Dubrovnik-Neretva County

    Dubrovnik-Neretva county is the southernmost county of Croatia; covers an area of 1785 km² and has a population of about 127,000. Its territory is divided into 22 units of local government; five towns (Dubrovnik, Korčula, Ploče, Metković and Opuzen ) and 17 districts (Blato, Dubrovačko primorje, Janjina, Konavle, Kula Norinska, Lastovo, Lumbarda, Mljet, Orebić, Pojezerje, Slivno, Smokvica, Ston, Trpanj, Vela Luka, Zažablje i Župa dubrovačka ).
    The city of Dubrovnik is the centre of this county. Throughout the turbulent history many sovereignties and maritime powers were in conflict accross this area: Byzantine Empire, Saracens, Croats, Venetians, small principalities and monarchies, the Hungarian-Croatian state, and Roman-German empire, Ottoman empire, Napoleon empire and Habsburg monarchy. Despite all that, the small town of Dubrovnik managed to maintain complete autonomy by using political adeptness and it existed for centuries as an independent state called the Republic of Dubrovnik.
     The area of Dubrovnik-Neretva county is specific due to its narrow and inhomogeneous coastline, which is separated from interior by a mountain range while in the Neum area, the Croatian territory is interrupted by the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only in the area of the lower valley of the river Neretva, Dubrovnik-Neretva county has a natural connection to the interior and to the northen part of Croatia.
    The territory of the county consists of two basic parts:
        - relatively narrow longitudinal littoral part with a series of open-sea islands where the most  significant are Korčula, Mljet, Lastovo and the Elafiti archipelago
       - the area of the lower Neretva river with its coastal area.
    Dubrovačko-neretvanska county has a great number of valuable cultural assets. About 168 protected, mainly urban historical, urban-rural and traditional rural localities belong to its architectural heritage. Ten of them are registered (Dubrovnik, Ston, Mali Ston, Korčula, Lastovo, Vid, Orebić, Viganj and Kućište) and eleven of them are protected as a preventive measure (Cavtat, Ćilipi, Selaci, Slano, Banići, Kotezi, Soline, Brsečine and Trstenik).
     In 1978 the historical urban centre of Dubrovnik was included in the register of World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. There are also 1436 historical buildings, churches, convents and other sacral buildings and complexes, explored and unexplored sites, old bridges and summer residences under protection; 314 are registered and 346 are protected as a preventive measure. There are also landscapes with historical features as cultural asset.