Neum ( cyrl, Неум, ) is a town and municipality in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists ...

. It is the only town to be situated along the Bosnia and Herzegovina's coastline, making it the country's only access to 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 ...

. As of 2013, Neum municipality has a population of 4,653 inhabitants, while the town of Neum has a population of 3,013 inhabitants.

Geography

Neum is the only town to be situated along the Bosnia and Herzegovina's around or of coastline, making it the country's only access to the

.Bosnia-and-Herzegovina Neum britannica.com
''britannica.com'', 2015-09-09 Neum is from

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

( from Dubrovnik Airport), from

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

and

Medjugorje Medjugorje ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Međugorje, Међугорје, ) is a town located in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, about southwest of Mostar and east of the border with Croatia. The town is part of the Čitluk municipality ...

and from Ploče and Metković, both of which have railway stations. The Bosnia and Herzegovina coastal strip of Neum cuts off the southernmost Croatian exclave from the rest of

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 ...

. This is a result of the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the ...

of 1699. Since 1991 and the

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, the borders between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Neum region have been international borders. File:R0000460 Neum.jpg, Neum File:AdriaticWar.jpg, 12km-long promenade along Neum's shoreline File:Water polo court in Neum.jpg, Waterpolo court in File:Neum02450.JPG, Zenička beach in Neum File:Neum-Bosnia.Herzegovina.jpg, Residential Neum File:Dalmatia Neum city IMG 9859.JPG, Aerial view of Neum File:Lighthouse in Neum.jpg, Neum Lighthouse

Subdivision

The municipality includes the town of Neum (municipal seat) and several villages: Babin Do, Borut,

Brestica Brestica is a village in the municipality of Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics According to the 2013 census, its population was 8, all Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croati ...

, Broćanac,

Brštanica Brštanica is a village in the municipality of Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics According to the 2013 census, its population was 65, all Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Cro ...

, Cerovica, Cerovo,

Crnoglav Crnoglav is a village in the municipality of Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics According to the 2013 census, its population was 24, all Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croat ...

, Dobri Do,

Dobrovo Dobrovo (; it, Castel Dobra) is a settlement the Littoral region of Slovenia, close to the border with Italy. It is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Brda. It lies on the road that connects the Friuli Plain and the Soča Valley. D ...

, Donji Drijen, Donji Zelenikovac, Dubravica, Duži, Glumina, Gornje Hrasno, Gradac,

Hotanj Hutovski Hotanj Hutovski is a village in the municipality of Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics According to the 2013 census, its population was 100, all Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a comm ...

Hutovo Hutovo is a village in the municipality of Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossr ...

, Kiševo, Moševići, Prapratnica, Previš,

Rabrani Rabrani is a village in the municipality of Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the cross ...

, Vinine and Žukovica.

Border crossings

Neum has two border crossing checkpoints with Croatia on the

European route E65 European route E65 is a north-south Class-A European route that begins in Malmö, Sweden and ends in Chania, Greece. The road is about in length. Route * **: Malmö ( ) – Ystad *Gap (Baltic Sea) ** Ystad - Świnoujście * **: Świno ...

or Adriatic Highway which connects the two parts of Croatia's Dalmatian coast. Neum 1 is located to the northwest of the city, with the Klek border checkpoint on the Croatian side. Neum 2 is located to the southeast, with the Croatian border checkpoint at

Zaton Doli Zaton Doli is a village in Croatia, on the border with Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is connected by the D8 highway. Demographics According to the 2021 census, its population was 56.

History

The Neum corridor dates back to the

of 1699, whereby the

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

was separated from the Dalmatian possessions of its rival

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

by two

buffer zone A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demil ...

s ceded by Ragusa to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

to prevent the possibility of Venice invading via land: north of its territory is Neum and the bay of Klek, and south of its territory is

Sutorina Sutorina (, ) is a village and a river located in Herceg Novi Municipality in southwestern Montenegro. The village is located near the border with Croatia, some three kilometers northwest of the Adriatic Sea in Igalo. The surrounding region, incl ...

with the port of Herceg Novi on the Bay of Kotor, now part of

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

since 1947 (later the topic of the now-resolved

Sutorina dispute The Sutorina dispute was a border dispute between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the sovereignty over the territory of Sutorina. Since the Berlin Congress of 1878 the territory of Sutorina had been a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

). The Karlowitz borders were reaffirmed in 1718 by the Treaty of Passarowitz, but then the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, tired of negotiating in vain with

for a widening of their maritime access, simply usurped the territory of Gornji Klek and most of Klek from Ragusa, which it had bought from

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Dabiša of Bosnia at the end of the 14th century. After the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, and the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

in 1815, the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, which had annexed both the Dalmatian possessions of Venice and the territory of Ragusa, tried to buy back the Neum and Sutorina enclaves from the Ottomans, but in vain. Instead, it stationed a warship to block access to the port of Neum until the Treaty of Berlin, which gave the whole of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in 1878. Neum had been under Ottoman control for 179 years. Consideration was given to a plan to build a new advanced naval base at Neum-Klek by the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

. General Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf considered fortifying Neum with coastal batteries and torpedo craft to supplement seafront defenses (in order to prevent Italian raids, or worse a large scale Italian landing). The project never got past the planning stage prior to the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914. In 1918, as a consequence of Austro-Hungarian defeat, Neum joined the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

which would start being called "

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

" in 1929. Under the

Karađorđević dynasty The Karađorđević dynasty ( sr-Cyrl, Динасија Карађорђевић, Dinasija Karađorđević, Карађорђевићи / Karađorđevići, ) or House of Karađorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Кућа Карађорђевић, Kuća Karađ ...

, the Yugoslav Government ignored the borders inherited from history twice: in 1929, when the Neum area was included in the Littoral Banovina, and in 1939 when, following the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, it was included in the

Banovina of Croatia The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an autonomous province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merg ...

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

's federal Yugoslavia was founded on the principle, declared at the 1943 AVNOJ session in

Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, with ...

and comparatively well-respected by the ''Đilas commission'' in 1945, of establishing the federative republics in their borders of 1878, which is why the Neum enclave is now part of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, including most of Klek (Ponta Kleka, Rep Kleka), the two islets Veliki and

Mali Školj Mali Školj is uninhabited islet in the Bay of Mali Ston, located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with the nearby islet of Veliki Školj makes the only two Bosnia and Herzegovina's islands in the Adriatic Sea. The temporary regime of the sea bord ...

and the rock of Lopata in the Bay of Klek. Since the 1990s, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been in negotiations on how to handle traffic across the Neum region, including signing a

Neum Agreement The Neum Agreement is an unimplemented treaty between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina granting free passage of Croatian transit traffic between the territory of Dubrovnik-Neretva County around the city of Dubrovnik and forming a pene- exclave o ...

. When Croatia was admitted to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

in 2013, the border crossings in the Neum region became governed as external borders of the EU. The construction of the Pelješac Bridge, which bypasses Neum entirely, has significance for Croatia's integrity and also for its future

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

membership and the EU as a whole. It significantly improves traffic flow and the traffic connection of

to the rest of mainland Croatia, avoiding negotiating long, costly queues at Neum, and strict customs checks twice within the space of . Encouraged by the recent developments in

Croatia–Slovenia border disputes Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia became independent countries. As the border between the countries had not been determined in detail prior to independence, several parts of the border were disputed, both on land ...

(June 2017), the ruling

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and other Bosniak political parties decided to obstruct the construction. The construction cost was €420 million, to which the EU contributed by allocating €357 million from Cohesion Policy funds. The bridge is among the largest infrastructures in Croatia currently and one of the most substantial EU infrastructural investment ever. The work was completed in mid 2022. The EU is also funding supporting infrastructure, such as the construction of access roads, including tunnels, bridges and viaducts, the building of an 8 km-long bypass near the town of Ston and upgrading works on the existing road D414. There are Bosniak plans to convert Neum to a freight port, contrary to the wishes of the local population and international laws and agreements concerning the ecologically significant and protected

Bay of Mali Ston A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...

, of which Bay of Neum is a part. There are plans to build a seaport, rail and a motorway and thus the Croatian bridge must have a high clearance according to the view of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Bosniak political parties. Due to the above, the Republic of Croatia has significantly increased the height of the bridge by adapting it to ships whose dimensions cannot enter the Bay of Neum at all. Today the main freight port for Bosnia and Herzegovina is Ploče (in Croatia) further north, which has a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to Bosnia and Herzegovina. File:BiH Coast Guard.jpg, BiH coast guard / border police File:US Navy 030927-N-2716P-123 USS Nicholas (FFG 47).jpg, Frigate USS ''Nicholas'' anchored at Neum File:Fregatte Schleswig-Holstein.jpg, German frigate ''Schleswig-Holstein'' anchored at Neum File:Neum.jpg, Turkish ships anchored at Neum (2011)

Climate

The climate of the area is Mediterranean, characterized by mild winters and dry summers, with three times more rain in the rainier than in the drier months, during which the mean precipitation does not exceed . The mean yearly precipitation observed is of . The dominant winds come from the north, north-east and north-west. The average sea temperature (as observed in Neum) ranges from in January to in July and August. Vegetation is the evergreen Mediterranean type, and subtropical flora (

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

s, agaves,

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

) grow in Neum and its surroundings.

Demographics

All demographic data per Statistica.ba website:

Population

Ethnic composition

Culture and sport

The

linđo Linđo () is a popular dance of Dubrovnik and the Dubrovnik region of Croatia. It is danced to the accompaniment of lijerica (an old Southern Dalmatian instrument with three strings), which came from the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 18th cent ...

is traditionally danced in the Neum region. Neum celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Good Health as its municipal day. As part of the celebrations, Neum hosts the Music Festival Etnofest Neum. The town also hosts the Neum Animated Film Festival. Neum is home to local branches of the cultural organizations

Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska ( la, Matrix Croatica) is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyri ...

and

HKD Napredak HKD Napredak ( hr, Hrvatsko kulturno društvo Napredak, meaning "Croat Cultural Society Napredak") is a cultural society of Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina. History Napredak was formed as the "Croatian aid society for the needs of students in mi ...

. Popular activities include swimming and

sun bathing Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning beds. ...

, beach-going, boating, and various other water-sports. Neum has a water polo club VK Jadran Neum, which is a member of the Croatian Water Polo Federation. File:Narodna nošnja iz Neuma.jpg, Folk costumes from Neum File:Nova crkva u Neumu i Hotel "Sunce".JPG, Roman Catholic church in Neum File:Hutovo, trosky.jpg, Hutovo fortress ruins File:Neum02465.JPG,

Stećak Stećak (, ) or Stećci in plural form (, ) is the name for monumental medieval tombstones, that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. An estimated 60,000 are found within the border ...

from Neum

Tourism

Neum area has steep hills, stone-sandy beaches, and several large tourist hotels. Neum has about 5,000 beds for tourists, 1,810 in hotels with the remaining capacity in motels, villas, and private accommodation.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

in Neum is active only in the coastal region. Prices tend to be lower than in neighbouring

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 ...

, making it popular with shoppers. Tourism, and the commerce it brings, is the leading contributor to the economy of the area. The inland area behind Neum has a rich

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

history and

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

with centuries-old olive groves.

References

External links

* (in Croatian and English)
Neum Animated Film Festival
* * {{Authority control Populated places in Neum Populated coastal places in Bosnia and Herzegovina Port cities and towns of the Adriatic Sea Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia border crossings Lighthouses in Bosnia and Herzegovina