The southern Croatia or Dalmatia is one of the oldest regional and geographical terms in this part of Europe. About 400 km long and 70 km wide, it is an elongated littoral belt of Croatia, surrounded by the mountains of Velebit, Dinara and Kamešnica. Dalmatia has an area of 12,103 km² with a population of 980,000. The major economic branches are tourism, trade, industry and agriculture. The term Dalmatia doesn’t exist in the administrative sense. Geographically it is divided into the northern, the central and the southern Dalmatia, and administratively into four counties: the Zadarska county, the Šibensko-Kninska county, the Splitsko-dalmatinska county and the Dubrovačko-neretvanska county. The climate is influenced by the Adriatic sea on one side and the mountain Dinara on the other. Thus there are two types of climate: the Mediterranean type in the littoral and mild continental type in the inland (Zagora). The Mediterranean climate is characterized by the clear sky, therefore there is a large amount of sunny hours. The island of Hvar has got 2718 sunny hours a year which is the highest average in Europe. The average temperatures in the littoral are: 6ºC to 11ºC in January, 21ºC to 27ºC in August; sea temperature is 12ºC in winter and 25ºC in summer. Four of eight Croatian national parks are in Dalmatia: Paklenica, Krka, Mljet and Kornati. To those particularly valuable areas of natural heritage, we should add the areas under special protection – nature parks. There are three nature parks in Dalmatia: the southern Velebit, Telašćica and Biokovo. Decide on your own which you would prefer: ravishing beauties created by nature or those created by people in the course of history. Dalmatia abounds in cultural and historical monuments of the Mediterranean culture, ancient monuments, monuments from the early Middle Ages, Romanesque sacral heritage and a series of well-preserved urban units characteristic for the Mediterranean. Four of six sites under protection of UNESCO are located in Dalmatia: the Diocletian’s palace in Split, the towns of Dubrovnik and Trogir and St. Jacob’s cathedral in Šibenik.