Dubrovnik-Neretva County
Encyclopedia
The Dubrovnik–Neretva County is the southernmost Croatia
n county located in south Dalmatia
. The county seat is Dubrovnik
and other large towns are Korčula
, Metković
, Opuzen
and Ploče
. The Municipality of Neum, which belongs to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina
, divides the county in two parts.
The southern part of the county consists of Dubrovnik and the surrounding area, including the Pelješac
peninsula, the islands of Korčula
, Lastovo
, Mljet
, Šipan
, Lopud
and Koločep
. The northern part of the county includes the Neretva
river delta
as well as the Baćina lakes
north of Ploče, as well as a swath of hinterland near the southernmost slopes of Biokovo
and around the hill of Rujnica.
Although the 9 kilometres-long stretch of coast belonging to Neum effectively makes the southern part of the county an exclave (disconnecting it from mainland Croatia) it is still connected with the rest of the country via territorial waters
. Road traffic going to and from Dubrovnik through Neum is usually less subject to customs controls in order to reduce the traffic congestion. The road connecting Dubrovnik to the rest of the country via Neum has one lane per direction and bus lines passing through Neum often make rest stops there so that passengers can take advantage of lower Bosnian taxes and purchase tobacco
and alcoholic beverage
s as they tend to be cheaper there.
The Croatian and Bosnian governments are planning to build an expressway that would connect Dubrovnik through the Neum municipality and wouldn't require any border control. The regional government of this county is also planning to build a sea bridge
that would directly connect the southern tip of the northern part of the county with to the Pelješac
peninsula (the Pelješac bridge
), thereby linking the southern part of the county as well.
The northern part of the Mljet
island is a national park
. The Lastovo archipelago is a designated nature park. The southernmost tip of the county is the demilitarized Prevlaka
peninsula at the border with Montenegro
.
The county assembly is composed of 41 representatives, and composed as follows:
Based on election results in 2009.
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 ...
n county located in south 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....
. The county seat is Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
and other large towns are Korčula
Korcula (town)
Korčula is a historic fortified town on the protected east coast of the island of Korčula in the Adriatic. It is geographically located at 42°57′N, 17°07′E.-Population:...
, Metković
Metkovic
Metković is a city in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Herzegovina.-Demographics:...
, Opuzen
Opuzen
Opuzen is a small town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The town is located upstream from the mouth of the river Neretva, in southern Dalmatia...
and Ploče
Ploce
Ploče is a town and a notable seaport in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia.The total population of Ploče is 10,102 , in the following settlements:* Baćina, population 564* Banja, population 176* Komin, population 1,222...
. The Municipality of Neum, which belongs to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, divides the county in two parts.
The southern part of the county consists of Dubrovnik and the surrounding area, including the Pelješac
Pelješac
Pelješac is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia...
peninsula, the islands of Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
, Lastovo
Lastovo
Lastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 93% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately . The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the...
, Mljet
Mljet
Mljet is the most southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of...
, Šipan
Šipan
Šipan also Sipano is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands, 17 km northwest of Dubrovnik, Croatia; separated from the mainland coast by the Kolocepski Channel; area 16.22 km²; population 500 . It is the largest island in this group and its highest point is 243 m...
, Lopud
Lopud
Lopud is a small island off the coast of Dalmatia, southern Croatia. Lopud is one of the Elaphiti Islands, and can be reached by boat from Dubrovnik, Orasac and Zaton. The island is famous for its sandy beaches, in particular the bay of Šunj....
and Koločep
Kolocep
The island of Koločep is one of the three inhabited Elaphiti Islands situated near the city of Dubrovnik. Koločep is the southernmost inhabited island in Croatia and is locally known as Kalamota.-Location and access:...
. The northern part of the county includes the Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
river delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
as well as the Baćina lakes
Bacina lakes
The Baćina lakes are located in Dalmatia, Croatia. They are named after the inland town of Baćina close to the port city of Ploče. The lakes are part of a picturesque landscape and surrounded by mountains. They are situated between Makarska and Dubrovnik...
north of Ploče, as well as a swath of hinterland near the southernmost slopes of Biokovo
Biokovo
Biokovo is the second-highest mountain range in Croatia, located along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, between the rivers of Cetina and Neretva...
and around the hill of Rujnica.
Although the 9 kilometres-long stretch of coast belonging to Neum effectively makes the southern part of the county an exclave (disconnecting it from mainland Croatia) it is still connected with the rest of the country via territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
. Road traffic going to and from Dubrovnik through Neum is usually less subject to customs controls in order to reduce the traffic congestion. The road connecting Dubrovnik to the rest of the country via Neum has one lane per direction and bus lines passing through Neum often make rest stops there so that passengers can take advantage of lower Bosnian taxes and purchase tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
s as they tend to be cheaper there.
The Croatian and Bosnian governments are planning to build an expressway that would connect Dubrovnik through the Neum municipality and wouldn't require any border control. The regional government of this county is also planning to build a sea bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
that would directly connect the southern tip of the northern part of the county with to the Pelješac
Pelješac
Pelješac is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia...
peninsula (the Pelješac bridge
Pelješac bridge
The Pelješac Bridge is a bridge intended to connect the Croatian peninsula of Pelješac with the Croatian mainland, spanning the Adriatic Sea, which separates the two near the Bay of Mali Ston and the Neretva Channel....
), thereby linking the southern part of the county as well.
The northern part of the Mljet
Mljet
Mljet is the most southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of...
island is a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
. The Lastovo archipelago is a designated nature park. The southernmost tip of the county is the demilitarized Prevlaka
Prevlaka
Prevlaka is a small peninsula in southern Croatia, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor in the eastern Adriatic. The word prevlaka means portage. The cape Oštro, located at the tip of the peninsula, is the southernmost point of mainland in Croatia....
peninsula at the border with Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
.
Basic facts
- AreaAreaArea is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...
: 1 782 km² - InhabitantsPopulationA population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
According to the 2001 census, Dubrovnik-Neretva County has population of 122,870. CroatsCroatsCroats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
make up an absolute majority with 93.29% of the population.http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/Census2001/Popis/E01_02_02/E01_02_02.html
Administrative division
On the local level, the Dubrovnik–Neretva county is further subdivided into 5 cities (Grad) and 17 municipalities (Općina):- City of DubrovnikDubrovnikDubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
(county seat) - City of KorčulaKorculaKorčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
- City of MetkovićMetkovicMetković is a city in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Herzegovina.-Demographics:...
- City of OpuzenOpuzenOpuzen is a small town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The town is located upstream from the mouth of the river Neretva, in southern Dalmatia...
- City of PločePlocePloče is a town and a notable seaport in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia.The total population of Ploče is 10,102 , in the following settlements:* Baćina, population 564* Banja, population 176* Komin, population 1,222...
- Municipality of Blato
- Municipality of Dubrovačko PrimorjeDubrovacko PrimorjeDubrovačko Primorje is municipality situated northwest of the city Dubrovnik in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southern Croatia...
- Municipality of Janjina
- Municipality of KonavleKonavleKonavle is a small region and municipality located southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia.It is administratively part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and forms a municipality with its center at Gruda with a total population of 8,250 people split in 32 villages, in which 96.5% are Croats...
- Municipality of Kula NorinskaKula NorinskaKula Norinska is a village and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southwestern Croatia. It has a population of 1,926 , in which absolute majority are Croats .The list of registered settlements is as follows:...
- Municipality of LastovoLastovoLastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 93% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately . The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the...
- Municipality of LumbardaLumbardaLumbarda is a small village and a municipality located on the Eastern Cape of the Island of Korčula in Croatia, 7 kilometers away from the town of Korcula. A road passing through a picturesque area of pine woods and olive groves connects these two places...
- Municipality of MljetMljetMljet is the most southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of...
- Municipality of OrebićOrebicOrebić is a port town and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county in Croatia. It is located on the Pelješac peninsula on the Dalmatian coast. Orebić is directly across a strait from the town of Korčula, located on the island of the same name. Ferries service the two towns frequently...
- Municipality of PojezerjePojezerjePojezerje is a town and municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in the southwest of Croatia. It has a population of 1,223 , in which absolute majority are Croats .-Villages:*Mali Prolog...
- Municipality of SlivnoSlivnoSlivno is a town and municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in south Croatia. It has a population of 2,078 , in which absolute majority are Croats .-References:...
- Municipality of SmokvicaSmokvicaSmokvica is a village on the island of Korčula and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. It has a population of 1,210 , in which the absolute majority are Croats . Smokvica is located in the centre of the island of Korcula, about 4 kilometers west of Čara, 13 kilometers east...
- Municipality of StonStonSton is a village and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. The town of Ston is the center of the Ston municipality.- Demographics :...
- Municipality of TrpanjTrpanjTrpanj , is a town and municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in south-eastern Croatia. According to the 2001 census, Trpanj has a population of 871. Croats make up 93.11% of the population.-Etymology:...
- Municipality of Vela LukaVela LukaVela Luka is a small town and a municipality in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southern Dalmatia, Croatia. The town is located on the western side of the island of Korčula at the bottom of a wide bay which has many indented coves. Vela Luka developed at the beginning of the 19th century in a deep...
- Municipality of ZažabljeZažabljeZažablje is a municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southern Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located between Opuzen, Metković and Neum.- Population :According to the 2001 census, Zažablje has population of 912...
- Municipality of Župa DubrovačkaŽupa DubrovackaŽupa Dubrovačka is a valley,a group of towns and a municipality of Dubrovnik-Neretva County in western Croatia. It has 6,663 inhabitants, 93% which are Croats....
County government
Current leadership:- Župan (prefect): Nikola Dobroslavić (HDZ)
- Deputy župan:
- Deputy župan:
The county assembly is composed of 41 representatives, and composed as follows:
- HDZ-HSS-HSLS-HSU: 21
- Croatian Democratic UnionCroatian Democratic UnionThe Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...
(HDZ) - Croatian Peasant PartyCroatian Peasant PartyThe Croatian Peasant Party is a center and socially conservative political party in Croatia.-Austria-Hungary:The Croatian People's Peasant Party was formed on December 22, 1904 by Antun Radić along with his brother Stjepan Radić. The party contested elections for the first time in the Kingdom of...
(HSS) - Croatian Social Liberal PartyCroatian Social Liberal PartyCroatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was...
(HSLS) - Croatian Party of PensionersCroatian Party of PensionersThe Croatian Party of Pensioners is a Croatian political party. It is currently led by Silvano Hrelja.When the Party was founded, few people took it seriously and many commentators speculated that the ultimate purpose of HSU was take away pensioners' votes from rejuvenated SDP and thus help ruling...
(HSU)
- Croatian Democratic Union
- SDP-HNS: 9
- Social Democratic Party of CroatiaSocial Democratic Party of CroatiaSocial Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party , is the largest centre-left political party in Croatia...
(SDP) - Croatian People's Party (HNS)
- Social Democratic Party of Croatia
- Independent list - Stipe Gabrić Jambo 8
- Independent list - Pero Vićan 3
Based on election results in 2009.
External links
- http://www.edubrovnik.org/