Croatia include: • M101 (Dobova (SI) - Savski Marof - Zagreb G.K.) • M102 (Zagreb G.K. - Dugo Selo) • M201 (Gyekenes (HU) - Koprivnica - Dugo Selo) • R201 (Zaprešić - Zabok - Varaždin - Čakovec) • R202 (Varaždin - Koprivnica), extends further towards Eastern Croatia (Virovitica - Osijek - Dalj) • R106 (Zabok - Krapina – Đurmanec - Rogatec (SI)) • L101 (Čakovec - Mursko Središće - Lendava (SI)) • L102 (Savski Marof - Kumrovec - Imeno (SI)) • L201 (Varaždin - Ivanec - Golubovec) • L202 (Hum-Lug - Gornja Stubica) Railway system is of high importance in this region, particularly because it connects the region with the regional and national capital,
Zagreb. This is often consisted in traditional music from the region, primarily in
Kajkavian: • Lepe ti je Zagorje zelene / Zagreb Moj - "Beži Jankec, cug ti bu pobegel, ne buš videl beli Zagreb grad." ("Run Jankec, the train will leave you behind, you won't see white (clean) Zagreb city.") • Zagorski cug - "...i dobri i stari naš cug, fućkal si navek, gda treba i ne." ("... and the good and old train of ours, you always honked when it was needed and not.") • V Kotoribi cug mašina fućnula. ("In Kotoriba, the train honked.") • Čim ja dojdem v Međimurje - "Čim ja dojdem v Međimurje, stanem z cug mašine. Z mega serca vel'ka žalost mine." ("When I arrive to Međimurje, step down from the train, the sadness in my heart vanishes.") • Jedina Međimurska - "Letiš kak cug, spram Kotoribe." ("You fly (move fast) like a train, towards Kotoriba.") Drama series
Gruntovčani, shot in Sigetec,
Varaždin county has a plot revolved around the railway system in the region in some episodes, primarily in the episode 9, "Na probi" (On trial) and episode 10 "Ostajte ovdje" (Don't leave the home). Both of these episodes are supposedly shot in non-existent "Srednjaci" village railway station, while in reality, it is the city of
Ludbreg railway station, a city between two major regional capitals -
Varaždin and
Koprivnica.
Technology The innovative sector of Northern Croatia has experienced growth in the past years. In 2005,
Microsoft established a worker training center in
Varaždin. Following this, many other companies have established universities in the fields of
Information technology,
Automation, and
Electronics. The continued investment in universities in the region will meet the demands of the consumers that live there and will continue growth in the region. The availability of first-class human resources in a university in Varaždin has led to advances in software and game development. ==Education==