Historical-geographical development of the Elaphiti islands

Tema rada je historijskogeografski razvoj Elafita, najjužnijih naseljenih hrvatskih otoka. Prirodno-geografska i demogeografska obilježja prostora analizirana su u prvom dijelu rada, dok se u drugom razmatraju historijskogeografski razvoj i faktori koji su ga usmjeravali kroz različite etape. Cijeli se povijesni razvoj ovih otoka odvijao pod utjecajem jakog upravnog i kulturnog središta-grada Dubrovnika. Razdoblje Dubrovačke Republike ostavilo je najsnažnije utjecaje na ovaj prostor čije se posljedice vide i danas. Nebriga i slabo planiranje svih vlasti nakon pada Republike dovelo je do nazadovanja otoka i depopulacije, čime je obilježeno i najnovije razdoblje. Zbog osnovnih demografskih i ekonomskih pokazatelja prognoze budućeg demografskog i gospodarskog razvoja Elafita nisu povoljne. Međutim, određene mjere prije svega vezane za prometnu povezanost, izgradnju komunalne infrastrukture i razvoj turizma kao dominantne djelatnosti, a koje su poduzete posljednjih godina ili se planiraju mogle bi usporiti negativne procese.The thesis thema deals with the historical and geographical development of the Elaphiti islands, the southernmost inhabited islands in Croatia. Geographical area features were analyzed in the first part of the paper, as well as demographic characteristics. The second part examines historical and geographical development of the Elaphiti in different stages, and also analyzes various factors in their development. Basically, the whole historical development of these islands took place under the influence of strong administrative and cultural center - the city of Dubrovnik. The period of the Dubrovnik Republic left the strongest influences on this area, whose consequences can be seen nowadays. Negligence and poor planning of all government after the fall of the Republic led to the decline and depopulation of the islands, which is marked by the most recent period. Because of the basic demographic and economic indicators, projections of future demographic and economic development of the Elaphiti are not favorable. There are some measures which have been taken in recent years and other planed to be done in next few years that could slow down negative processes (primarily related to transport connections with mainland, the construction of municipal infrastructure and development of tourism as the dominant economic activity)