Vis (island)

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This is an article about island named Vis. For the town with the same name, see Vis (town).

Vis
Vinyards on Vis
Geography

Location	Adriatic sea
Coordinates	Coordinates: 43°02′N, 16°09′E
Area	89.72 km²
Highest point	Hum 587 m
Administration
Croatia
County	Split-Dalmatia
Largest city	Vis (1,960)
Demographics
Population	3,617 (as of 2001)
Density	40/km²

Vis [ˈʋiːs] (Greek Issa, Italian and German: Lissa), is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, the furthest inhabited island. Its area is 90.26 km²,^[1] and it has population of 3,617 (as of 2001).^[2] The highest peak of Vis is called Hum, 587 m high.^[1]

There are two towns and municipalities on the island, Vis (1,960 ^[3] inhabitants in the municipality) and Komiža (1,677 ^[4], both located on the seacoast. There are smaller settlements on the island's interior: Podselje, Marinje zemlje, Podšpilje, and Podstražje.^[5]

1 History
2 Economy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Vis was inhabited by the time of the Neolithic period. In the 4th century B.C., the tyrant of Siracuse, Dionisius the Older, founded the colony Issa on the island. Later, it became an independent city-state, and even minted its own money and founded its own colonies elsewhere. In the first century B.C., the island was held by the Liburnians, a Venetic^[6] tribe.Queen Teuta originated from the island.

A part of the Byzantine Theme of Dalmatia, in 925 Croatian Monarch Tomislav took over administration over the island of "Ies". After the death of Croatian ruler Kresimir, a war of succession erupted and the Narentines under Serbian Prince Časlav Klonimirović took the island by 948, however they managed to rule it only shortly, as the Byzantines restored control. Brothers of Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja Miroslav and Stracimir made raids on Vis in 1184 and 1185.

In the Middle Ages it often changed rulers, and then for a long time it was under Venice, which founded the main settlement, named Velo Selo. During Venetian and Austrian domination, the island's name was Lissa.

Later, the larger settlements developed also on the coast (Komiza and Luka of St. Juraj, the- present town of Vis). Administratively the island of Vis was for centuries bound to the island of Hvar.

The sea to the north of the island was the stage of two battles:

on 13 March 1811, a small Royal Navy fleet, under the command of Captain William Hoste, defeated a larger Franco-Venetian fleet (see Battle of Lissa (1811));
on 20 July 1866, the Austrian fleet, under Admiral Tegetthoff, attacked the Italian fleet, under Admiral Persano, sinking the battleship Re d'Italia (see Battle of Lissa (1866)).

During World War II, Vis was at one point the main hideout of Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav resistance movement. After the war, the Yugoslav People's Army used the island as one of its main naval bases. After Croatia became independent, its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities, and the many abandoned buildings are being used for civilian purposes, including modern happenings.

[edit] Economy

Main industries on the island are agriculture (mainly viticulture), fishing, fish refinement and tourism.^[1]

Around 20% of arable land on the island is covered with vineyards. Autochthonous vine species cultivated on the island are Plavac Mali, Kurteloška and Bugava.^[7]

The sea around Vis is rich with fish, especially blue fish (sardine, mackerel and anchovy). Komiža fishermen of the 17th century developed their own type of fishing boat, the Falkuša which was used even in the second half of the 20th century because of its excellent features.^[7]