An over-sea bridge linking southern Croatia to its northern tip across the Adriatic Sea could start being built by the end of the year, in a move that has powerful historical and political resonance for the region.
At the moment, driving by car from Dubrovnik up along the coast to the Croatian capital of Zagreb sees you forced to exit Croatia and enter Bosnia and Herzgovina (BiH).
Just 20 kilometres later, after passing by Neum, BiH’s only coastal town, you are back in Croatia again. After having queued to get through two border checks.
This BiH corridor means that Croatia is split into two non-contiguous parts.
This split was a long time in the making.
Croatia itself has had a long and turbulent history and for much of it was divided into several parts, one of which was the Republic of Dubrovnik.
This was an independent country with its headquarters in Dubrovnik itself, a medieval city famous for its beauty (and now even more famous for having parts of TV series Game of Thrones filmed there).
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