Istria, Istria, Croatia

Description:

The Istrian peninsula, situated in the westernmost part of Croatia, has always been a very special area. The same can be said for the tourist region of Istria which, although it comprises only a single county, the County of Istria, it is without question the primary tourist region of Croatia. Its quite unique qualities are the result of its location - sitting where the Mediterranean Sea insinuates itself deepest into the European mainland, and being isolated from the bulk of Croatia by the Učka massif.  

The well-known natural reservations national park Brijuni and nature park Učka are legally protected landscapes. Other interesting localities are Lim Kanal, wood near Motovun, park woods Zlatni Rt and Šijana near Pula, protected landscape Kamenjak in the extreme south of Istria, the reservation Palud, (ornithology), near Rovinj. Brijuni archipelago is interesting as the habitat of about 680 plant species, also decorated by the most diverse vegetation and olive groves.
Protected from the north by the mountain chain of Alps as well the inner highland, the climate is Mediterranean, very pleasant, with the highest air temperature averaging 24 °C during August and lowest averaging 5 °C, in January. Summers are usually warm during the day and cooler near the evening, although strange heat wave patterns are common.
Over 205,000 people or 4.65% of the nation's population live here. Population density is 73 inhabitants per km² with an average age of 40.2 years for the entire population.
In addition to Pula, the biggest urban area with 82.000 inhabitants, the cities are Poreč, Rovinj, Pazin, Labin, Novigrad, Umag, Buzet, Buje, Vodnjan. About 70.7% of the population lives in the urban areas.
Municipalities are: Bale, Barban, Brtonigla, Cerovlje, Fažana, Gračišće, Grožnjan, Kanfanar, Karojba, Kaštelir-Labinci, Kršan, Lanišće, Ližnjan, Lupoglav, Marčana, Medulin, Motovun, Oprtalj, Pićan, Raša, Sveti Lovreč, Sveta Nedelja, Sveti Petar u Šumi, Svetvinčenat, Tinjan, Višnjan, Vižinada, Vrsar, Žminj. Numerous are small municipalities and hamlets. In whole Istria there are actually more than 600 of them. So called smallest town in the world - Hum, ("mound") is populated by just three families (22 people).
Besides official Croatian, the Chakavian dialect of the Croatian language is often in use, as in most coastal counties. Italian is also recognized in the county as an official minority language.
Famous individuals like Robert Koch and writer James Joyce lived and worked in Istria. Writer Jules Verne was inspired to write his novel Mathias Sandorf after hearing of quarry and cave in Pazin and the poet Dante Alighieri visited and wrote a few lines about Istria.
According to economic indicators, the leading activities are processing industry, tourism, and trade.
Great attention is being given to agriculture and the production of ecologic food, the wine and olive growing. Historically cultivated local wine varietals include Malvasia (white) and Teran (red).
 Tourism
Organized tourism in Istria goes back to the Romans, when emperor Vespasian, for the entertainment of that time, built the amphitheater (Arena) in Pula. During the reign of Austro-Hungarian Empire in (1866), Austrian and Hungarian royalty and aristocracy started visiting local resorts and discovered Poreč.
Significant efforts were made after World War II to develop the tourist infrastructure and to accentuate its importance. In combination with the natural beauties, rich history and cultural heritage, investments paid off and resulted in highly developed, competitive service all along the western coast in Poreč, Pula, Rovinj, Umag, Novigrad, and Vrsar.
In the eastern part, as part of another county, there are resorts like Rabac, Opatija. Istria was and still is the most important tourist destination in Croatia, hosting the western and central European visitors. Area is the most visited tourist region with 27% of all visitors and 35% of time spent in all of Croatia.

 

Croatian highways

 

Hunting tourism

 

Traditional music in Istria and in Croatia