Geographical region of Croatia
The
Dalmatian Hinterland
(
Croatian
:
Dalmatinska zagora
,
Italian
:
La Morlacca
or
Zagora dalmata
) is the southern inland
hinterland
in the historical
Croatian
region of
Dalmatia
. The name
zagora
means "beyond (the) hills", which is a reference to the fact that it is the part of
Dalmatia
that is not coastal and the existence of the
concordant coastline
where hills run parallel to the coast.
Geography
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]
Dalmatian Zagora, in the strict sense, spans from the hinterland east of
?ibenik
to the border with
Bosnia and Herzegovina
and continues south to
Vrgorac
, just north of the
Neum
corridor. Its borders are present in two counties:
Split-Dalmatia
and
?ibenik-Knin
.
The terrain in Zagora is fairly rugged: in the region immediately bordering the coastline, it is mostly flat but dry, mainly covered with
makija
(maquis, macchia)
. More inland, greener pastures can be seen, as the climate and elevations change.
Karst topography
dominates the landscape. The land is interspersed with river canyons, of
Krka
,
?ikola
,
Cetina
and others.
One national park is located in Zagora, the
Krka National Park
.
The aforementioned geographical and climate conditions influenced the life patterns of the historically important
shepherd
population: in the wintertime, they were moving their numerous flocks from the mountains to the coast. Historic population of Zagora has included the
Illyrians
and the
Vlachs
.
Settlements
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]
The area has had diminishing human settlement in the last few centuries, although many towns and villages remain scattered all over Zagora. The larger towns include
Knin
,
Drni?
,
Vrlika
,
Sinj
,
Vrgorac
,
Trilj
and
Imotski
. Villages include
Biskupija
,
Kistanje
,
Kijevo
,
Une?i?
,
Oklaj
,
Ru?i?
,
Ar?ano
,
Dicmo
,
Mu?
,
Cista Provo
,
Prgomet
,
Hrvace
,
Lovre?
,
?estanovac
,
Zmijavci
, etc.
Infrastructure
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]
Two major roads intersect Zagora ? the
D1 state road
which comes from
Zagreb
, crosses from
Lika
through Knin and Sinj, down to
Split
, and the recently built
A1 highway
, which meanders near
Zadar
and Benkovac, passing throughout Zagora, via the Dugopolje exit (to Split) and on to
Plo?e
.
The railway links Zagreb with
Knin
, from Knin to Zadar, from Knin to Perkovi?, where the line splits to ?ibenik or to Split.
See also
[
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]
Sources
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Principal historical regions
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Smaller regions
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43°42′42″N
16°17′02″E
/
43.7117987°N 16.28400123°E
/
43.7117987; 16.28400123