From a geographical point of view, Dalmatia extends along the eastern coastal strip of the Adriatic Sea (current geopolitical configuration in Eastern Adriatic, 1991).
More precisely, Dalmatia begins in the north from the southern part of the Kvarner Gulf and ends in the south at the panoramic view of Zaragoza on the Bojana River, which divides present-day Montenegro from Albania.
To the east, the Dalmatian region is almost everywhere limited by a large mountain fold of crystalline limestone that does not exceed 2.000 metres: the Velebit Alps and the Dinaric Alps.
The only flat strip of land that runs from Zadar to Split, includes rare watercourses, some mountainous interruptions and, for about half of its surface, appears arid and sparsely vegetated.

The Adriatic is the other limit of Dalmatia whose coast, with deep blue seabeds, is dotted with countless islands and rocks.
The academic and eminent geographer Giotto Dainelli in 1930 pointed out, in one of his works dedicated to the other side of the Adriatic, that Dalmatia in its Yugoslav administrative borders (Dalmatia, apart from the islands of Lagosta and Zara which politically passed to Italy as a result of the Treaty of Rapallo in 1920, belonged for the most part to the Yugoslav kingdom) reached a total surface area of ​​12.835 km10.448, of which 2.387 were related to the mainland strip and 17.800 to the islands, while natural Dalmatia, in its geophysical complex, reached approximately XNUMX kmXNUMX.
The largest islands of northern Dalmatia are: Cres (in Croatian), Krk (Veglia), Rab (Arbe) and Pag (Pago).
The largest islands in central-southern Dalmatia are: Dugi Otok, Murter, Hvar, Brač, Korčula, Vis and Lastovo.
The Croatian Littoral, with its capital city of Senj, must certainly be distinguished from Dalmatia. Over the centuries, after the fall of Rome, its history was closely linked to Hungarian-Croatian events.

The Dalmatian coast has in common with the Istrian coast a predominantly calcareous and jagged rocky structure, it has numerous bays and inlets, sometimes very deep, which spontaneously give rise to the comparison with the Scandinavian fjords.
These are the so-called “valleys” or “valleys”, among the deepest we remember the fjord at the mouth of the waterfalls of the river Cerca del river Cherca (Krka) near Šibenik or the picturesque Boka Kotorska.
Very fascinating and evocative is the long Morlacca Channel that divides the high and steep coast dominated by the Velebit mountains from the arid and stony but very evocative coast of the island of Pag.
Closely dependent on the geological nature and also the hydrography of Dalmatia.
The limestone rocks in Dalmatia are actually very permeable due to the numerous cracks and fissures present in their mass.
These typical cracks in the limestone cause rapid assimilation of rainfall, which does not stop on the surface but goes underground.

Dalmatia, therefore, like any other karst region on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, is a typical territory where surface hydrography is replaced by underground hydrography.
There are few rivers of any length.
The only large river that flows into the sea is the Narenta (in Croatian Neretva), but it originates in the Herzegovinian mountains. The only truly Dalmatian rivers are only three: the Cetina (formerly Tilurius), the Zermagna (Tedanius) and the Cherca (Titius).
All three originate in the mountainous hinterland of Šibenik, where the Dalmatian hinterland is at its widest.
Lakes in Dalmatia are few, small and without outlets. The most important are the lakes of Aurana (Vrana) and Imotschi.
Dalmatia has a typical Mediterranean climate, with little summer rainfall.
Ragusa Summer is hot and breezy while winter along the coast is rather mild in the central-southern part, colder and rainier in the mountainous area.

The wind regime is very varied, from spring to autumn the north-west winds prevail and the mistral alternates with the bora (tramontana wind).
From late autumn, when the northern hinterland cools down more intensely than the coastal area, the bora prevails, blowing in sometimes impetuous gusts, while in the southernmost part the sirocco blows, a warm and humid south-east wind.
Snow and frost along the Dalmatian coast are a rarity.
The typical Mediterranean climate in Dalmatia corresponds to the characteristic Dalmatian-Mediterranean rural landscape flora.

On the islands and along the coast, for a width that generally does not exceed ten kilometers, the typical Mediterranean scrub extends, consisting of a low forest, sometimes dense, sometimes fragmented with evergreen shrubs, tree heather, rosemary, sage, myrtle and junipers, oleanders and pomegranates.

Also very frequent are the pine groves (pinus nigra isoletta di Santo Stefano or pinus halepensis), which, together with the cypress and holm oak trees, alternate with the rest of the tree vegetation.
In the mountainous area, oak and beech (Fagus Selvatica) forests prevail.
Among the most useful crops are the olive tree, the vine, fruit trees such as the peach tree, the fig tree, the carob tree and the marasco tree; this last tree variety, similar to the sour cherry, produces marasche, small cherries with acidulous pulp.
After having briefly mentioned these natural and geophysical characteristics of Dalmatia, it will be clear how this land has notable similarities with many southern Italian regions such as Puglia or Sardinia.