LOCATION AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Dubrovnik-Neretva Region is the southernmost region of the Republic of Croatia and it is territorially organized into 22 units of local government and self-government with five cities (Dubrovnik, Korčula, Ploče, Metković and Opuzen) and 17 municipalities (Blato, Dubrovačko primorje, Janjina, Konavle, Kula Norinska, Lastovo, Lumbarda, Mljet, Orebić, Pojezerje, Slivno, Smokvica, Ston,
Trpanj, Vela Luka, Zažablje and Župa dubrovačka). The regional center is the City of Dubrovnik.
The Region consists of two basic functional and physiognomic units: a relatively narrow longitudinal coastal area with a string of offshore islands and closer islands (most notably Korčula, Mljet, Lastovo and the Elaphiti Island group) and the area of Lower Neretva with its gravitating coastal zone. The Region is divided by the state border line with Bosnia and Herzegovina and only in the Lower Neretva Valley it has a natural connection to the inland and a junction towards the North and the Pannonian part of Croatia.
The coastline is very indented and varies in type, from sheltered bays with sandy beaches of exotic beauty to the steep shoreline with cliffs facing the open sea, which makes this Region one of the most beautiful areas of the Mediterranean.
The area of the Region has all the characteristics of the Mediterranean climate with climate variations that are the result of a high mountain barrier in the vicinity of the coast, of an array of islands and the occasional continental influences.
The Region in numbers:
| The Dubrovnik-Neretva Region | Land area | Sea area | Total |
| The surface area of the Region: | 1,782.49 km2 | 7,489.88 km2 | 9,272.37 km2 |
| The length of the state border: | 164.29 km2 | 253.42 km2 | 417.71 km2 |
| The length of the regional border: | 25.29 km2 | 118.66 km2 | 143.95 km2 |
| The total length of the border: | 189.58 km2 | 372.08 km2 | 561.66 km2 |
| % of the surface in comparison to the Republic of Croatia | 3.15% | 22.56% | 10.32% |
| The Republic of Croatia | Land area | Sea area | Total |
| Surface area: | 56,609.59 km2 | 33,200.00 km2 | 89,809.59 km2 |
| The length of the state border: | 950 km | 2 978.00 km | 2,028 km |
Source:
The data are based on the territorial subdivision acquired digitally from the Institute for Photogrammetry in October 1998.
- The Region takes up 9,272.37 km2 of surface, which represents 12.49% of the overall surface of the Republic of Croatia.
- The land accounts for 1,782.49 km2 of surface, or 3% of the land territory of Croatia.
- The pertaining sea has a surface of 7,489.88 km2, or 80.78% of the surface of the Region or 23% of the Croatian sea.
- The length of the regional coastline is 1,024.63 km.
- According to the 2001 census there is a total of 122,870 inhabitants living in the Region, which represents a decrease of 3% in comparison to the 1991 census.
- The average population density is 70.8 inhabitants per km2, which is 16.7% lower than the state average.
- The most populated area is the Dubrovnik littoral with an average population density of 113.17 inhabitants per km2, followed by the Lower Neretva region with 82.15 inhabitants per km2, while the peninsular-insular geographical zone is the least inhabited wider area of the Region (34.67 inhabitants per km2).