Neum

Neum is a small town located in mild Mediterranean climate that has steep hills, stone-sandy beaches, and several large tourist hotels. The inland area behind Neum has a rich archeological history and untouched wilderness with centuries-old olive groves in the hinterland.

Neum has about 5,000 beds for tourists, 1,810 in hotels with the remaining capacity in motels, villas, and private accommodation. Tourism in Neum is active only in the coastal region. Prices tend to be lower than in neighbouring Croatia, making it popular with shoppers. Tourism, and the commerce it brings, is the leading contributor to the economy of the area.

The Neum corridor dates back to the Treaty of Karlovci of 1699, whereby the Republic of Ragusa was separated from the Dalmatian possessions of its rival Venice by two buffer zones ceded by Ragusa to the Ottoman empire to prevent the possibility of Venice invading via land[3][4]: north of its territory is Neum and the bay of Klek, and south of its territory is Sutorina with the port of Herceg-Novi on the Bay of Kotor, now part of Montenegro since 1947.[5]

The Karlovci borders were reaffirmed in 1718 by the Treaty of Požarevac, but then the Ottomans, tired of negotiating in vain with Venice for a widening of their maritime access, simply usurped the territory of Gornji Klek and most of the Klek peninsula from the Republic of Ragusa, which it had bought from King Stjepan of Bosnia at the end of the 14th century. After the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797 and the Vienna Congress in 1815, the Austrian Empire, which had annexed both the Dalmatian possessions of Venice and the territory of Dubrovnik, tried to buy back the Neum and Sutorina enclaves from the Ottomans, but in vain. Instead, it stationed a warship to block access to the port of Neum until the Treaty of Berlin, which gave Vienna the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1878. Neum had been under Ottoman control for 179 years.

In 1918, as a consequence of Vienna's defeat, Neum joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which would start being called "Yugoslavia" in 1929. Under Karađorđević, the Yugoslav Government ignored the borders inherited from history twice: in 1929, when the Neum Region was included in the Littoral Banovina, and in 1939 when, following the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, it was included in the Banovina of Croatia. Tito's federal Yugoslavia was founded on the principle, declared at the 1943 AVNOJ in Jajce and comparatively well-respected by the Đilas commission in 1945, of establishing the federated Republics in their borders of 1878 which is why the Neum enclave is now part of independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, including most of the Klek peninsula (Ponta Kleka, Rep Kleka), the two islets Veliki and Mali Školj and the rock of Lopata in the Bay of Klek.[6]

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  Panorama view of town
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  Waterpolo court in Neum
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  Residential Neum
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  Aerial view of Neum

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  Neum
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  Neum coast
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  Zenička beach in Neum
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  Neum Lighthouse

The climate of the area is Mediterranean, characterized by mild winters and dry summers, with three times more rain in the rainier than in the drier months, during which the mean precipitation do not exceed 40 mm (1.57 in). The mean yearly precipitation observed is of 1316 mm (51.8). The dominant winds come from the north, north-east and north-west. The average sea temperature (as observed in Neum) ranges from 13 °C (55 °F) in January to 28 °C (82 °F) in July and August.

Vegetation is the evergreen Mediterranean type, and subtropical flora (palm trees, agaves, cacti) grow in Neum and its surroundings.

Neum celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Good Health as its municipal day. As part of the celebrations, Neum hosts the Music Festival Etnofest Neum. The town also hosts the Neum Animated Film Festival.[7]

The linđo is traditionally danced in the Neum region.[8]

Neum is home to local branches of the cultural organizations Matica hrvatska and HKD Napredak.[9][10]

Popular activities include swimming and sun bathing, beach-going, boating, and various other water-sports. Neum has a water polo club VK Jadran Neum, which is a member of the Croatian Water Polo Federation.

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  Folk costumes from Neum
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  Roman Catholic church in Neum
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  Hutovo fortress ruins
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  Stećak from Neum

The Sutorina dispute was a border dispute between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the sovereignty over the territory of Sutorina. In the end government of Bosnia signed the agreement (by Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Crnadak and/or witnessed by the Croat Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Čović) agreeing that Sutorina was part of Montenegro.

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  BiH coast guard / border police
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  US. Frigate USS Nicholas anchored at Neum
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  Sulejman Tihić greets U.S. Ambassador to BiH aboard USS Nicholas (2003)
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  German frigate Schleswig-Holstein anchored at Neum
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  Turkish ships anchored at Neum (2011)

Consideration was given to a plan to build a new advanced naval base at Neum-Klek by Austro-Hungarian Navy. General Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf considered fortifying Neum with coastal batteries and torpedo craft to supplement seafront defenses (in order to prevent Italian raids, or worse large scale Italian landing). The project never got past the planning stage prior to the outbreak of War in 1914.[11]

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  Huszár-class destroyer of Austro-Hungarian Navy (Neum 1916)
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  Torpedo boat guarding steamers
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  Transport steamer (SS Linz type ship)
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  Transport steamer; March 1916
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  Transport steamer up close

• Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• List of lighthouses in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia relations

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neum.

• Future Port of Neum
• Bosnian Border Police
• Neum city portal / Neumski gradski portal
• Official website of Neum (In Croatian and English)
• Neum City info
• Neum City info
• Info and accommodation in Neum