The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DALMATIA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
A
L
M
A
T
I
A
More clues leading to the result DALMATIA
- A tidal surging round dam in Mediterranean region
- Help housing company in Detroit for backing old region
- Tailless dog in part of former Yugoslavia
- Croats now live here where dogs were spotted?
- ‘Waltzing Matilda’ presented by Australian briefly in Adriatic region
- A Tamil disorientated in Germany and Austria or in Croatia
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "in Croatia" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case in croatia = dalmatia.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.