Prevlaka

Prevlaka (prɛ̂ʋlaka) is a small peninsula in southern Croatia, near the border with Montenegro, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor on the eastern Adriatic coast. Because of its strategic location in the southern Adriatic, in the aftermath of the SFR Yugoslav breakup, the peninsula became subject to a territorial dispute between Croatia and FR Yugoslavia, a federal state that included Montenegro. The territory was functional under UN until 2002. The UN mission ended in December 2002 and the territory that had previously been part of SR Croatia was returned to the Republic of Croatia. An agreement was signed by both sides five days before the departure of the UNMOP that demilitarized Prevlaka and effectively made it a neutral territory, though implementation still has a temporary character. The narrow, uninhabited peninsula is long and only wide, covering an area of (just under ). The word prevlaka means portage. Cape Oštro (Punta Oštro/Punta d'Ostro), located at the very tip of the peninsula, is the southernmost point of mainland in Croatia. Along with the small Montenegrin island of Mamula, which sits some east of Cape Oštro, in addition to being two sides of an international maritime border, the two spots present observation entry points into the Bay of Kotor. North of the Prevlaka isthmus, just within the Bay of Kotor, lie the two less prominent capes Konfin and Kobila, to the northwest of which is a road border crossing between Croatia and Montenegro. The D516 highway connects it to Konavle and the D8; northwards the road connects to Njivice, Sutorina and Igalo. Konavle and the Prevlaka peninsula was bought by the Republic of Ragusa from the Bosnian Kingdom in the early 15th century to protect its eastern flank. Ragusans fortified Cape Oštro in 1441. Cape Kobila was the boundary with Sutorina under the Ottoman Empire's control since 1699. In 1806, during Napoleon's conquest of Europe, King Alexander I of Russia was intent on stopping French advances in the Adriatic and to that end deployed a Mediterranean expedition led by vice-admiral Dmitry Senyavin, that by September 1806 made considerable territorial gains in the area, including Prevlaka and the entire Bay of Kotor.