Croatian
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Croatian (hrvatski) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries. It is the official and literary standard of Croatia and one of the official languages of the European Union. Croatian is also one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighbouring countries.
Standard Croatian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian, more specifically on Eastern Herzegovinian, which is also the basis of Standard Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. All other Serbo-Croatian dialects are also spoken by ethnic Croats (Chakavian, Kajkavian, and Torlakian (by the Krashovani)). These four dialects, and the four national standards, are usually subsumed under the term "Serbo-Croatian" in English, though this term is controversial for native speakers, and paraphrases such as "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" are therefore sometimes used instead, especially in diplomatic circles.
In the mid-18th the first attempts to provide a Croatian literary standard began on the basis of Neo-Shtokavian dialect which served as a supraregional lingua franca pushing back regional vernaculars in Chakavian, Kajkavian and Shtokavian. The decisive role was played by Croatian Vukovians which in the late 19th and the beginning of the 20th century cemented the usage of Ijekavian Neo-Shtokavian as a literary standard, as well as phonological orthography.
Croatian is written in Gaj's Latin alphabet. (Wikipedia)