The focus of this paper lies in the presentation of the functionality and structure of the archival network in the territory of the Republic of Croatia and on the research of tasks, challenges and problems encountered by the archival profession. This paper lists all state archives together with the main central archival institution in the Republic of Croatia – the Croatian State Archives, it analyzes the most important characteristics of these archives which include data on the year of establishment, the jurisdiction of these archives and data on associated archival collection centers. The idea of the national archival information system – ARHiNET is explained and the paper also follows the development of archival legislation and changes throughout history since the appearance of the oldest preserved documents accompanied by the establishment of the first archives in this area. The basic tasks and missions performed by the Croatian State Archives, regional state archives and the Croatian Archives Council are summarized within the context of current laws. In addition to the tasks of the archival service prescribed through legal regulations,additional activities carried out by the archival service are of great importance because they emphasize the multidimensional impact of the archival service on the social community.