THE INFLUENCE OF WATER AVAILABILITY ON THE HISTORICAL, DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE KVARNER ISLANDS (CROATIA)

The general development of the Kvarner Islands has been closely connected to water resources. Unlike most of the Croatian archipelago, the Kvarner Islands posses a relatively well developed surface hydrology due to their unique climatic and geological features. The abundance of water assured the early development of a versatile economy. Up to the end of the Second World War, the economy was dominated by agriculture, while after the war tourism took over the leading role. The onset of mass tourism in the 1960's and 1970's could not have been possible without an appropriate water supply system which was developed simultaneously with the economic growth. Today, the Kvarner Islands are one of the best known tourist regions in Croatia, especially popular among German, Slovenian and Italian tourists. It should be pointed out that there is a huge discrepancy in the development of the large and small inhabited Kvarner Islands. Such a discrepancy is caused solely by the lack of water resources on the small islands, which in turn has a deep economic as well as demographic impact on those islands.