The Dalmatian Hinterland () is the southern inland

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

in the historical

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n region of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

. The name means 'beyond (the) hills', which is a reference to the fact that it is the part of

that is not coastal and the existence of the concordant coastline where hills run parallel to the coast.

Geography

Dalmatian Zagora, in the strict sense, spans from the hinterland east of

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

to the border with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and continues south to Vrgorac, just north of the

Neum Neum () is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the only town on the Bosnia and Herzegovina coastline, making it the country's only access to ...

corridor. Its borders are present in two counties: Split-Dalmatia and Šibenik-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 Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

dominates the landscape. The land is interspersed with river canyons, of Krka, Čikola, 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 A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

population: in the wintertime, they were moving their numerous flocks from the mountains to the coast. Historic population of Zagora has included the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

and the

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

Settlements

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 Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

Drniš Drniš is a town in the Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. Located in the Dalmatian Hinterland, it is about halfway between Šibenik and Knin. History The name Drniš was mentioned for the first time in a contract dated March 8, 1494. However, the ...

, Vrlika,

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

, Vrgorac,

Trilj Trilj () is a Cities of Croatia, town and Naselje, settlement in inland Dalmatia, Croatia. It is located northeast of Split (city), Split. In 2021, its population was 8182. Trilj was a traffic hub in Roman Dalmatia, Roman times, when a stone br ...

and Imotski. Villages include Biskupija, Kistanje, Kijevo, Unešić, Oklaj, Ružić, Aržano, Dicmo, Muć, Cista Provo, Prgomet, Hrvace, Lovreć, Šestanovac, Zmijavci, etc.

Infrastructure

Two major roads intersect Zagora – the D1 state road which comes from

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, crosses from

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

through Knin and Sinj, down to

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, and the recently built A1 highway, which meanders near

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

and Benkovac, passing throughout Zagora, via the Dugopolje exit (to Split) and on to Ploče. The railway links Zagreb with

, from Knin to Zadar, from Knin to Perković, where the line splits to Šibenik or to Split.

Sources

Dalmatinska zagora
*

External links

Dalmatinska Zagora
(archived)
Dalmatinska zagora – nepoznata zemlja
(archived) {{Authority control Historical regions in Croatia Geography of Split-Dalmatia County Geography of Šibenik-Knin County Dalmatia

Geography

Settlements

Infrastructure

See also

Sources

External links