[4] The region formed the continental part of the country.

The most populated cities in the region were Zagreb, Osijek, Slavonski Brod, Karlovac, Sisak and Varaždin.

It accounted for 56% of the country's territory and 67% of the population.

The existence of this large region that included the capital city of Zagreb was controversial in Croatia at the time, with public complaints on how it enabled an unjust distribution of European Union funding.

[5][6] In 2021, it was replaced with three NUTS-2 regions: City of Zagreb, Northern Croatia and Pannonian Croatia.