Wikipedia:Today's featured list/January 16, 2012

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Historic town center of Rab on the island of Rab
Historic town center of Rab on the island of Rab

Nearly 50 of Croatia's islands are inhabited in the sense that at least one person resides on that island. In the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea, there are 718 islands, 389 islets and 78 reefs, which make the Croatian archipelago the largest in the Adriatic Sea and second largest in the Mediterranean Sea. Some sources indicate that Croatia has 67 inhabited islands, which is the number of islands that have a settlement on them, but 19 of these islands have lost all of their permanent population as a result of population decline. The islands of Croatia have been populated since the times of Ancient Greece. The main industries on the islands are agriculture, fishing and tourism. The local economy is relatively underdeveloped while the cost of living is 10 to 30% higher than on the mainland, so the Croatian government provides various kinds of support and protection through its Islands Act to stimulate the economy of the islands, including charging no tolls on bridges, and providing cheaper or free ferry tickets for islanders. (Full list...)