island Rab

      Italian ARBE (44° 45' N / 14° 46' E), island in the Adriatic Sea forming the northernmost part of Dalmatia in Croatia. Rab is separated from the mainland by Podvelebitski Kanal (the Velebit Channel) with the shortest distance from land of 1.800m. With an area of 91 sq. km, its greatest transverse length of 22km, and its total coastal length of 103.2km, it reaches a maximum altitude of 408m at Mt. Kamenjak and comprises three ridges of limestone.

     Rab and all the Dalmatian islands were originally connected with the mainland; about 20.000 - 30.000 years ago, the lowering and elevating of the land and the penetration of the sea water into the basins resulted in the current island chain. The origin of the islands can be gleaned from their karst topography which is identical to that found in the craggy Dinaric Alps stretching from the eastern Adriatic and down to Greece.

     The island is one of the most densely wooded islands in the Adriatic and is a veritable botanical exhibition, with plants not native to the island. The Komrcar park, with its laurel, poplar, cypress, Indian fig-tree, rosemary, pine and hundred-year-old agave is now the pride of Rab. Its more than 300 freshwater springs provide a valuable water supply to the population of the island--which, in contrast to most of the Adriatic islands, is increasing, in part because of good communications with the mainland. Because of these numerous springs, Rab is considered to be the greenest island in the Adriatic.

     Rab belongs to the group of Kvarner Archipelago Islands of the North Adriatic. Its winters are pleasant and mild, and the summers warm, with about 2500 hours of sunshine a year. The mean air temperature is 26C in the summer and 10 C in the winter. The Kamenjak range (408m) protects the greater part of the island from cold north-eastern winds (bora or bura), and the temperature hardly ever drops below zero (centigrade). In the summer the mistral wind has a cooling effect on the the island.