Plavnik is an unpopulated islet

Islet

An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....

, belonging to Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 located between the Central Straits and the Kvarner Bay. The Krusija Channel cuts it off from the eastern coast of the island of Cres

Cres

Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern island in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from the island Krk or from the Istrian peninsula ....

. This channel is the shortest route from the Adriatic Sea

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 through the islands to Rijeka

Rijeka

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

. A lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 established in 1890, sits at the northwestern point of the islet, marking the east side of the narrowest opening of the Krusija Channel.

Geography

While covering an area of 8.64 sq km, the islet has a length of 6.3 km and a width of up to 2.3 km. Its highest elevation is 194 m. Most of the islet does not have vegetation. On the northern and north-eastern sides, the coastline is partially steep. Two islets that make up Kornati

Kornati

The Kornati archipelago in Croatia is located in the northern part of Dalmatia, west from Šibenik, in the Šibenik-Knin county. With 35 km in length and 140 islands, some large, some small, in a sea area of about 320 km², Kornati are the densest archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea...

, lie to the southeast of Plavnik. In the middle of the straits between these islands and Plavnik, the sea depth is about 9 m.

Flora and Fauna

Plavnik is home to birds such as the wheateaters, pheasant

Pheasant

Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...

, and white-headed vulture

Vulture

Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...

. Hares are common as well. As of 2010, the islet is in the process of being declared a zoological and botanical reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

.

External links

• Plavnik at CroatiaTouristCenter.com