In the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea, there are 718 islands, 389 islets and 78 reefs, making the Croatian archipelago the largest in the Adriatic Sea and the second largest in the Mediterranean Sea, after the Greek archipelago.
Of the 718 islands, only 47 are inhabited in the sense that at least one person resides on that island. Some sources indicate that Croatia has 67 inhabited islands, counting those that have a settlement, but 20 of those have lost all of their permanent population as a result of the population decline occurring throughout the Croatian islands due to insufficient economic activity.
The Adriatic islands have been populated at least since the time of Ancient Greece. For example, Hvar was already populated between 3500 BC and 2500 BC and Dionysius I of Syracuse founded a colony on Hvar and Vis in the 4th century BC. The combined island population reached its peak in 1921, at 173,503 inhabitants, and went into steady decline in the following decades, dropping to pre-1850s level by 1981. The depopulation trend was reversed only in the 1990s, with the 2001 census registering a population of 122,418, up from 110,953 in 1991.
The main industries on the islands are agriculture, fishing and tourism. The islands' agriculture is primarily devoted to viticulture and olive growing. The local economy is relatively underdeveloped while the cost of living is 10 to 30% higher than on the mainland, so the Croatian government provides various kinds of support and protection through its Islands Act () to stimulate the economy of the islands, including charging no tolls on bridges, and providing discounted or free ferry tickets for islanders.
Islands
+Population density legend >
<onlyinclude>
+Data on the populated islands of Croatia#The numbers in the first column of the table indicate each island's rank according to total population.IslandCountyPopulationAreaHighest pointPopulationdensity 1 Krk Primorje-Gorski Kotar 2 Korčula Dubrovnik-Neretva 3 Brač Split-Dalmatia 4 Hvar Split-Dalmatia 5 Rab Primorje-Gorski Kotar |}</onlyinclude> 6 Pag Lika-Senj and Zadar 7 Lošinj Primorje-Gorski Kotar 8 Ugljan Zadar 9 Čiovo Split-Dalmatia 10 Murter Šibenik-Knin 11 Vis Split-Dalmatia 12 Cres Primorje-Gorski Kotar 13 Vir Zadar 14 Pašman Zadar 15 Šolta Split-Dalmatia 16 Dugi Otok Zadar 17 Mljet Dubrovnik-Neretva 18 Lastovo Dubrovnik-Neretva 19 Šipan Dubrovnik-Neretva 20 Iž Zadar 21 Silba Zadar 22 Prvić Šibenik-Knin 23 Zlarin Šibenik-Knin 24 Vrgada Zadar 25 Lopud Dubrovnik-Neretva 26 Molat Zadar 27 Kaprije Šibenik-Knin 28 Ist Zadar 29 Krapanj Šibenik-Knin 30 Koločep Dubrovnik-Neretva 31 Susak Primorje-Gorski Kotar 32 Drvenik Veli Split-Dalmatia 33 Olib Zadar 34 Rava Zadar 35 Žirje Šibenik-Knin 36 Unije Primorje-Gorski Kotar 37 Drvenik Mali Split-Dalmatia 38 Ilovik Primorje-Gorski Kotar 39 Premuda Zadar 40 Sestrunj Zadar 41 Zverinac Zadar 42 Rivanj Zadar 43 Ošljak Zadar 44 Kornat Šibenik-Knin 45 Biševo Split-Dalmatia 46 Vele Srakane Primorje-Gorski Kotar 47 Male Srakane Primorje-Gorski Kotar
See also List of islands of Croatia List of islands in the Adriatic
Notes
References