Ist (island)

Ist
Map
Ist is located in Croatia
Ist
Ist
Geography
LocationAdriatic Sea
Coordinates44°16′N 14°46′E / 44.267°N 14.767°E / 44.267; 14.767
Area9.65 km2 (3.73 sq mi)
Administration
Croatia
CountyZadar
Demographics
Population182 (2011)
Pop. density18.9/km2 (49/sq mi)

Ist (Italian: Isto) is a small island off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. The closest city to Ist is Zadar. The island has an area of 9.65 km2.[1] Ist is located between the islands of Škarda and Molat.

The entire island has a permanent population of 182.[2] During the past 50 years it has witnessed a slow depopulation which has halved its number of inhabitants. The Croatian Government is attempting to attract people to the island through its National Programme of Islands’ Development as well as economic revival (which could result in the construction of a bridge to nearby Molat). Recently the island has benefited from the development of tourism.

In World War II, the Battle of Ist was a naval engagement off Ist on 29 February 1944. The engagement was fought between Free French navy destroyers and a Kriegsmarine force of two corvettes, two torpedo boats and three minesweepers which were protecting a freighter. The French managed to destroy the German freighter and a corvette without losses of their own before withdrawing.[3]

  1. ^ Duplančić Leder, Tea; Ujević, Tin; Čala, Mendi (June 2004). "Coastline lengths and areas of islands in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea determined from the topographic maps at the scale of 1 : 25 000" (PDF). Geoadria. 9 (1). Zadar: 5–32. doi:10.15291/geoadria.127. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
  2. ^ "Population by Age and Sex, by Settlements, 2011 Census: Ist". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  3. ^ Greene, Jack; O'Hara, Vincent P (2012). Spencer C. Tucker (ed.). World War II at sea : an encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, LLC. pp. 7, 282. ISBN 978-1-59884-457-3.