Orehovica, Međimurje County

Orehovica (Hungarian: Drávadiós) is a village and municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia. There are three villages in the municipality – Orehovica, Podbrest and Vularija.

Orehovica
Municipality
Location within Međimurje County
Orehovica Location of Orehovica in Croatia
Coordinates: 46°20′N 16°31′E
Country	Croatia
County	Međimurje
Government
• Municipal mayor	Franjo Bukal
Area [1]
• Municipality	21.6 km2 (8.3 sq mi)
• Urban	10.9 km2 (4.2 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Municipality	2,720
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
• Urban	1,803
• Urban density	170/km2 (430/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	40322 Orehovica
Area code	040
Website	orehovica.hr

In the 2011 census, the municipality had a population of 2,685, with 1,669 people living in Orehovica, 618 in Podbrest and the remaining 398 in Vularija.^[3] 81% of residents identified themselves as Croats during the census.^[4] A significant minority of Romani people are also present, making up 18% of the population.

Name

The name Orehovica is derived from oreh 'walnut' in the Kajkavian dialect of Croatian, spoken in Međimurje County.

Governance

The municipality's coat of arms simply depicts a walnut shell on white background.

Language

In November 2023, the Government of the Republic of Croatia decided to declare mandatory Romanian bilingualism in Orehovica on the basis of the 2021 census, which showed the Bayash population fraction had risen above the required one third, at 33.68%.^[5]: 2 As of 2023, none of the legal requirements for the fulfillment of bilingual standards have been carried out, nor are there public legal and administrative employees proficient in the language.^{[5]: 133, 134}