The Elaphites have a total land area of around 30 square kilometers and a
population of 850 inhabitants. The islands are covered with
characteristic Mediterranean evergreen vegetation and attract large
numbers of tourists during the summer tourist season due to their
beaches and pristine scenery.
The name comes from the Ancient Greek
word for deer,which used to inhabit the
islands in large numbers. Roman author Pliny the Elder was the first to
mention the islands by the name Elaphiti Islands (Croatian: Jelenski
otoci or Deer Archipelago) in his work Naturalis Historia, published in
the 1st century
