Page 22 - Kvarner_PrirodnaBastina_EN_omot.indd

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The littoral part of the Kvarner region can be roughly
divided into Liburnia, the Rijeka coast, and the
Crikvenica-Novi Vinodolski coast. This is the most
densely inhabited part of the County of Primorje-Gorski
kotar, characterised by a series of coastal settlements
stretching out along the shoreline, including Opatija,
Rijeka, Kostrena, Bakar, Kraljevica, Crikvenica and Novi
Vinodolski, boasting a rich cultural heritage dating back
several centuries and millennia, and many valuable sites
of interest in the immediate hinterland. The littoral area
is surrounded by a chain of mountain ridges that offer
visitors a memorable experience of the mountainous,
sometimes even alpine landscape, and magnificent views
of the sea and the islands.
In the immediate coastal hinterland rise the mighty
Mount Učka, which has been proclaimed a nature park,
then the wooded massif of Ćićarija, Mount Obruč, which
is proposed for protection as the first regional park in
the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar due to its valuable
nature, the legendary Tuhobić with its two faces – grassy
and wooded, and Mount Velika Kapela, down whose stony
littoral slopes the mountain flora made their way to the
sea, including some of Croatia’s rarest plants that are
unique anywhere.
The picturesque canyon of the only river in the region, the
Rječina, connects the town of Rijeka with its immediate
mountainous hinterland and the famous plain of Grobnik
(Grobničko polje), which is overlooked by an ancient
Frankopan castle. The thick gravel sediments in the field
are geological reminders of the Ice Age, when the nearby
Mount Risnjak was partially covered with small glaciers.
When the ice on their edges melted, the torrential streams
of Mudna dol, Kacaj and Borovica carried rocks and scree
into the basin of Grobničko polje – supposedly a former
lake basin. This interesting plain is also connected with
the legend of a battle against the Tatars and numerous
graves are scattered all around the area.
According to the census, in 2001 the County of Primorje-
Gorski kotar had 305,505 inhabitants with an average
population density of 85 people per square kilometre.
However, most people live on the coast and on the islands,
which means that large parts of the region are almost
uninhabited, especially along the foothills and in the
wooded mountain areas.
Fifty percent of the total population of the County of
Primorje-Gorski kotar lives in the city of Rijeka, the
county’s main urban centre. Rijeka is the administrative,
cultural and university centre of the county, the main
Croatian port and an important industrial town. Visitors
interested in nature and flora and fauna should visit
the city’s Museum of Natural Sciences, which has an
aquarium and a botanical garden. In addition, Rijeka
SHORES