Digital genealogy records in Croatia rely on religious church records and civil registration. Births, marriages, and deaths were typically recorded in local parish registers. This means that data on the county or city of origin may not be sufficient, as you would need to browse the records of each church to find the desired document.
The Forum section Locations in Dalmatia has a thorough breakdown of digital records available in various cities and towns in Dalmatia.
FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch.org, which is free to join, has many indexed digital records for Croatia between 1516 and 1994.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2040054
Croatia Archives
The Croatia State Archives, located in Zagreb, date back to the 17th century.
- Croatian State Archives – https://www.arhiv.hr/Search-the-records/Our-records
There is a network of Regional Archives throughout Croatia. The most pertinent for the Dalmatia region are:
- State Archives in Zadar – https://www.dazd.hr/en
- State Archives in Dubrovnik – https://dad.hr/?lang=en
- State Archives in Split – https://www.das.hr (not in English)
- State Archives in Šibenik – https://www.dasi.hr (not in English)
Complex History, Complex Search
As noted in the Emigration page, various political entities have controlled the region of Dalmatia in recent centuries. The language of vital documents also changed over time. You are likely to encounter documents written in Latin, German, Italian, Croatian and even in the Glagolitic script.
Likewise, the names of places may vary between Croatian, Italian and German. For example, an individual’s surname may be written differently among his birth, marriage, and death records. These quirks add complexity to using indexed digital records such as FamilySearch.org.