Vela Luka - Island of Korcula

GENERAL INFORMATION

	Geographical position: Croatia extends from the foothills of the Julian Alps in the north-west and the Pannonian Plain in the east, over the Dinara mountain range in its central region, to the Adriatic coast in the south. Area: 56,542 km2, with an additional 31,067 km2 of territorial waters. Population: 4,437,460 inhabitants; composition of population: the majority of the population are Croats; national minorities are Serbs, Slovenes, Hungarians, Bosnians, Italians, Czechs and others.
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Capital: Zagreb, the administrative, cultural, academic and communication centre of Croatia; population: 960.000 inhabitants.

Coastline: 5,835 km of which 4,058 km comprise a coastline of islands, solitary rocks and reefs.

Number of islands, solitary rocks and reefs: 1,185; the largest islands are Krk and Cres; there are 50 inhabited islands.

Climate:There are two climate zones; a temperate continental climate, locally also a mountainous climate, prevails in the interior, whereas a pleasant Mediterranean climate prevails along the Adriatic coast, with an overwhelming number of sunny days, dry and hot summers, mild and humid winters; average temperature in the inland: January 0 to 2°C, August 19 to 23°C; average temperature at the seaside: January 6 to 11°C, August 21 to 27 °C; the temperature is about 12°C in winter, and 25°C in summer.

Official language: Croatian

Alphabet: Latin.

Religions: Roman-Catholic, Orthodox, Islam, Judaism, Protestant and others.

Monetary unit: Croatian Kuna (Kn, 1 Kuna = 100 lipa). Banknotes come in coins in 10, 20 and 50 lipa and 1, 2, 5 & 25 Kuna, and denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Kuna.
Foreign currency can be exchanged in banks, exchange offices, post offices, travel agencies, hotels, camps, marinas; cheques can be cashed in banks.


	Adriatic: The Adriatic sea got its name from an ancient port of the same name. The Adriatic spans from the Balkan to the Apennine penisula. The part belonging to the Republic of Croatia is the east coast which extends all the way from Prevlaka in the south to cape Savudrija in the west, including all islands, islets and cliffs along the coast, and the archipelago of Palagruza (the number of islands, islets and cliffs is more than 1700). This is a unique area in Europe for cruising with motor boats speedboats, or sailboats, but also for enjoying the underwater world.
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Sea -Temperature:The Adriatic Sea has a very marked annual change of the surface temperature. The average annual temperature is 11°C. During the winter, the sea is the coldest and the surface temperature is about 7°C; very seldom, it can drop below that too. In the spring, the sea becomes warmer, and the surface temperature rises to 18°C. In the summer the surface of the sea reaches a very high temperature, of up to 22 to 25°C, and in the southern Adriatic and Istria up to 27°C. In the Adriatic, thermoclines, i.e. parts of the water column of the same temperature, are very well distinguished. The thermocline is most evident during the summer, and in the winter, the isothermal process arises, i.e.equaling of the temperature throught the water column. In the summer, we can notice the first thermocline at the dept of 3 to 5 metres, the next one is at about 12 metres, and yet another one at 18 metres, while below 30 metres the temperature is mostly constant throughout the year.

Culture: Croatia abounds with cultural-historical monuments from all periods, thanks to stormy historical events and the intertwining of influences of different cultures. Influences of the Mediterranean culture, numerous monuments from Antiquity, the Roman period and early Middle Ages, Romanesque sacral heritage, and a series of preserved Mediterranean urban complexes characterize its seaside. Continental Croatia is part of the middle European cultural circle and its prominent because of numerous prehistoric finds of world importance, old towns, fortress and castles of the Middle Ages and

cultural monuments and architecture of the baroque period.

The most famous areas under UNESCO protection are: antic Diokletian´s Palace in Split, old town in Dubrovnik, romanic town Trogir, cathedral in Sibenik, Euphrasius´ Basilica in Porec and Plitvice Lakes.

Croatia gave some of great men to World heritage:the winers of Nobel prize Ivo Andrić for literature, Vladimir Prelog and Lavoslav Ružička for chemistry;

the most famous sculptors Juraj Dalmatinac and Ivan Meštrović; the most famous painters Vlaho Bukovac, Ivan Generalić, Julije Klović, Edo Murtić and Ivan Rabuzin; the most famous inventors Slavoljub Eduard Penkala- the inventor of mehanical pencil, Nikola Tesla as the inventor of the complete system of production and distribution of electrical energy (motors, generators)based on the use of alternate currents, the transformer known today as "Tesla Coil", and the rotating magnetic field,
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	Faust Vrančić the inventor of parachute, Ivan Lupis-Vukić the inventor of torpedo; the scientists Ruđer Bošković,Dragutin Gorjanović Kramberger and Andrija Mohorovičić; writers and poets as Ivana Brlić- Maružanić, Marin Držić, Ivan Gundulić, Miroslav Krleža, Marko Marulić, Ivan Mažuranić, and great sportsmen as Dražen Petrović, Krešimir Ćosić, Mirko Filipović, Goran Ivanišević, Janica Kostelić.