SUVREMENA GEOGRAFSKA PROBLEMATIKA OTOKA LOPUDA I KOLOÈEPA


MARTIN GLAMUZINA        UDK: 911.3.525 (497.5)
NIKOLA GLAMUZINA          Izvorni znanstveni èlanak
Filozofski fakultet u Zadru         Original scientific paper
Faculty of Philosophy in Zadar
Department of geography

Primljeno: 1999-10-30
Received:

Tema ovog rada je geografska problematika otoka Koloèepa i Lopuda u južno-dalmatinskom dijelu Hrvatske. Obraðuje se u okviru projekta Geografske osnove razvoja malih hrvatskih otoka. Najveæa pažnja posveæena je suvremenim problemima depopulacije i slabog gospodarskog razvoja koji predstavlja poseban problem za demografsko oživljavanje otoka.
Kljuène rijeèi: stanovništvo, depopulacija, gospodarstvo, otoci.

This paper deals with the geographical problems of the Koloèep and Lopud islands in the southern Dalmatian part of Croatia. The work is included in the project "Geographical bases of the development of little Croatian islands". The paper specially deals with the present-day problems of depopulation and underdevelopment that represents the special problem for the demographic revitalization of the islands.
Key words: population, depopulation, economy, islands.

SUMMARY

Martin Glamuzina, Nikola Glamuzina: Recent Geographical Problematics of the Lopud and Koloèep Islands.

The islands of Koloèep and Lopud are parts of the Elafiti archipelago situated in the south Dalmatian region (southern Croatia). The main centre in that part of Croatia is Dubrovnik, and there are ship connections with the islands. Koloèep and Lopud are formed of carbonate (limestone) rocks. The climate is Mediterranean (warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters) and there is no surface water flows. Koloèep (with the settlement of the same name) and Lopud (also the name of the only settlement) are, besides Šipan, the only populated archipelago islands. However, these two islands have been losing their population for a long time, especially after the World War II. Narrow economic basis cannot possibly keep the population from emigrating. The only significantly developed branch of economy is tourism which has explicitly seasonal (summer) character, so there is no possibility for the islanders to live there all the year around. As the result of such economic development, the decrease in the number of inhabitants is evident, especially those aaged between 20 and 59. This negative process has clearly manifested during the current decade, when tourism, the most important activity, has collapsed (due to the Serbian agression).