In the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n part of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, there are 718

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s, 389 islets and 78

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s, making the Croatian

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

the largest in the Adriatic Sea and the second largest in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, after the Greek archipelago. Of the 718 islands, only 47 are inhabited in the sense that at least one person resides on that island. Some sources indicate that Croatia has 67 inhabited islands, counting those that have a settlement, but 20 of those have lost all of their permanent population as a result of the

population decline A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...

occurring throughout the Croatian islands due to insufficient economic activity. The Adriatic islands have been populated at least since the time of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

. For example, Hvar was already populated between 3500 BC and 2500 BC and Dionysius I of Syracuse founded a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

on Hvar and Vis in the 4th century BC. The combined island population reached its peak in 1921, at 173,503 inhabitants, and went into steady decline in the following decades, dropping to pre-1850s level by 1981. The depopulation trend was reversed only in the 1990s, with the 2001 census registering a population of 122,418, up from 110,953 in 1991. The main industries on the islands are agriculture, fishing and tourism. The islands' agriculture is primarily devoted to

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

and olive growing. The local economy is relatively underdeveloped while the cost of living is 10 to 30% higher than on the mainland, so the Croatian government provides various kinds of support and protection through its Islands Act ( hr, Zakon o otocima) to stimulate the economy of the islands, including charging no tolls on bridges, and providing discounted or free ferry tickets for islanders.

Islands

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Lika-Senj Lika-Senj County (, hr, Ličko-senjska županija) is a county in Croatia that includes most of the Lika region and some northern coastline of the Adriatic near the town of Senj, including the northern part of the Pag island. Its center is Gos ...

and

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

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Lošinj Lošinj (; it, Lussino; vec, Lusin, earlier ''Osero''; german: Lötzing; la, Apsorrus; grc, Ἄψορρος) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the ...

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Čiovo Čiovo (pronounced ; it, Bua) is an island located off the Adriatic coast in Croatia with an area of (length , width up to ), population of 5,908 inhabitants (2011) and its highest peak is 218 m (Rudine). The centre of the island has geographi ...

Split-Dalmatia Split-Dalmatia County ( hr, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 14.106,40 km2. Split-Dalma ...

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Cres Cres (; dlm, Crepsa, vec, Cherso, it, Cherso, la, Crepsa, Greek language, Greek: Χέρσος, ''Chersos'') is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, ...

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Vir Vir (; it, Puntadura, Dalmatian: ''Punta de Ura'') is an island on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea with an area of 22 km2. It lies in Dalmatia, north of the city of Zadar. It is connected to the mainland via a road bridge. The mai ...

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Šolta Šolta (; it, Solta; la, Solentium) is an island in Croatia. It is situated in the Adriatic Sea in the central Dalmatian archipelago, west of the island of Brač, south of Split (separated by Split Channel) and east of the Drvenik islands, Drve ...

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Dugi Otok Dugi Otok (; Croatian for "Long Island", it, Isola Lunga) is the seventh largest island in the Adriatic Sea, part of Croatia. It is located off the Dalmatian coast, west of Zadar. It is the largest and westernmost of the Zadarian Islands, and d ...

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Dubrovnik-Neretva The Dubrovnik-Neretva County (; hr, Dubrovačko-neretvanska županija, ) is the southernmost county of Croatia, located in south Dalmatia. The county seat is Dubrovnik and other large towns are Korčula, Metković, Opuzen and Ploče. The Munici ...

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Lastovo Lastovo (; it, Lagosta, german: Augusta, la, Augusta Insula, el, Ladestanos, Illyrian: ''Ladest'') is an island municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-governm ...

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Šipan Šipan () also Sipano ( it, Giuppana) is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands, northwest of Dubrovnik, Croatia; separated from the mainland coast by the Koločepski Channel; area ; The island is in length, and up to in width. It is the larges ...

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Silba Silba (; it, Selve) is an island in Croatia with an area of 15 km2, northern Dalmatia, south-east of Lošinj, between the islands of Premuda and Olib. It has a Mediterranean climate with 2570 hours a year of sunshine. Most summer days are ...

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Vrgada Vrgada () is an island off the coast of Croatia in the Adriatic Sea. It is located halfway between Zadar and Šibenik, in the archipelago northwest of Murter and south of Biograd na moru, from the mainland. It has area of . and population of 249. ...

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Kaprije Kaprije ( it, Capri di Dalmazia) is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. It is situated in Šibenik archipelago. It has area of and population of 189, in the eponymous single settlement on the island. The island is composed of hi ...

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Ist Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

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Krapanj Krapanj is an island in the Adriatic Sea, located south of Šibenik, Croatia. Krapanj is one of the smallest inhabited islands of the Adriatic Sea covering 0.36 km2. It is also the most densely inhabited island and has the lowest elevation ...

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Koločep The island of Koločep (; locally known as Kalamota from it, Calamotta) is one of the three inhabited Elaphiti Islands situated near the city of Dubrovnik with an area of . Koločep is the southernmost inhabited island in Croatia. In the 2011 cen ...

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Susak Susak ( it, Sansego; German and French: ''Sansig'') 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 percent ...

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Drvenik Veli Drvenik Veli is an island in Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. It is situated in the middle of the Dalmatian archipelago, northwest of Šolta, from the mainland. Its area is . The highest peak is 178 metres high. The only settlement on the island is ...

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Olib Olib (; ) is a Croatian island in northern Dalmatia, located northwest of Zadar, southwest of Pag, southeast of Lošinj and just east of Silba with an area of 26.14 km2. History Greek geographer Strabo mentions a settlement named Aloip, whi ...

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Unije Unije (; it, Unie) is an island in Croatia. It is part of the Cres-Lošinj archipelago, which is situated at the northern portion of the Adriatic Sea. Unije is the third largest island of the archipelago. It is in size, with numerous bays and b ...

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Drvenik Mali Drvenik Mali (also called Ploča by local population; is an island in Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. It is situated in middle-Dalmatian archipelago, west of Drvenik Veliki, from Trogir. Its area is . The only settlement on the island is the epony ...

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Ilovik The islands of Ilovik ( it, Asinello) and '' Sveti Petar'' ( it, San Pietro) are located in Croatia south of the island Lošinj (Lussino), separated by the Strait of Ilovik ( hr, Ilovačka vrata). Geography The only village located on the island ...

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Sestrunj Sestrunj ( it, Sestrugno) is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. It is situated in Zadar Archipelago, between Ugljan, Rivanj and Dugi Otok. Its area is , and it has population of 48 (). The only settlement is also called Sestrunj ...

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Zverinac Zverinac is a small Croatian island in the Zadar Archipelago of the Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea ...

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Rivanj Rivanj is an Adriatic Sea island in the Zadar Archipelago, between the islands of Sestrunj and Ugljan, with an area of (length , width up to ); population 31 (2011); highest peak Lukocina (). The only village is Rivanj, located in the interior ...

, style="text-align:right;", , style="text-align:right;", , style="text-align:right;", , style="text-align:right; background:#ffe4e4;", , - , 43 , Ošljak ,

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Biševo Biševo (, Chakavian: Bisovo, it, Busi) is an island in the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. It is situated in the middle of the Dalmatian archipelago, five kilometers southwest of the Island of Vis. Its area is and it has a population of 15 (as of ...

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Vele Srakane Vele Srakane is an island in the Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. It is situated between Lošinj, Unije and Susak, just north of Male Srakane. Its area is 1.15 km2, and it has a population of 3 (2011 census), down from 8 in 2001. Highest peak ...

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Male Srakane Male Srakane is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea, which is situated between Lošinj, Unije and Susak, just south of Vele Srakane Vele Srakane is an island in the Croatian part of Adriatic Sea. It is situated between Lošinj ...

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Notes

References

{{featured list Croatia, List of inhabited islands of Islands, inhabited

Islands

See also

Notes

References