On 1 January 2023, Croatia became the 27th member of the Schengen area, after fewer than ten years of European Union membership.
Border controls at land and sea borders with other EU members have been lifted, and checks at air borders will be lifted from 26 March.
The Schengen area, which has expanded now for the first time after ten years, now comprises 23 out of the 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Bulgaria and Romania are not part of the Schengen area as their admission was not given a go ahead by other members in early December, when approval was granted to Croatia.
Neither Cyprus nor Ireland are in this passport-free travel zone.
The Schengen area spans over 4 million square kilometres, and until now it has had a population of about 420 million, according to the website of the European Council.
"Every day around 3.5 million people cross internal borders for work or study or to visit families and friends, and almost 1.7 million people reside in one Schengen country while working in another", it is said on the website.
"Europeans make an estimated 1.25 billion journeys within the Schengen area every year, which also greatly benefits the tourism and cultural sector."
On its path to join the Schengen area, Croatia met 281 recommendations in the eight areas of the Schengen acquis, undergoing the most comprehensive and detailed evaluation yet.
The Schengen area, considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the EU, started in 1985 between five member states -- France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
It was named after a small village in Luxembourg, on the border with Germany and France, where the Schengen Agreement and Convention were signed.