SURFACE: approximately 3.6 thousand square kilometres or 6.3 percent of the surface of the Republic of Croatia.
POPULATION: more than 305.000 inhabitants or 6.9 percent of the total number of inhabitants in Croatia. The biggest town is Rijeka with 144,000 inhabitants.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Croatian and besides the standard language the chakavian and kajkavian dialects are also used.
ACCESSIBILITY: well connected with European tourist generating markets by road, plane, ship and railway
DISTANCE: Trieste 80 km, Ljubljana 127 km, Vienna 490 km, Munich 519 km, Budapest 528 km, Bratislava 555 km, Prague 736, Zurich 777 km
HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PEAKS: Risnjak (1528 metres), Snježnik (1506 metres), Viševica (1428 metres) and Učka (1396 metres).
BIGGEST ISLAND: Krk and Cres, with a surface of about 406 square kilometres each
LONGEST RIVER: Kupa, flowing through the region with a length of 29.6 kilometres
BIGGEST LAKES: the Vrana Lake on the island of Cres with a surface of 5.5 km2; Lokve lake covering 2.1 km2; Bajer Lake with a surface of 1.2 km2
CLIMATE:
Coast and islands: Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters
Highlands: moderately continental and in higher areas mountain climate with moderately warm summers and cold winters
AVERAGE AIR TEMPERATURE:
Coast: January 5.2 degrees C, July 23 degrees C
Islands: January 7.3 degrees C, July 23.8 degrees C
Highlands: January -1.2 degrees C, July 16.8 degrees C
SUNNIEST ISLANDS: Lošinj, Cres, Krk and Rab with an average of 217 sunny days per Kultura, povijest i nastanak turizmayear
SEA TEMPERATURE: up to 26 degrees C in summer months, 16 degrees C in spring and autumn and 10 degrees C in winter
Due to its protected and attractive geographical position, the Kvarner Bay has from ancient times been an interesting target of numerous conquerors. Already in 1200 BC, an Illyrian tribe of Liburni inhabited the coasts of Kvarner where they traded in amber. The remnants of their forts have been preserved until today. The Greeks, Romans, Eastern Goths, Slavic peoples, Francs, Byzantines, Hungarians, Venetians and Austrians came afterwards. All of them left inerasable traces of their civilizations. There are today in the Kvarner region 276 protected monuments of culture, of which 177 historic units and 161 historic buildings. The interested ones read the history of this region from those monuments and works of art just like from a book.
Tourism Development
1844 – Rijeka patrician Ignio Scarpa set the founding stone for the development of tourism in the region by building his Villa Angiollina summer mansion in Opatja. At that time, Opatija was a small fishermen’s village inhabited mainly in the area surrounding the Benedictine Monastery, i.e. the Church of St. Jacob (Crkva Sv. Jakova).
1878 – The Merzeljak Family built the first wooden bathing area in Novi Vinodolski.
1884 – With the opening of the Kvarner/Quarnero Hotel in Opatija, the first modern hotel was put in operation.
1885 – The first tourists, Dr. Conrad Clar and his sick son, visited Mali Lošinj (Lošinj Island) where the son was cured.
1889 – On March 4, Emperor Franz Josef proclaimed Opatija a health resort.
Interesting Facts:
Winds
Bora: a dry, cold wind, mainly north-eastern, usually brings cold weather
Sirocco: a moist, warm south-eastern wind, brings rain
Mistral: a typical daily wind blowing from the west or north-west bringing nice, clear weather and making summer heat bearable.
The sea quality is better than in other parts of the Adriatic (poorly inhabited area with almost no industry), so that many of the beaches are proud holders of a Blue Flag – a symbol of cleanliness, quality of service and ecologically preserved environment.