The islands of the Zadar-Biograd archipelago between revival and extinction

Abstract

The paper describes demographic and economic situation on 14 islands of Zadar-Biograd archipelago. Most of the islands are small, the largest being 114 and the smallest 3,7 km2. In 1992, in 30 settlements, some 12.300 islanders lived there.
The maine characteristics of this island group iz years long depopulation which, on some smaller islands, has recently threatened to reach total depopulation. The two largest islands, Ugljan and Pašman that are only 3NM far from the continent have developed to become suburbia of the near coastal cities, while smaller outer islands face an uncertain future. In the remainder, revitalization possibilities are dealt with. It is stated that clear development objectives are to be defined first and that a direct intervention of the state is required. Only in this way the depopulation proces will be stopped and development goals achieved.