Yugoslavia

The karst area of massive limestones extends from Carniola, south of the Ljubljana basin, through western Croatia, the interior of Dalmatia, a part of western Bosnia, the greater part of Herce govina and western Montenegro to the Albanian frontier. It in cludes ridges such as the Great and Little Kapela and the Velebit, the Uskok Mts. west of Zagreb and other hilly areas, with inter vening basins and depressions of varying sizes, much of the surface being below 2,000 ft. above sea-level.

Further inland, however, especially to the south, in Bosnia, the extreme east of Hercegovina and eastern Montenegro, the eleva tion increases notably, outstanding heights being Durmitor (8,234 ft.) in north-west Montenegro and MajliC (7,84o ft.) on the fron tier between Montenegro and Hercegovina. This elevated area is the Planina region of the Slays, planing being the precise equiva lent of alp (mountain pasture) in the Alps proper. In the Planinas or high mountain region then, upland pastures and forests re-appear.

The Five Natural Regions.

We may therefore recognize five natural regions in Yugoslavia, falling into three groups. Of these (I ) the Pannonian basin in the wide sense is by far the most important economically, and with it may be associated (2) the Slovene Alps, which are linked to it by the Drava and Sava valleys.

(3) The Morava-Vardar depression forms a unit by itself. In the west, despite the difficulties of communication (4) the coastal belt may be associated with (5) the Dinaric karst and mountain belt.

I. The Pannonian Basin.

This obtains its name from the old Roman province of Pannonia, the name being applied by geolo gists to a great depression between the Alps on the west and the Transylvanian Mts. on the east which was flooded by water dur ing the Tertiary period. The water was finally drained off by the Danube as it cut its way through the encircling mountain rim by the gorge which forms the Iron Gate. Northwards the plain left by the ebbing of the waters extends beyond the limits of Yugo slavia; southwards, beyond the plain which fringes the Sava Danube, it gives place to an undulating platform which seems to represent the shore of the old lake. This hill country forms part of northern Bosnia and northern Serbia, extending in the latter country southwards to the hills west of Nig, notably the Jastrebac and Kopaonik ranges.

That part of this productive Tertiary hill country which extends eastwards from the Kolubara to the Morava and is bounded to the south by the valley of the Western Morava, forms the Sumadija of the Serbs and constituted the heart of modern Serbia. Originally

thickly forested—Sumadija means forest—the woods have been largely cleared except on the island-like mountains of older rock, such as Rudnik, which rise from the general surface. In Bosnia, however, much of the original woodland remains.

The whole region, including plains, river valleys, hill country and isolated mountains and uplands, constitutes economically the most important part of the state, and has a considerable variety of resources. In Serbia the characteristic occupation is mixed farming carried on by peasants on small holdings. The cereals include maize, wheat, barley and oats. A great variety of vege tables is grown for local use, and there are numerous orchards, the characteristic plum being accompanied by all the usual temperate fruit-trees. Local advantages of climate and soil account for cer tain special crops, such as tobacco (especially near Uiice in the valley of the Western Morava) ; the vine for table grapes or wine in the more sheltered areas, especially near Smederevo in the Morava valley and in the lower Timok valley ; sugar beet in the Morava valley ; flax, especially in the Drina and Kolubara valleys; mulberry for silkworm-rearing in the Morava valley, and so on. Of stock animals the pig is particularly important but cattle and horses are reared, with many sheep on the uplands.

In the Voyvodina conditions are broadly similar, but cereal production, especially of wheat, is more important, and the farm ing is of a more advanced type. There is a correspondingly greater development of the industries using local raw material, such as flour-milling, sugar-extraction, brewing and distilling, rope-making from local hemp, the making of linen and silk goods, etc., and as a consequence towns are more numerous and larger. The greater variety of the surface in Croatia-Slavonia, again, brings certain modifications. Orchards are numerous, and to the plums, vines, apples, pears, etc., of Serbia are added walnuts and chestnuts. Stock-rearing is extensively practised, and the fact that there are large forested areas results in a great development of industries based on wood and wood products.