Висті аралының тарихы мен географиясы

Croatian island off the Balkan Peninsula coast
the island of Vis

Vis (; Ἴσσα; Issa, ) is a small Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It is the farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland. Before the end of World War I, the island was held by the Liburnians, the Republic of Venice, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and the Austrian Empire. During the 19th century, the sea to the north of Vis was the site of two naval battles. In 1920, the island was ceded to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as part of the Treaty of Rapallo. During World War II, the island was the headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisan movement. After the war, Vis was used as a naval base for the Yugoslav People's Army until 1989. The island's main industries are viticulture, fishing, fish processing, and tourism.

The farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland, Vis had a population of 3,313 in 2021. Vis has an area of Its highest point is Hum, which is above sea level. The island's two largest settlements are the town of Vis on the island's eastern side (the settlement for which the island was originally named) and Komiža on its western coast.

Vis was inhabited by the time of the Neolithic period. In the 4th century BC, the Greek tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius the Elder, founded the colony Issa on the island. A town on an island of the same name was settled by Illyrians, who were under the domination of Liburni from the 8th to the 6th centuries B. C. At the beginning of the 4th century B. C. the island was colonized by Syracusan Greeks as part of a plan of Dionysios the Elder to control the Adriatic. During the 3rd century Issa founded the emporia Tragurion (Traù, now Trogir) and Epetion (Stobreč) on the Illyrian mainland. Its predominance in the region lasted until the first Illyro Roman war 229 219 B. C. when it became a pawn in the battles of greater powers. In the civil war it sided with Pompey and consequently lost its privileges and autonomy in 47 B. C. when it was reduced to the rank of an oppidum civium Romanorum and was dependent on the newly founded colony at Salona. As a polis, Issa minted its own money, and these coins of many types had wide circulation. The town, situated on a slope on the W side of a large bay, was defended by strong Hellenistic walls, still visible in an irregular quadrangle (265 x 360 m) that enclosed an area of 9.8 ha. The street grid and foundations of houses have been found. The necropolis has yielded many pieces of pottery, including some from South Italy. The wall of the cavea of the theater, built in the Roman period, is incorporated into the present Franciscan Monastery. It could seat about 3000 persons. Inscriptions, statues, coins, and pottery are preserved in the archaeological museums at Split and Zagreb. Later, it became an independent polis, and even minted its own money and founded its own colonies, the most notable of which was Aspálathos (the modern day city of Split). In the 1st century BC, the island was held by the Liburnians.

Until 1797, the island was under the rule of the Republic of Venice. During this time large settlements developed along the coastline (Comisa (now Komiža) and Lissa (now Vis)). Administratively, the island of Lissa was for centuries bound to the island of Lesina, now named Hvar. The Venetian influence is still recognizable in architecture found on the island, and some vocabulary of the Croatian dialect spoken locally is Venetian in origin.

Vis was at one point the site of the general headquarters of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav Partisan resistance movement. It was occupied by Italy between 1941 and 1943, then was liberated by the Partisans and held by a British flotilla in 1943–44. At the end of World War II the island returned to Yugoslavia. During the war the island was mined. Allied fighter planes were based at a small airfield that was also used for emergency landings of Allied bombers, including an American B 24 flown by George McGovern. No. 6 Squadron RAF extensively used the airfield as a forward operating base, flying Hawker Hurricane Mk IV fighter aircraft, from May 1944 to February 1945. During World War II, a crate of the Armed Services Editions of paperback books was dropped by parachute along with other supplies on to Vis Island off the coast of Yugoslavia. The books were then read aloud to the partisans by English speaking soldiers who translated the books as they read them. Early in July 1944, the novelist Evelyn Waugh flew with Randolph Churchill from Bari, Italy, to Vis as part of the British military mission to Yugoslavia. There they met Marshal Tito. During WWII the island was also home to 1435 Squadron of the RAF flying Mark IX Spitfires in ground support of allied troops fighting in Italy.

After the war, the Yugoslav People's Army used the island as one of its main naval bases until abandoning the base in 1989. After Croatia became independent in 1991, its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities, and the many abandoned buildings are being used for civilian purposes and tourism, including tunnels, bunkers and a secret submarine base. In 2019 GEOPARK Vis archipelago became a member of UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Vis town and Komiža are seats of separate administrative municipalities which cover the entire island and nearby islets, which are both part of Split Dalmatia County.

The island's main industries are agriculture (mainly viticulture), fishing, fish processing, and tourism. Around 20% of the island's arable land is covered with vineyards. Autochthonous vine species cultivated on the island are Plavac Mali, Kurteloška, and Vugava. Vugava is autochthonous variety of wine of island Vis. The sea around Vis is rich with fish, especially blue fish (sardine, mackerel and anchovy). Komiža fishermen of the 16th century developed their own type of fishing boat, the falkuša, which was used until the second half of the 20th century because of its excellent features. There used to be direct ship lines to Italy during summer season. In 2010 Termoli Jet started Termoli Vis Split line, taking 3h30' to reach Vis from Italian city of Termoli. In 2015, Blue Line ran the now cancelled night ferry service Ancona Vis. In 2016, now defunct European Coastal Airlines tried establishing seaplane passenger service Split Vis, which took some 15 minutes.