Kornati

Kornati is an archipelago of roughly 140 islands, islets and reefs in northern Dalmatia, Croatia, in the Adriatic Sea, within Šibenik-Knin County south of Zadar and west of Šibenik. Described as the densest archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, it covers about 320 square kilometers and stretches 35 kilometers from northwest to southeast. The islands are built mostly of karst limestone formed from ancient sea sediments and containing fossils of crustaceans and fish, with about 85 percent of the terrain bare rock and only sparse Mediterranean vegetation. In 1980 the 89 southernmost islands, islets and reefs were declared a national park, which today covers 109 islands with no permanent settlements, only temporary fishing shelters in its sheltered coves.