It is a road that demands respect, both for its spectacular seascape vistas and for its undoubted perils. Many of the highway's curves swing out over the sea, with nothing but air between the edge and the surf-blasted crags hundreds of feet below. Croatia can be divided into Adriatic Croatia and Continental Croatia. The coast has strong historic associations with the Venetian Empire and Italy, which have tried, with only temporary and tenuous success, to rule it. The slender strip of land that runs between the sea and the rugged Dinaric Alps is known as Dalmatia.
Dalmatians are an outgoing, outdoor people.
With a thousand islands and a deeply indented coastline, Croatia has the longest shoreline in Europe except for Norway and Greece. Sixty-six of the islands are inhabited. They were far enough from the recent war to escape bombardment and occupation, though they did suffer economically and emotionally. The same applies to the entire Istrian Peninsula, which is only a few miles from northern Italy and fairly isolated from the main body of Croatia. Inland, the hilltop town of Motovun could easily be mistaken for a village in Tuscany.