CHERSO, one of the three major islands of the Quarnero group, which lies off the east coast of the peninsula of Istria. With the adjacent island of Lussin it was transferred to Italy in the settlement after the World War and is included in Venezia Giulia, while Veglia, the third member of the group, is attached to Yugo slavia. Cherso, 4om. long and 8m. wide has a total area of 125 square miles. It is separated from Lussin by a navigable channel, crossed by a swing bridge, the channel being believed to be arti ficial and the result of Roman work. The Roman town of Ossero, now a village but formerly the capital of Cherso, stands where the two islands approach most closely. Lussin, though having an area of only 28 sq.m., has a larger population than Cherso and contains in Lussin Piccolo a harbour of some importance, while Cherso harbour has no great value. Both islands are structurally a part of the karst plateau of Istria, and show similar features, with numerous swallow-holes and patches of fertile red earth. Cherso contains the interesting karstic L. Vrana. Wine, olive oil and fruits are produced in both, but Cherso, which is mountainous, rising to over 2,000f t., is devoted largely to sheep-rearing. Under the Austrians the population of Cherso, about 8,000, was regis tered as predominantly Serbo-Croat, the Italians forming a mi nority. But Cherso and Lussin formed together one district, and Italians so largely predominated in the latter island as to make the total figures for the two stocks practically equal. Since the Ital ians regarded the Austrian figures as favouring the Serbo-Croat element at their expense the frontier was drawn to include both islands within Italy.
See "The Austrian Littoral," Foreign Office Peace Handbook, 10.