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"The land of a thousand islands". This incredible archipelago comprises 718 islands, 389 cliffs and 78 reefs (a total of 1185). The total area of all the islands amounts to some 3300km2.
Each one of the Croatian islands has its special beauty and characteristics. Each has its own "most". We will reveal a few of them to you, but we know that every one of you will discover at least one island superlative of your own in the Croatian Adriatic. There's really plenty to choose from... The biggest island in Croatia is Krk with a total area of 409 sq. km.You might guess from its name that Dugi Otok ("Long Island") is the longest, but it isn't. Hvar is the longest at 68 km, with an area of 300 sq. km.The highest island is Brac: Vidova Gora (779 m) is the highest peak in the Adriatic archipelago. The most wooded island is Mljet. As much as 72% of its area is covered by woods, 22% is cultivated and 6% is rock. The sunniest island, indeed the sunniest place in Croatia, is Hvar, which enjoys 2718 hours of sunshine per year. The average for the whole Adriatic is 2600 hours per year.According to the statistics, Dubrovnik, Korcula and Hvar are among those parts of Croatia with the highest January temperatures. The average temperature in Dubrovnik in January is 9.2ºC, on Korcula 9.0ºC and on Hvar 8.7ºC. The largest natural lake in Croatia is Vransko Jezero on the Island of Cres. It is 5.5 km long, 1.5 km wide and covers 5.75 sq. km.
Every island a botanical garden
About 4,300 plant species grow in Croatia. Due to the indented island coastline, there are numerous endemic species, of which 703 of them are restricted to the Karst region of the Dinaric mountains, while 130 endemic species live only in Croatia. The Northern Adriatic island of Krk has 1,430 plant species of which 43 are exclusive to the island. Vegetation is less abundant on other islands, but they can still each boast about 1,000, thinning out to less than 600 on the drier, outermost islets. The depths of the Adriatic sea contain 764 kinds of red, brown and green algae. But this is simply the jargon of the botanist. For the rest of us, the Croatian islands are beautiful because of their rich vegetation. It is as if nature has ignored the open surrounding sea and exposure to the hot Mediterranean sun, so green and wooded are the island archipelagos. It is a micro-climate trapped in time, producing evergreen cypresses and laurel, ancient olive groves, the of lavender of Hvar and the blossoming myrtle. Few will forget the first tangerine or lemon picked from heavy branches, or the vineyards that stretch to the horizon and herald a rich harvest.
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