Dinara is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in the

Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern Europe, Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia ...

, located on the border of

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

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 ...

. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east: * Ilica or

Ujilica Ujilica ( sr-cyrl, Ујилица) is a mountain in the municipality of Grahovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the ...

(1,654 m) * Sinjal or Dinara (1,831 m),

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

to the range, highest mountain in Croatia * Troglav (1,913 m), highest peak in the range * Kamešnica, with peak Konj (1,855 m) Note the dual use of the name ''Dinara'', which is also the origin of the name for the whole

.''Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia 2015'', p. 48 The range is composed of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and dolomite.

Etymology

The origin of the name is uncertain. It may derive from a forgotten Illyrian tribe name, or it is named after a settlement in or near the region. According to Šišić, the Dinara name resembles the name of the

Dindari Dindari or ''Dindarii'' (), were an Illyrian tribe that formed part of the Scordisci cultural group. They dwelled by the Drina Valley, of present-day Bosnia and Serbia. History According to the Roman author Pliny, the Dindari were a medium-size ...

, an Illyrian tribe that inhabited the western bank of the

Drina Valley Podrinje ( sr-Cyrl, Подриње) is the Slavic name of the Drina river basin, known in English as the Drina Valley. The Drina basin is shared between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with majority of its territory being located in Eastern B ...

Dinara Mountain

Sinjal, often marked as ''Dinara'' on maps, is the highest mountain in

with an impressive south-western cliff, several hundred meters high, that is prominently visible from the

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 ...

n plain below. It has a

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of 728 m. This explains why the mountain ''Dinara'', not being the highest in the range, still came to give its name to the whole range. In addition, the name is the origin to the name of one of the major mountain regions of Europe, the

Dinarides The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Her ...

."Dinara" on Peakbagger.com
Retrieved 1 October 2011

Climate

Dinara is located only a few dozen kilometers away from the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

, and is part of the

Dalmatian Hinterland The Dalmatian Hinterland () is the southern inland hinterland in the historical Croatian region of Dalmatia. The name means 'beyond (the) hills', which is a reference to the fact that it is the part of Dalmatia that is not coastal and the existe ...

, but the climate on Dinara is a much colder,

mountain climate Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...

, making it one of the coldest places in Croatia with average temperatures between 2 and 4 °C at the peaks. The average precipitation is high, while the number of sunny hours per year ranges between 1,700 and 1,900.''Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia 2015'', p. 43 There are no inhabited areas on the mountain itself and human presence consists mostly of small shacks that belong to the herdsmen from the nearby valleys such as that of the

Cetina The Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Nap ...

river.

Tourism

One of the most fascinating

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

s is on the southwestern slope. It is six kilometers long and up to 1,700 meters high, providing an interesting landscape for the travelers on the roads in the valley below to view. The massif does not attract many climbers, but its Ošljak peak (1,706 m) does.

Flora and fauna

Flora

Native vegetation of the Dinara region comprises a large number of plant communities, or habitat types. According to the data available, in the area of the Dinara mountain there are around 750 plant species, of which more than 110 are strictly protected and 55 are endemics. The flora consists of mountain grasslands, Scopoli's rockcress (''

Arabidopsis arenosa ''Arabidopsis arenosa'', the sand rock-cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is found mostly in Central Europe in both a diploid and an autotetraploid form. This sets it apart from the other, mostly diploid, ''Ara ...

'', ''

Arabidopsis halleri ''Arabidopsis'' (rockcress) is a genus in the family Brassicaceae. They are small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard. This genus is of great interest since it contains thale cress (''Arabidopsis thaliana''), one of the model organis ...

'' and ''

Arabidopsis croatica ''Arabidopsis'' (rockcress) is a genus in the family Brassicaceae. They are small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard. This genus is of great interest since it contains thale cress (''Arabidopsis thaliana''), one of the model organ ...

''), Dinarian mouse-ear hawkweed (''

Hieracium pilosella ''Pilosella officinarum'' (synonym ''Hieracium pilosella''), known as mouse-ear hawkweed, is a yellow-flowered species of flowering plant in the daisy family Compositae (= Asteraceae), native to Europe and northern Asia. It produces single, lemon ...

''), Dalmatian rockbell (''

Edraianthus dalmaticus ''Edraianthus dalmaticus'', ( syn. ''Wahlenbergia dalmatica'' A.DC.) or Dalmatian rockbell, is an ornamental plant in the Campanulaceae (bellflower) family. This herbaceous perennial is native to the mountains of Dalmatia in Croatia ...

''), pasque flower (''

Pulsatilla The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Common names include pasque flower (or pasqueflower), wind flower, prairie crocus, Easter flower, ...

''), lion's paw (''

Leonotis leonurus ''Leonotis leonurus'', also known as lion's tail and wild dagga, is a plant species in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The plant is a broadleaf evergreen large shrub native to South Africa, where it is very common.

''), yellow gentian (''

Gentiana lutea ''Gentiana lutea'', the great yellow gentian, is a species of gentian native to the mountains of central and southern Europe. Growth ''Gentiana lutea'' is an herbaceous perennial plant, growing to tall, with broad lanceolate to elliptic leaves ...

''), common juniper (''

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

'') and hairy azalea (''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

'').

Fauna

Birds

The Dinara region, particularly Dinara itself and the habitat around the Upper Cetina, from its source to the Peruća dam, is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) by the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The bird species include: common pheasant ''

Phasianus colchicus The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'' 'pheasant'. The species name ''colchic ...

'', common quail ''

Coturnix coturnix The common quail (''Coturnix coturnix''), or European quail, is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the western Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India. With its ...

'', shore lark '' Eremophila alpestris'', redshank ''

Tringa totanus ''Tringa'' is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with ...

'', stone curlew ''

Burhinus oedicnemus The Eurasian stone-curlew, Eurasian thick-knee, or simply stone-curlew (''Burhinus oedicnemus'') is a northern species of the Burhinidae (stone-curlew) bird family. Taxonomy The Eurasian stone-curlew was Species description, formally described ...

'', moustached warbler '' Acrocephalus melanopogon'', golden eagle ''

Aquila chrysaetos The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of p ...

'' and short-toed snake eagle '' Circaetus gallicus''. Also there is sighting of Eurasian griffon vulture ''

Gyps fulvus The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the griffon vulture, although this term is sometimes used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confuse ...

'' probably on their flight over to

Cres Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, Krk island or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina). With an area of , Cres has the same si ...

Mammals

The mammals of the Dinara region are: brown bear

Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

, grey wolf

Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

, Eurasian lynx

Lynx lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Him ...

, wildcat

Felis silvestris The European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') is a small wildcat species native to continental Europe, Great Britain, Turkey and the Caucasus. Its fur is brownish to grey with stripes on the forehead and on the sides and has a bushy tail with a b ...

, red fox

Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

, wild boar

Sus scrofa The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...

, Eurasian badger

Meles meles The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a w ...

, brown hare

Lepus europaeus The European hare (''Lepus europaeus''), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly ...

and balkan snow vole. Dinara is host to an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

, the

Balkan snow vole The Balkan snow vole (''Dinaromys bogdanovi''), also known as Martino's snow vole, is the only living member of the genus ''Dinaromys''. The genus name means "Dinaric mouse", referring to the Dinaric Alps, as the species is endemic to the wester ...

('' Dolomys bogdanovi longipedis''), known in Croatian as the ("Dinara mouse"). It is an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Insects

The relatively well-preserved, extensive and diverse habitats of the Dinara and Svilaja mountains and the Upper Cetina provide a refuge to a number of invertebrate species whose natural habitats have been endangered due to specific living conditions they require, while many of them are endemics and placed on the Red List (certain species of caddisflies, dragonflies, stoneflies, orthoptera, etc.). Invertebrates living in caves and holes make a special group – their biology remains relatively unknown, but they are protected as the cave fauna together with cave vertebrates. Insects include: dalmatian ringlet Proterebia afra dalmata, rosalia longicorn, longhorn beetle, firebug, hornet, bumblebee, stag beetle and marsh fritillary.

Herpetology

The herpetofauna of the Dinara region comprises around 15 species of lizards, snakes and amphibians, some of which are endangered, mostly because their natural habitats have been either reduced in extent or suffered degradation. The herpetofauna comprises: smooth snake, balkan whip snake, nose-horned viper, fire salamander, slow worm, karst meadow viper and alpine newt.

Gallery

Kijevo (HR), Dinara -- 2022 -- 0238.jpg, Dinara at night from Kijevo Mountain Dinara -Croatia- on the way to top from Glavas.jpg, Start of the trail near Glavaš Mountain Dinara -Croatia- on the way to top.jpg, Dinara heights Mountain Dinara -Croatia- near mountain lodge Brezovac.jpg, Vistas on the road leading to Brezovac mountain lodge

Citations

General sources

Bibliography

Alpinism

Biology

External links

Photographs and climbing information.
{{Authority control Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia border Dinaric Alps Highest points of countries International mountains of Europe Landforms of Šibenik-Knin County Mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mountains of Croatia Mountains of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina