about istria country

Situated in the north-west of the Adriatic Sea, Istria is surrounded by the sea from three sides, while the northern border towards the continent is made up by a line between the Miljski Bay (Muggia) in the direct vicinity of Trieste and the Preluk Bay, right next to Rijeka. Such favourable geographic position, almost at the heart of Europe, half way between the Equator and the North Pole, Istria has always represented a bridge connecting the Middle European continental area with the Mediterranean.

Porec Istria Croatia The length of the Istrian coast, along with islands and islets is 539 kilometres. The west coast of Istria is more indented, and, together with islands, it is 327 kilometres long. East coast, together with islets, is 212 kilometres long. The majority of the Istrian coast is on the Karst and the limestone grounds. The sinking of Karst recess created specific and branched bays, such as the Pula port, the Medulin bay, the Rovinj coast, the Porec coast and similar. Isolated limestone heights remained as islands. The coast is well developed with lots of bays, deeper small bays, and river mouths. Except for a series of smaller islets in front of the coast from Porec to Rovinj, the Brijuni archipelago stands out in the south.

The basic characteristic of the climate of the Istrian peninsula is given by the Mediterranean climate. Along the coast, it gradually changes towards the continent and it passes into continental, due to cold air circulating from the mountains and due to the vicinity of the Alps.

The Istrian soil abounds with natural monuments, among which is the especially interesting Brijuni archipelago, which is the habitat of about 680 plant species. It is also decorated by the most diverse vegetation and olive groves. On Ucka and Cicarija, at 500 metres above sea level grows a beech-tree wood. Among legally protected landscape in the Istrian Region are well-known natural reservations-national park Brijuni, nature park Ucka, protected landscape Limski Bay, the Motovunska Wood, park wood Zlatni Rt and orinthologic reservation Palud near Rovinj, park wood Sijana near Pula and the protected landscape Kamenjak in the extreme south of Istria.

Hum Istria Croatia The Istrian peninsula abounds in old, ancient and the smallest towns in the world (Hum, Roc). The whole of Istria, notably the towns Umag with its ATP tournament, Rovinj with its rich cultural heritage (St. Eufemia) and Porec with UNESCO listed Euphrasian Basilica are important tourist destinations.

The Istrian Region consists of units of local self-government - 10 towns and 29 municipalities.
Towns: Buje, Buzet, Labin, Novigrad, Pazin, Porec, Pula, Rovinj, Umag, Vodnjan
Municipalities: Bale, Barban, Brtonigla, Cerovlje, Fazana, Gracisce, Groznjan, Kanfanar, Karojba, Kastelir-Labinci, Krsan, Lanisce, Liznjan, Lupoglav, Marcana, Medulin, Motovun, Oprtalj, Pican, Rasa, Sveti Lovrec, Sveta Nedelja, Sveti Petar u Sumi, Svetvincenat, Tinjan, Visnjan, Vizinada, Vrsar and Zminj.

Economical center is Pula and administrative center is Pazin.

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about istria country