Lika

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lika [ ˈliːka ] is a historical landscape in western Croatia . It lies between the mountain ranges of Mala Kapela in the east and Velebit in the west with the main town of Gospić .

Croatia-Lika.png

geography

Landscape in Lika, Central Croatia
Lika, Polje and surrounding mountains

The karstified high basin of the Lika ( Ličko polje ) is extraordinarily beautiful . With an area of ​​around 700 km² it is the largest polje ever, followed by the Polje von Livno with 405 km². However, it is barren and unsuitable for agricultural use. Nevertheless, particularly high quality potatoes ( Lički krumpir ) come from the Lika . Large areas consist of pastureland.

Since the completion of the A1 Zagreb - Split motorway , other non-agricultural companies have moved here.

Demographics

The Lika is sparsely populated and structurally weak . Mostly Croatians live in the region, but there is a significant Serb minority in the east .

The population development in the Lika was already declining before the Croatian war. Rural exodus or emigration has led to a population decline for decades. In 2001 a total of 53,677 inhabitants lived in the Lika-Senj County (Ličko-senjska županija), which is largely congruent with the Lika. That is 37% less than in 1991.

Even if the proportion of the Croatian population in the villages of Likas is usually higher than the Serbian, the observer often sees a different picture. Many of the Croatians are still registered with the police in their hometowns, but they have long worked and lived in the big cities , in tourist centers on the Adriatic or in Central Europe.

history

According to tradition, the name Lika comes from the word Lik , which in the Croatian ikavic dialect represents the word for medicine and refers to the numerous medicinal herbs that occur . According to other sources, the name comes from the Greek name lykos = "wolf".

According to Konstantin Porphyrogennetos , the Lika belonged to Croatia together with Gacka and Krbava in the first half of the 10th century and was administered as a county by a joint ban .

A large part of the population fled the Lika during the Turkish wars and after the conquest of large parts of Bosnia , Croatia and Dalmatia in 1493 and 1529/1532. They settled in the more fertile and partially depopulated areas of western Hungary, Lower Austria, southern Moravia and south-western Slovakia. For them, Orthodox Vlachs came to the Lika from the interior of the Ottoman Empire.

With the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699, the Lika came to the Habsburg Monarchy and was integrated into the Croatian military border in 1712 , where it remained until its dissolution in 1881.

Map of the Lika-Krbava County of the Kingdom of Hungary (1867/68).

At the time of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia (Hungarian Horvát-Szlavónország ), an autonomous kingdom under the Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen within the Habsburg Monarchy , this area was part of the Lika-Krbava county with the county seat of Gospić and today mainly belongs to the Lika-Senj County . The Lika is bounded in the west by the Velebit Mountains and in the east by the Bosnian low mountain range.

Part of the Lika was under Serbian control as part of the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the Croatian War from 1990 to 1995 . The Croatian residents were expelled or killed and their houses looted and burned down. Almost all Catholic churches were destroyed.

This part still shows great damage, including those that were only caused when the area was conquered by the Croatian police and military units as part of the Oluja military operation . At least 150 Serbs were killed during the operation, thousands were displaced or fled, so that after 1995 large areas were temporarily completely unpopulated and some are still today. It has not yet been proven whether it was a matter of planned evictions by the Croatian armed forces or whether the mass exodus of the Serbs was simply accepted. The political leadership of the Krajina Serbs had ordered the evacuation in view of the looming defeat. After that, however, many of the abandoned Serbian houses were destroyed or Croatian refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina settled there, which makes the return of the Serbian population very difficult to this day.

tourism

A groomed brown bear from Lika

The Lika is a destination for tourists. Well-known national parks such as the Plitvice Lakes and Paklenica National Park attract foreign visitors. The Lika is also known for the Velebit Mountains and is a popular destination for mountaineers and naturalists. The region also boasts numerous rivers such as the Korana , which meanders through the Lika karst. In addition to numerous rare plants, the Lika is home to wild animals that are rare in Europe, such as the brown bear, as well as wolves, lynxes, wild cats, deer and reptiles (snakes and lizards). There is a bear hatchery in Kuterevo . There are small fishing villages along the Adriatic coast that invite you to sunbathe. The history of Lika can be seen in the Lika Museum in the regional capital Gospić .

Significant places

In the north of the Lika lies the Plitvice Lakes National Park .

Personalities from the region

See also

literature

  • Andreas Helmedach: Lika . In: Holm Sundhaussen, Konrad Clewing (Hrsg.): Lexicon for the history of Southeast Europe . 2. advanced u. updated edition. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2016, ISBN 978-3-205-78667-2 , pp. 572 f .

Web links

Commons : Lika  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ Alfred Bögli : Karst hydrography and physical caveology . Springer, 1978
  2. ↑ Census 2001
  3. ^ Indictment by the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia against Ante Gotovina, Counts 2 and 3 (Murder)

Coordinates: 44 ° 45 ′  N , 15 ° 15 ′  E