Mrkopalj () is a village and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the mountainous part of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the region of Gorski Kotar, located south-east of

Delnice Delnice () is a town in western Croatia, the largest settlement in the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar, in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The town has a population of 4,379, and total municipality population is 5,952 (2011). Delnice is Gor ...

and some 50 km east of Rijeka and 831 meters above sea level. In 2011 the municipality had 1,214 inhabitants, the majority of whom are

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

Industry

Mrkopalj was once a relatively important trading town in the Gorski Kotar highlands where timber and sheep are the main resources. Mountain snow sports are popular.

Coat of arms

Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

granted the Coat of Arms and the status of a free royal market town in 1785. The grant of arms is similar in style with others granted in the period, including the aquarel picture of the Coat of Arms within a ring containing the inscription (thus making it a seal) and set in a baroque scene with mountains, angel broquate covers, coats of arms of selected Habsburg lands. The shield is party per fess chief per pale: first

chequy In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field (or a charge) may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field. Blazoning of French adjectives Variations of the field pre ...

gules and argent, second or a lamb passant below a fir tree vert trunked proper issuant from a base also vert, and third azure five cliff spikes argent. The modern community adopted (around 1995) the same coat of arms in a modernized artistic rendition as required by regulations. The decision on adoption of the coat of arms for Mrkopalj and the flag was adopted on 12 March 1998 and this was issued in the official gazette in May 1998: ''Odluka o grbu i zastavi Opcine Mrkopalj, 12.03.1998, Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, br. 11/98, 29. svibnja 1998.'' The flag is dark blue with the coat of arms bordered yellow in the middle.

Notable residents

* Jakov Fak, Olympic

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

* Nada Birko, Olympic cross-country skier

In popular culture

American author Jennifer Wilson's 2011 non-fiction book, ''Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters'', takes place in Mrkopalj. She and her husband and two children spent seven months in the village, to reconnect to her immigrant maternal grandparents' relatives and culture.

References

External links

{{authority control Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County