I had written long ago a post entitled “The Tallest Ethnic Group” about the fact that it seems that the tallest ethnicity or group of people seem to be coming from the Croatian-Serbian region of the world. It was well known even from the Wikipedia article on human height in the chart for country listings that people in the Dinaric Alps region of Eastern Europe were unusually tall.

However there have been one interesting link from WiseGeek I saw maybe years ago where suggested that the one area or region in croatia or serbia which have the height gene turned up to the max is a county in Croatia known as Dalmatia, or Herzegovina, or the Montenegro region, which is probably most well know for the dogs that come from the region, Dalmatians.

Update 4/29/2013:

I will gladly admit that every single nation in the world will have its own share of giants but when we look at the percentage of people over a certain height limit and how frequent above average in height men (and possibly women) are coming out of the country, or at least being listed at local and national volleyball and basketball teams, it is rather hard not to see that Serbia and Croatia and the surrounding areas have been producing some extraordinarily tall people in the last 30-40 years. Many of them have gone on to become internationally famous athletes or entertainers.

A recent post I found from TheTallestMan.com website suggest that the anecdotal stories seem to be true. It is Giants from Split (Croatia) by a poster named Herve on March 7, 2013

Split is the biggest city of Dalmatia (Croatia), about 200 000 inhabitants. So, just have a look on the number of men at least 210 cm I have found at that day (official and exact heights that I asked myself to each of them or closer family), keeping in mind there are still more : 1 ŠUNDOV Bruno 221/1980/Split/bb.

2 VRŽINA Hrvoje 219/1981/Split

3 KREČAK Marko 218/1984/Split/bb.

4 BIBER Vjeko 215/1974/Split/bb.

5 HENJAK Hrvoje 214/1978/Split/bb.

6 LOVRIĆ Josip 213/1968/Split/bb.

7 POLJAK Joško 213/1978/Split/bb.

8 TABAK Žan 213/1970/Split/bb.

9 KRALJEVIĆ Marijan 212/1970/Pforzheim (GER)/bb.

10 JURIĆ Damir 211/1959/Split/bb.

11 MADUNIĆ Petar 211/1993/Split/bb.

12 VLADOVIĆ Nikola 211/1987/Split/bb.

13 DELIĆ Nenad 210/1984/Split/bb.

14 JURIĆ Joško 210/1935?/Split/bb.

15 KRSTULOVIĆ Željko 210/1963/Split

16 RAÐA Dino 210/1967/Split/bb.

17 VUJIĆ Ivan 210/1977/Split/bb.

And if you go in Vrgorac (only 2 100 inhabitants !), you could meet :

1° ÐUGUM Dragan 213/1985/bb.

2° ÐUGUM Ante 212/1988/bb.

3° VUJČIĆ Nikola 211/1978/bb.<

This season (2012-2013), in football (soccer) club “Hajduk” from Split, the three goal-keepers : Goran Blažević (26 years old), Lovre Kalinić (22) and Pavao Vugdelija (25), are all 2,01 m tall ! Who says better ?

Herve would write again in a another post entitled “NEW GIANTS“

I noticed some big men were not registered on your site. Here they are:

1° Marko DUJKOVIC (226 cm, 1990, Kumanovo, FYROM) : Serbian basketball player (from FYROM).

2° Dalibor MICIC (224 cm, 1985, Zrenjanin, Serbia) : Serbian basketball player.

3° Bojan DODIK (222 cm, 1984, Sarajevo, Bosnia) : Serbian basketball player (from Bosnia).

4° Nemanja BESOVIC (221 cm, 1992, Podgorica, Montenegro) : Serbian basketball player (from Montenegro).

5° Jere LAKOS (220 cm, 1968, Sibenik, Croatia) : Croatian former basketball player.

Then I would find from the profile on Krist Novoselic height on the website celebheights.com even more evidence to show that for the small ethnic group being the serbo-croatians, they have a very high height average in general. However the poster on the listed croatian athlete’s heights is also named Hervé. I would suspect then that the two Herves are the same person who is probably just trying to promote the idea that Croatians are the tallest in the world.

These are Herve’s and other profile’s posts from the celebheight.com profile.

pochy says on 7/Sep/11

No. Dalmatians are taller than Dutch. Go and visit South Croatia + Montenegro, then visit Holland, and then you’ll change your mind.

issuetall says on 14/Sep/11

@Shawn Yeah, he is tallest basketball player in Montenegro. But I don’t know whether the new negeration(15-18 years old) are over 210cm in Montenegro. If anybody knows that, please introduce those Montenegro youth giant.

Civis Batavi says on 25/Sep/11

Albanians and Montenegrins are the tallest on the planet i believe.

radek says on 14/Dec/11

pochy says on 7/Sep/11

No. Dalmatians are taller than Dutch. Go and visit South Croatia + Montenegro, then visit Holland, and then you’ll change your mind.

No Its wrong most people who visit holland only go to places like amsterdam and rotterdam, which are around 50% of foreign origin people, and out of the 50% of ethnic dutch the dutch/indo mixed are considered by goverment as natives, therefore real dutch in amsterdam/rotterdam/den haag are below 50%, in comparison montenegro is about 99.9% natives. Go to leeuwarden or sneek in northern netherlands, people there are by far the tallest you can encounter anywhere in the world, montenegrins dont even come close, the ethnic dutch, specially the ones from northern/northeastern regions are not only quite distinctive for their huge average height(as they are by far the tallest in europe) but also for having the regions with highest concentration of natural blond people anywhere in the world, you can find far more extremely tall/extremely blond people in norther-netherlands than you would do in most of scandinavia.

jovan says on 15/Jan/12

i go to montnegro-serbia-montenegro every summer, my dad is 6,3- 6,4. he is taller then bessicly 90-95 percent of all torontonians. But when he goes to montenegro he seems SOOO short. OMG, i even hear him talking to his cousin about it,his cousin is like 6,4 6,5. And I went there this year, I am 13 turning 14 in like 1 week and I don’t remember more then 5 people being shorter then my dad, and not that much shorther. Everon eis SOOO much taller then my dad there and compared to like 99 percent of Montenegrins he is a dwarf. just saying.

issuetall says on 8/Jun/12

@jovan: I believe what you said. Many people who visited montenegro always insist this viewpoint is that the montenegro people are very tall, extremely tall. I don’t think each signle one is liar.

vlad says on 16/Aug/12

i have been to montenegro this summer, as i do to visit my family, and the people by the coast are tall, like you see a lot of 6 ft 10 ppl and the occasional giant lurching at 7 ft, but you have to go to central montenegro to really see the giants, i was driving in a town there, and we saw like 3 7 footers all walking together and a 6 ft 6 girl in a span of 2 blocks, and you see a lot of big guys. they are also very tall in niksic and podgorica, both cities i have been too. if you want the REAL montenegrin experience, go inland to see niksic and podgorica and tara canyon, the second biggest canyon in the world to grand canyon, only 200 meters more shallow then the grand canyon, niksic and podgorica are not attractive cities, as poor apartment blocks lined with run down and abandoned buildings, leaking with water along the sides. but town center is a great experience. dt niksic is the worst place to pick a bar fiht, youll fight 7 foot cowboys every time. montenegrins look unique , and you can tell a local apart from a tourist anytime, even white tourists. having gone to croatia many times, montenegrins are muchhhhh taller, and would tower over croatians

pochy says on 23/Aug/12

@ Vlad Yes. Got the same impression as you. In some Montenegrin towns you very rarely stumble across a male under 6’3/6’4….if you have to bet the age of a male shorter than 6’1, you’d better bet an age under 15 years. Of course girls are VERY tall too. Montenegrins are definitely the tallest in Europe. I wonder why someone still insists with the Dutch.

Hervé says on 12/Sep/12

The three goalkeepers of Football Club Hajduk (Split, Croatia) for 2012/2013 : Goran Blazevic (2,01 m, age 26), Lovre Kalinic (2,01 m, age 22) and Pavao Vugdelija (2,01 m, age 25)…

Hervé says on 21/Feb/13

@issuetall : Hey, my friend ! The name of the guy was Olivier CABON (2,09 m, 1972). So, he spent some days in the town of Makarska (60 km south-east from Split, Dalmatia) during the summer 2000. He told me his kind of “frustration” when nobody there seemed to notice his height (when elsewhere, he was the attraction in the streets) and the number of men 2 m tall, which seemed to him the same as the ones 1,90 m in France. But his biggest surprise was some evening when, arriving to a night club, he met in the entrance three guys even taller than him ! Quite incredible ! Take care !

issuetall says on 27/Feb/13

@Hervé : Hi! Hervé! Glad to see you come back! And you told another story if I remeberred correctly: you have a Croatian friends who is 200cm, and he worded as Croatian ambassador to France. He used to tell you that he usually has met a lot of guys are tower than him in his hometown(belong to Dalmatia). Even if he is 2 meter, he felt not tall in there. Could you tell this story again? I am so interested in it.

Hervé says on 4/Mar/13

Yes, he’s a former attached of embassy in Paris, now back in Croatia. Originally from Drnis (30 km north from Sibenik), a small town where people are extremely tall on average (about 187 cm for the youngsters), he told me once, as a matter of fact, that when being in Dalmatia, he felt himself sometimes a kind of “draw” beside men much taller than him…

Bon_ says on 7/Mar/13

Herve, how much individuals who are 210 cm tall are there in Croatia?

Hervé says on 8/Mar/13

At that day, I know exactly 116 (sure there are still more) ! And many youngsters are coming…

Hervé says on 8/Mar/13

Not 116, but 119 ! Here they are :

CROATIAN GIANTS (>= 210 CM TALL) [119]

* : still growing up at.: athletics bb. : basketball hb. : handball tn. : tennis vb. : volley-ball

(N°/LAST NAME & FIRST NAME/HEIGHT/YEAR OF BIRTH/PLACE OF BIRTH/SPORT)

A CROATS FROM CROATIA [93]

1 ANDRIĆ Lukša 210/1985/Dubrovnik/bb.

2 BARIŠIĆ Danko 210/1985/Osijek/bb.

3 BEČA Bruno * 211?/1994/Zagreb?/bb.

4 BIBER Vjeko 215/1974/Split/bb.

5 BILAN Miro 213/1989/Šibenik/bb.

6 BILIĆ Ante 214/1956/Lovreć

7 BOBANOVIĆ Darko 218/1985/Rijeka/bb.

8 BORČIĆ Branko 210/1973/Mona Val(AUS)/bb.

9 BOTA Marin 215/1979/Ludwigshafen(GER)/bb.

10 BREKALO Kristijan 211/1985/Zagreb/bb.

11 BUDANOVIĆ Vedran 210/1977/Zadar/bb.

12 BULJUBAŠIĆ Mirko 211/1978/Metković/bb.

13 CINGEL Marko 212/1991/Našice/hb.

14 ČEČUK Milan 210/1979/Omiš

15 ČIRKO Ivan 210/1987/Trogir/bb.

16 ČOVIĆ Vedran 210/1978/Makarska/bb.

17 ĆURKOVIĆ Ivica 210/1966/Sinj

18 DELIĆ Nenad 210/1984/Split/bb.

19 DIVIĆ Josip 214/1980/Slavonski Brod/bb.

20 DOGAN Dino 212/1987/Osijek/bb.

21 DOLIĆ Stipe 211/1981/Sinj

22 ÐUGUM Ante 212/1988/Makarska/bb.

23 ÐUGUM Dragan 213/1985/Split/bb.

24 GOJEVIĆ-ZRNIĆ Zvonimir 213/1982/Zagreb/bb.

25 GOVIĆ Hrvoje 210/1988/Šibenik/bb.

26 GRBIN Peđa 210/1979/Pula/bb.

27 GRGAT Ivan 210/1974/Sinj/bb.

28 GUDELJ Mario 210/1984/Split/bb.

29 HENJAK Hrvoje 214/1978/Split/bb.

30 HORVATIĆ Silvio 213/1973/Zagreb/bb.

31 IVANKOVIĆ Danijel’ 210?/1963/Zagreb/bb.

32 JURIĆ Damir 211/1959/Split/bb. [son of Joško JURIĆ]

33 JURIĆ Joško 210/1935?/Split

34 KARLOVIĆ Ivo 211/1979/Zagreb/tn.

35 KASUN Mario 213/1980/Vinkovci/bb.

36 KAŠTROPIL Franko 211/1984/Blato/bb.

37 KODRIN Marko 213/1990/Karlovac/bb.

38 KOPLJAR Marko 210/1986/Požega/hb.

39 KRALJEVIĆ Marijan 212/1970/Pforzheim(GER)/bb.

40 KREČAK Marko 218/1984/Split/bb.

41 KRNČEVIĆ Vlado’ 214?/1952?/Zagreb/bb.

42 KROLO Ivan 217/1983/Osijek/bb.

43 KRSTULOVIĆ Željko 210/1963/Split

44 LAKOŠ Jere 220/1968/Šibenik/bb.

45 LALIĆ Jure 211/1986/Makarska/bb.

46 LIVAJIĆ Dario 211/1979/Split/bb.

47 LONČAR Krešimir 210/1983/Split/bb.

48 LOVRIĆ Josip 213/1968/Split/bb.

49 LOZANČIĆ Jure 211/1983/Split/bb.

50 MADUNIĆ Petar 211/1993/Split/bb.

51 MARASOVIĆ Frano 213/1992/Split/bb.

52 MARIJANOVIĆ Marino 214/1986/Zagreb/bb.

53 MILANOVIĆ Grgo 211/1990/Sinj/bb.

54 MIOČ Ante 212/1992/Zagreb/bb.

55 MOŽAR Igor 211/1984/Slavonski Brod/bb.

56 MUSTAPIĆ Željko 210/1978/Rijeka/bb.

57 NICEVIĆ Sandro 210/1976/Pula/bb.

58 NOVOSEL Darko 210/1989/Karlovac/bb.

59 PAPAC Ivan 210/1987/Vinkovci/bb.

60 PARAVINJA Miloš 210/1979/Pula/bb.

61 PEJČINOVIĆ Davor 211/1971/Altenkirchen(GER) /bb.

62 POJATINA Marijan 213/1981/Zagreb/bb.

63 POLJAK Joško 213/1978/Split/bb.

64 RAÐA Dino 210/1967/Split/bb.

65 RIBARIĆ Mario 214/1959/Sisak/bb.

66 SABLJIĆ Ivan 210/1989/Split/bb.

67 SEDLAR Igor 213/1984/Zagreb/bb.

68 SKELIN Mate 212/1974/Zagreb/bb.

69 SLAVICA Ante 212/1976/Šibenik/bb.

70 SLIVAR Filip 210/1987/Zagreb/bb.

71 ŠODA Toni 212/1988/Split/bb.

72 ŠOLIĆ Vicko 212/1978/Šibenik/bb.

73 ŠUNDOV Bruno 221/1980/Split/bb.

74 ŠVERKO Ivan 212/1992/Rijeka/bb.

75 TABAK Žan 213/1970/Split/bb.

76 TADIĆ Marko 212?/1993/Ðakovo/bb.

77 TOMIĆ Ante 215/1987/Dubrovnik/bb.

78 TONČINIĆ Filip 212/1984/Opatija/bb.

79 VISKOVIĆ Zoran 211/1975/Makarska/bb.

80 VLADIMIR Igor 210/1977/Metković/hb.

81 VLADOVIĆ Nikola 211/1987/Split/bb.

82 VRANKOVIĆ Stojko 217/1964/Drniš/bb.

83 VRSALJKO Denis 212/1982/Zadar/bb.

84 VRŽINA Hrvoje 219/1981/Split

85 VUČIĆ Hrvoje 210/1991/Split/bb.

86 VUJČIĆ Nikola 211/1978/Vrgorac/bb.

87 VUJIĆ Ivan 210/1977/Split/bb.

88 VUKIČEVIĆ Ivan 210/1993/Zagreb/bb.

89 VULIN Šime 210/1983/Šibenik/vb.

90 ZARADIĆ Ivan 211/1988/Šestanovac/bb.

91 ZUBČIĆ Tomislav 214/1990/Zadar/bb.

92 ŽAJA Ivica 210/1956/Aržano/bb.

93 ŽORIĆ Luka 210/1984/Zadar/bb.

00 BRZICA Marin * 209/1994/Split/bb.

00 BULJEVIĆ Lovro * 204/1998/Zagreb/bb.

00 GAŠPERT Matej * 207/1997/Rijeka/bb.

00 MARIĆ Marin * 208/1994/Split/bb.

00 RADUNIĆ Matej * 207/1996/Pula/bb.

00 VRANKOVIĆ Antonio * 208/1996/Minneapolis (USA)/bb. (son of 217 Stojko)

00 VUKIČEVIĆ Josip * 209/1997/Zadar/bb.

B CROATS FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA [21]

1 ARAPOVIĆ Franjo 215/1965/Slipčići/bb.

2 BAGARIĆ Dalibor 217/1980/Munich(GER)/bb.

3 BARAĆ Stanko 216/1986/Mostar/bb.

4 BLAŽEVIĆ Draženko 210/1963/Mostar/bb.

5 BRKIĆ Jozo 210/1986/Mostar/bb.

6 BUBALO Domagoj 211/1991/Mostar/bb.

7 JOVIĆ Antonio 211/1970/Stolac

8 JURKOVIĆ Ivan 210/1990/Čapljina/bb.

9 KALINIĆ Vedran 210/1982/Zenica/bb.

10 KRALJEVIĆ Filip 214/1989/Mostar/bb.

11 LONČAR Markus * 211/1996/Livno/bb.

12 MIHALJ Ivan 210/1990/Odžak/vb.

13 MIKULIĆ Josip 211/1993/Mostar/bb.

14 MILIČEVIĆ Zlatko 211?/1973/Jajce/bb.

15 NOVAK Mario 215/1989/Mostar/bb.

16 PILIĆ Jakov 210/1993/Split(CRO)/bb.

17 PLANINIĆ Darko 210/1990/Mostar/bb.

18 PRIMORAC Mladen 210/1990/Mostar/bb.

19 RIKIĆ Robert 217/1990/Mostar/bb.

20 ŠEKELJA Dragan 210/1991/Livno/bb.

21 VRANJEŠ Nediljko 210/1992/Posušje/bb.

00 ANTOLOVIĆ Stjepan * 206/1997/Zenica/bb.

00 ANTUNOVIĆ Sandro * 204/1998/Sarajevo/bb.

00 BENDER Dragan * 207?/1997/Čapljina?/bb.

00 ČOLAK Mateo * 203/1998/Mostar/bb.

00 JURKOVIĆ Valentin * 209/1994/Metković(CRO)/bb.

00 ZUBAC Ivica * 207/1997/Mostar/bb.

C CROAT FROM SERBIA [1]

1 BULAT Boris 211/1988/Belgrade/bb.

D CROAT FROM SLOVENIA [1]

1 KLEPO Milan 212?/1980/Ljubljana/bb.

E CROATS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES [3]

1 BOGUT Andrija (Andrew) 212/1984/Mulgrave(AUS)/bb.

2 MARAS Robert 216/1978/Freiburg/Breisgau(GER)/bb.

3 RUBIĆ Denis 216/1975/New-York(USA)/bb.

UNCERTAIN CROATIAN GIANTS (>= 210 CM TALL) [8?]

A CROATS FROM CROATIA [5]

1 BELIĆ (Josip ?) 210?/1955?/Split?

2 KOLOVRAT Ivan 210?/1945?/Imotski?

3 MEDIĆ Josip 210?/1972?/Šibenik? [brother of Mario MEDIĆ]

4 MEDIĆ Mario 210?/1973?/Šibenik?

5 SAMARDŽIĆ Filip 211?/1977/Zagreb?/bb.

B CROATS FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA [3]

1 BAGARIĆ Damir 210?/1975/Munich(GER) [brother od Dalibor BAGARIĆ (217/1980)]

2 KARAČIĆ Gordon 210?/1981/Sarajevo?/bb.

3 KRALJEVIĆ Željko 211?/1964/Ljubuški?

DEAD CROATIAN GIANTS (>= 210 CM TALL) [18?]

A CROATS FROM CROATIA [16]

1 BENČEVIĆ Mato 211/1934/Bicko [+ 1983] [grandfather of Josip DIVIĆ (214/1980)]

2 BILIĆ Jakov 217?/1900?/Lovreć [+ 1969?]

3 BOGUT 220/?/? [+] [ancestor of Australian-Croat Andrew BOGUT (212/1984)]

4 ČERINA Ivan 213?/1964/Split?/bb. [+ 1984?]

5 ĆOSIĆ Krešimir 211/1948/Zagreb/bb. [+ 1995]

6 ÐUGUM Jozo 210/1886/Vrgorac [+ 1968] [great grandfather of Dragan ÐUGUM (213/1985)]

7 FARČIĆ Ferucijo 213?/1908?/Milna

8 IVKOVIĆ Stojan 210/1915/Bijeli Vir [+] [grandfather of Stojan IVKOVIĆ (207/1966/Dubrovnik)]

9 KOLOVRAT 215?/1920?/? [+] [great granduncle of Milan KOLOVRAT (207/1986/Zagreb)]

10 KUSIĆ Grgo 218?/1892/Grabovac [+ 1918] [also claimed 237 cm tall]

11 MIJOVIĆ Perica 210/1881/Ðurinići [+ 1942] [great grandfather of Perica MIJOVIĆ (209/1961)]

12 PEĆIRKO 220?/1890?/Petrinja [+] [great grandfather of Slobodan PEĆIRKO (207/1958/Zagreb)]

13 PETRIČEVIĆ Zvonko 210/1940/Prizren(KOS)/bb. [+ 2009]

14 SPRČIĆ Nikola 218/1902/Bijeli Vir [+ 1971]

15 TOMIĆ Matija 223/1739/Split? [+]

16 ANONYMOUS 210/?/Sućuraj [+] [exact measure of his skeleton]

B CROATS FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA [2?]

1 HRGOVIĆ Petar 210?/1917/Livno [+ 1945]

2 MUSTAPIĆ Perica 210?/1920?/Stolac [+ 1945] [granduncle of Željko MUSTAPIĆ (206/1990/Sarajevo)]

GIANTS FROM CROATIAN DESCENT (>= 210 CM TALL) [8]

1 BENČIĆ Martin 210?/1979/Bratislava(SLQ)/vb.

2 DABICH Michael 210?/1942/Lander(USA)/bb.

3 MARDESICH Mike 210/1977/Long Beach(USA)/bb.

4 REDIC Larrell 210?/1977/?(USA)/bb.

5 SMREK Mike 210?/1962/Welland(CAN)/bb.

6 STIPANOVICH Steve 210?/1960/Saint Louis(USA)/bb.

7 THOCOLICH John 223?/1982/Watkato(NZL)/bb.

8 TONKOVICH Andy 210?/1922/?(USA)/bb.

issuetall says on 9/Mar/13

@Hervé : Hi Hervé! I heard of the tallest croatian is Grgo Kusić (1892–1918),According to some accounts,his height reached 238cm.

issuetall says on 9/Mar/13

@Hervé, Hi,Hervé! I know some young croatian basketball player are 210 cm or taller:

Frano Marasovic C 2.16 16.08.1992 Split (CRO) Josip Mikulic 213 1993 CRO Petar Madunic C 2.11 23.07.1993 Split (CRO) LONCAR, MARKUS C 211 CRO 08/04/1996 GASPERT, MATEJ C 210 CRO 05/07/1997

Hervé says on 11/Mar/13

Hey, issuetall ! You have all data you need about tall Croats just below (Frano Marasovic is 213 without shoes, Josip Mikulic is 211 and Matej Gaspert was 207 in september 2012)… What about Grgo Kusic, one of his relatives told me he was 237 cm, and another one 218 cm. So, it’s difficult to know his exact height… Anyway, tennisman Ivo Karlovic is really 211 cm tall, and not 208 as officially listed…

Hervé says on 12/Mar/13

Anyway, one of the tallest Croats of the history could be Bosnian Edhem Kadusic (as muslims from Bosnia are from a huge part from Croatian descent). He was exactly 238 cm and 118 kg (I personnally know one of his nephews), born in 1917 in Domislica (region of Zenica), deceased in 1961. Was a farmer.

Update May 28, 2014:

It seems that this post in recent days have started to get a very large number of visitors and traffic. However, along with that traffic has also come a lot of ethnic tension and fighting. Two frequent posters and commenters specifically have gone back and forth in arguing over conflict between the Croatians and Serbians. Me being from the USA, I do not know enough about the conflict in the former Yugoslavia back in the early 90s, in the conflict in Montenegro, Kosovo, etc. and the Insane violence that happened between the Muslim Bosnians, Orthodox and the Catholics. It reminds me of what happened in Chechnya. This type of conflict is not allowed on this website. At least on here, we should try to