Livanjsko polje (), located 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 ...

, is the largest ''

polje A polje, also karst polje or karst field, is a large flat plain found in karstic geological regions of the world, with areas usually . The name derives from the Slavic languages and literally means 'field', whereas in English ''polje'' specif ...

'' ( karstic field) in the world. A typical example of

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

polje encircled by tall peaks and mountain ranges, the field is characterized by many unique natural phenomenons and karstic features.

Geography

The field has an area of 45,868 hectare, 458.7 km², and an average width of 6 km. It is located at an average height of 720 m above sea level. The field is located in region of

Tropolje Tropolje was a historical Croatian duchy, which was located on the borderland of Croatia, Bosnia and Zachlumia. Its exact borders are disputed among historians. History Vjekoslav Klaić thought that Tropolje encompassed the Cetinsko Polje, ...

, in the southwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and lies between the

karstic Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

mountains of

Dinara Dinara is a long mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east: * Ilica or Ujilica (1654 m) * Sinjal or Dinara (1831 m), ...

and Kamešnica on the south,

Tušnica Tušnica is a mountain in the municipality of Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has an altitude of . See also *List of mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina List of mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina: References * {{DEFAULTSORT:List ...

mountain on the east,

Cincar Cincar ( sr-cyrl, Цинцар) is a mountain in the Dinaric Alps of western Bosnia and Herzegovina, located at between Livno, Kupres and Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federati ...

and

Golija Golija ( sr-Cyrl, Голија, ) is a mountain in southwestern Srbija, Serbia, between towns of Ivanjica and Novi Pazar. It is part of the Dinarides, Dinaric mountain range. The mountain is heavily forested with significant biodiversity. It conta ...

mountain on the north and Šator and Staretina mountain on the west. Buško Blato ''( Buško lake)'' lies to the southeast, and Ždralovac to the northwest. Ždralovac is a narrow corridor by which the

Livno Livno ( sr-cyrl, Ливно, ) is a city and the administrative center of Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bistrica in the southeastern edge of the Livno Fiel ...

field is connected to the Grahovsko field, between the slopes of mountains Dinara, Kamešnica and Šator.

Climate

In the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

age, the field was underwater. On the field itself there remains several lakes, of which Buško Blato has the largest accumulation in the region. Brežinsko jezero is another lake of note which lies on the northwest part of the field. When the

Orlovac Orlovac is a village in the municipality of Kuršumlija, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 17 people. History On August 27 2014, a group of Albanians from Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Ко ...

Hydroelectric power-plant was built in the 1960s, it altered the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

of the entire

region. Long, cold winter months with large snowfalls with the characteristic bura wind, were replaced by rainy winters and long, warm summers.

Hydrology and hydrography

Across the Livanjsko field flow several rivers, which belong to the

Adriatic 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 the ...

watershed. The most important of these are the

Žabljak Žabljak (Serbian / Montenegrin: Жабљак, ) is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,723. Žabljak is the seat of Žabljak Municipality (2011 population: 3,569). The town is in the centre of the Durmitor mountain ...

, the Sturba, the Bistrica, the Brina, the Plovuča, the Jaruga and the Ričina which are all rich in

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

and

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...

. An artificial lake, Buško Blato, was dammed in the polje in the 1970s for electric power generation. Additional projects are in planning which could seriously compromise the delicate hydrological balance of the Dinaric karst, which is criss-crossed by underground rivers.

Towns and villages

The largest town on the field is

, from which the field received its name. The town of Livno has approximately 12,000 inhabitants. It is located on the northeastern part of the field, beneath mount

Bašajkovac Bašajkovac is a karst hill which rises northeast of town Livno in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the bottom of the hill there is spring of Bistrica River called Duman. History On the slopes of Bašajkovac hill there are remains of ancient Roman ...

. The largest villages on the field are Guber, Grborezi, Podhum,

Prolog Prolog is a logic programming language associated with artificial intelligence and computational linguistics. Prolog has its roots in first-order logic, a formal logic, and unlike many other programming languages, Prolog is intended primarily ...

, Čuklić, Zabrišće, Bila, Čelebić, Lusnić, Strupnić, Kovačić, Vrbica and Bojmunte.

Culture and history

Old Livno fortress (Bistrica town), the historic site

Organic agriculture and cuisine

The field is home to continental

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the edible flower, flowers, ...

culture such as

potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...

and

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&n ...

Livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

, especially raising

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

, as well as the production of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

and two famous brand of

delicacy A delicacy is usually a rare and expensive food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture. Irrespective of local preferences, such a label is typically pervasive throughout a r ...

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

, simply known as Livanjski cheese and Cincar cheese, employs a good deal of the inhabitants of the field.

References

External links

REC Transboundary Cooperation Through the Management of Shared Natural Resources

INWEB Internationally Shared Surface Water Bodies in the Balkan Region

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Bosnia and Herzegovina Commission for Preservation of National Monuments

Wine route Herzegovina

Hutovo Blato Nature Park

Hutovo Blato Nature Park — Network of Adriatic Parks
{{Dinaric Alps' karst fields Karst fields of Bosnia and Herzegovina Geology of Bosnia and Herzegovina Field Mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ramsar sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina Important Bird Areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina Livanjsko polje Buško Blato basin