Dalmatia

Dalmatia, region of Croatia, comprising a central coastal strip and a fringe of islands along the Adriatic Sea. Its greatest breadth, on the mainland, is about 28 miles (45 km), and its total length, from the Kvarner (Quarnero) gulf to the narrows of Kotor (Cattaro), is about 233 miles (375 km). The major islands from north to south (with Italian names in parentheses) are Krk (Veglia), Cres (Cherso), Rab (Arba), Pag (Pago), Dugi Otok (Isola Lunga), Brač (Brazza), Hvar (Lesina), Vis (Lissa), Korčula (Curzola), Mljet (Meleda), and Lastovo (Lagosta). A rugged and barren range of mountains, the Dinaric Alps, divides Dalmatia from the interior. With peaks ranging from 1,500 feet (450 meters) to more than 6,200 feet (1,900 meters), the Dinaric Alps offer only two main passes: the Krka River canyon and the Neretva River valley. The Dalmatian coastline has numerous bays and harbors and is noted for its scenic beauty. The climate is mild, with dry summers, abundant rain in autumn and winter, and very little snow.

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The first recorded inhabitants of Dalmatia were Illyrians (the name Dalmatia probably comes from the name of an Illyrian tribe, the Delmata, an Indo-European people who overran the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula beginning about 1000 bce). The Greeks began to settle there from the 4th century, founding a number of colonies on the islands, the most famous of which were Issa (Vis), Pharos (Hvar), and Corcyra Melaina (Korčula), and a few towns on the mainland coast, one of which is Salona (Solin), near modern Split. The Greeks, opposed by the Illyrians, appealed to the Romans for help, and a long series of Roman-Illyrian wars began in 229. The fall of the Dalmatian capital, Delminium, in 155 brought Roman civilization to the country. On the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Dalmatia fell under the power of Odoacer in 481 ce and later under that of Theodoric, to become a battlefield during the wars between the Goths and the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.

By the time permanent Venetian rule had been established (1420), Dalmatia had passed through about 30 changes of sovereignty. Byzantines, Greeks, Magyars, Tatars, Croatian and Serbian princes, Venetians, Sicilians, and Normans were among its conquerors. The Croatian kings and the Venetian doges were the only rulers who held power long enough to leave a permanent mark on Dalmatian character and consciousness.

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Venetian rule, established in 1420 when the king of Croatia, Ladislas of Naples, ceded the country to the Venetian republic, ended in 1797. This period was marked by Venetian warfare against the Turks. When the French gave Venice to Austria under the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797), Dalmatia became Austrian also; but in 1805, under the Treaty of Pressburg, Austria had to cede Dalmatia to Napoleon. It was returned to Austria after Napoleon’s fall and remained an Austrian crownland until 1918.

During World War I, by the secret Treaty of London (1915), the Allies had promised large territories, including northern Dalmatia, to the Italians in return for their support. This treaty embittered negotiations for a peace settlement. Finally, the Treaty of Rapallo (November 12, 1920) between Italy and Yugoslavia gave all Dalmatia to the Yugoslavs except the mainland Zadar (Italian: Zara) enclave and the coastal islands of Cres, Lošinj (Lussino), and Lastovo. The Palagruza islands, in the mid-Adriatic, also passed to Italy. During World War II, when Yugoslavia was partitioned by the Axis powers, Dalmatia was annexed by Italy, but it passed to Yugoslavia in its entirety in 1947 as part of the Croatian republic (independent from 1992), with the city of Split serving as provincial capital.

Dalmatia’s principal cities are Zadar, Split (Spalato), Šibenik (Sebenico), Dubrovnik (Ragusa), Trogir (Trau), Korčula, and Kotor. The region’s economy is mainly agricultural. The soil is unsuitable for the cultivation of cereal grains but favors olive trees, vegetables, and, above all, vines. Dalmatian vineyards are rich in wine production. There are deposits of bauxite that are exploited by the aluminum refinery near Šibenik. Abundant reserves of limestone coming from the neighborhood of Split account for much of Croatia’s cement output. There are also chemical factories as well as food-processing plants. Major shipbuilding yards are at Split. The rivers, except for a few miles on the Krka and on the Neretva, are unsuitable for navigation, but their precipitous fall makes them a natural source of hydroelectric power. Tourism has become a major economic factor; Dubrovnik and Split are major Mediterranean tourist attractions.