Ćićarija (; ; ; ) is a mountainous plateau in the northern and northeastern part of the

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

peninsula, long and wide. It mostly lies in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, while its northern part lies in southwestern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

(the traditional region of

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica (plateau), Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the Goriška, Gor ...

). The highest peak is Veliki Planik at . At (2001), Ćićarija is sparsely populated, due to its

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

landscape, poor economic development and rough climate.

Name

The name ''Ćićarija'' is derived from the South Slavic term '' Ćić'', which refers to Istrians living in the area around the Učka Mountains, originally referring to the Vlachs and

Istro-Romanians The Istro-Romanians ( or ) are a Romance languages, Romance ethnic group native to or associated with the Istria, Istrian Peninsula. Historically, they inhabited vast parts of it, as well as the western side of the island of Krk until 1875. Howe ...

of the area. The

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

is believed to derive from the Istro-Romanian word ''ce'' 'what', which is a semantic basis for other regional ethnonyms (cf. ''

Kajkavian Kajkavian is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic supradialect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia and Gorski Kotar. It is part of the South Slavic dialect continuum, being transitional to the supradialects of Č ...

'', '' Chakavian'', etc.).

Sources

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References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cicarija Landforms of Istria County Dinaric Alps Plateaus of Croatia Karst plateaus of Slovenia Plateaus of Inner Carniola