Croatian Littoral
Encyclopedia
The Croatian Littoral is a geographical term that refers to the narrow coastal strip (littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

) along the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 extending from east the city Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

 south to Karlobag
Karlobag
Karlobag is a historic and picturesque seaside municipality on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, located underneath Velebit overlooking the island of Pag, west of Gospić and south of Senj. The Gacka river also runs through the area...

. The coast from Karlobag southward is usually considered part of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

.

Along the Croatian Littoral are numerous tourist destinations such as Bakar
Bakar
Bakar ) is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The population of the town is 1,566 , while the population of the municipality is 7,773. 90% declare themselves Croats . The old part of Bakar is situated on a hill overlooking the Bay of Bakar...

, Kraljevica
Kraljevica
Kraljevica is a town in the Kvarner region of the country of Croatia, located between Rijeka and Crikvenica, approximately thirty kilometers from Opatija and near the entrance to the bridge to the island of Krk...

, Crikvenica
Crikvenica
Crikvenica is the largest settlement on the coast of the Vinodol coastal area, Croatia, and grew up on an area which was a settlement in the Roman era called Ad Turres. Population 7,121 , total municipality population 11,348 with 90% Croats...

, Bribir, Novi Vinodolski
Novi Vinodolski
Novi Vinodolski is a town on the Adriatic in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,988, with a total of 5,131 people in the municipality ....

, Susak
Susak
Susak is a small island on the northern Adriatic coast of Croatia. The name Sansego comes from the Greek word Sansegus meaning oregano which grows in abundance on the island. A small percentage of natives still reside on the island which has increasingly become a popular tourist...

 and Senj
Senj
Senj , German Zengg, Hungarian Zeng and Italian Segna) is the oldest town on the upper Adriatic, and it was founded in the time before the Romans some 3000 years ago on the hill Kuk. It was the center of the Illyrian tribe Iapydes. The current settlement is situated at the foot of the slopes Mala...

. Adjacent to the continental coastal region is the Kvarner Bay which is usually considered part of the Croatian Littoral and includes the largest islands of Croatia: Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....

, Cres
Cres
Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern island in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from the island Krk or from the Istrian peninsula ....

, and Rab
Rab
Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...

 (see also list of Croatian islands). The Kvarner Bay is often included in the Croatian Littoral but can also be grouped with Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...

 as the Northern Croatian Littoral (Sjeverno hrvatsko primorje).

The high mountains of the region help the coast maintain a milder Mediterranean climate relative to inland areas. The area is also known for the Bora
Bora (wind)
Bora or Bura is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and Turkey....

, a type of katabatic wind
Katabatic wind
A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning "going downhill", is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometimes also called fall winds...

.

History

The term Croatian Littoral developed after Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 Ausgleich
Ausgleich
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire...

 of 1867, when Hungary attained large measure of autonomy Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...

n Austria. Unlike Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...

 and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

 which were crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....

s (Kronland
Kronland
Kronland may refer to:* the German name of Lanškroun, a town in the Czech Republic* a "crown land", a constituent territory of Cisleithania, the Austrian half of former Austria–Hungary...

) of the Austrian Emperor, the Littoral was part of the Hungarian-ruled Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia can refer to:* Kingdom of Croatia * Kingdom of Croatia * Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia...

 and Hungarian authorities saw the area as the Hungarian gateway to the Adriatic. Just as the Cisleithanian Austrian coast (including Istria) was called the Austrian Littoral
Austrian Littoral
The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...

, the Hungarians termed their possession the Hungarian Littoral (Magyar partvidék).

See also

  • Central Croatia
    Central Croatia
    Central Croatia or Croatia proper is a term that refers to the areas of the Republic of Croatia that were part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia which excluded Istria, Slavonia, and Dalmatia...

  • Slovenian Littoral
    Slovenian Littoral
    The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....

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