Konavle

Konavle is a municipality and a small Dalmatian subregion located southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The region is administratively part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the center of the municipality is Cavtat.

Demographics
The total municipality population was 8,577 people in 2011, split in the following 32 settlements:


 * Brotnice, population 31
 * Cavtat, population 2,153
 * Čilipi, population 933
 * Drvenik, population 52
 * Duba Konavoska, population 63
 * Dubravka, population 295
 * Dunave, population 155
 * Đurinići, population 96
 * Gabrili, population 210
 * Gruda, population 741
 * Jasenice, population 14
 * Komaji, population 275
 * Kuna Konavoska, population 17
 * Lovorno, population 183
 * Ljuta, population 194
 * Mihanići, population 96
 * Mikulići, population 88
 * Močići, population 447
 * Molunat, population 212
 * Palje Brdo, population 130
 * Pločice, population 83
 * Poljice, population 70
 * Popovići, population 236
 * Pridvorje, population 236
 * Radovčići, population 228
 * Stravča, population 60
 * Šilješki, population 22
 * Uskoplje, population 136
 * Vitaljina, population 211
 * Vodovađa, population 190
 * Zastolje, population 150
 * Zvekovica, population 570

In the 2011 census, 97.1% of the population were Croats. Historically, inhabitants of Konavle were called Canalesi.

History
In 1427, the authorities of Dubrovnik set out to eradicate Bogomilism in Konavle. Catholicism was restored there by the Franciscans in a rapid process that converted the entire population. During the Croatian War of Independence the region was occupied from October 1991 to May 1992 by Yugoslav Army forces from the Republic of Montenegro. Though considerably damaged at the time of its liberation, Konavle maintains its status as one of the wealthiest municipalities in all of Croatia, consistently ranking amongst the ten richest.

Geography
Konavle is actually a narrow field located between the Sniježnica mountain and the Adriatic Sea, spanning the area from the coastal town of Cavtat to the Montenegrin border at Prevlaka. Other than Cavtat, only the southernmost village of Molunat is located on the coast, while the other 30 villages are in the hinterland.

The Sniježnica peak at 1234 meters of altitude is the highest point of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and village of Kuna with its 700 m altitude is the highest village in the county. Although Gruda is the administrative center of the municipality, the largest settlement is Cavtat. A few kilometres from Cavtat there is Pasjača, the 2020 most beautiful beach in Europe, hidden below the Konavle cliffs.

Transport
The airport for Dubrovnik is located near the Konavle village of Čilipi.

Notable people from Konavle

 * Tereza Kesovija, singer
 * Vlaho Bukovac, painter
 * Frano Supilo, politician
 * Baltazar Bogišić, jurist and legal historian
 * Ivan Gundulić, poet, Prince of Konavle
 * Anton Perich, artist, filmmaker, poet