The Islands are a group of fourteen small islands in the Croatian part of the northern Adriatic Sea, separated from the west coast of the Istrian peninsula by the narrow Fažana Strait. The largest island, Veliki Brijun Island (also known as Brioni Grande or Veli Brijun), (5.6 km2), lies 2 km off the coast. Famous for their scenic beauty, the islands are a holiday resort and a Croatian National Park.
In 1945 after World War II the Brijuni became part of Yugoslavia and President Marshal Josip Broz Tito made the Brijuni Islands his personal State Summer Residence. Slovenian architect Jože Ple?nik designed a pavilion for Tito. Almost 100 foreign heads of state visited Tito on his islands, along with numberous film stars. Tito died in 1980, and by 1983 the islands were declared a National Park of Yugoslavia.
The majority of the flora on the archipelago of the Brijuni islands has the typical Mediterranean characteristics. On Veliki Brijun Island there are about 600 indigenous plant species. Here cedars, bamboos, and the pyramidal yew have become acclimatised, while on Vanga the dwarf spruce grows. There is also much exotic vegetation that Tito received from foreign statesmen.
Because of the millennial presence of men on the archipelago of Brijuni, the animal world on the islands, especially Veliki Brijun, besides the autochthonous species, was enriched by many imported species that are not congenial to this habitat but got acclimated to it thanks to the almost ideal microclimatic conditions. Inside the park there is an ethno park is an area within the Safari park presenting a typical Istrian homestead with its autochthonous animal species. Istrian ox (a descendent of the Aurochs), Istrian sheep, donkeys and goats. It is intended both as a habitat and presentation of domestic animals of Istria. On the island there is also a Safari Park, it is home to a variety of exotic animals which were given to the park as gifts from diplomatic partners.
The seabed abounds in sponges, shellfish, sea urchins, crustaceans, fish etc. In the past in the seas of Brijuni were found some species that were never seen in the Adriatic, as well as some species up to then unknown to scientists like the soft coral Alcyonium brionense or the variety of the sponge Ircinia variabilis fistulata.
The Italian clothing company Brioni is named after the historical name for the islands.
