Čiovo (pronounced ; ) is an island located off the Adriatic coast in Croatia with an area of (length , width up to ), population of 5,908 inhabitants (2011) and its highest peak is 218 m (Rudine). The centre of the island has geographical coordinates , and the annual rainfall is about . Geography Čiovo is located in central Dalmatia, protecting the town of Trogir and Kaštela gulf. On its SE part it is only two km distant from the cape Marjan, on its northern part it is connected to the mainland with a small bascule bridge in the old centre of Trogir, and actually Trogir spread itself onto the island. Besides the portion of Trogir, on the island there are several villages: Arbanija, Žedno, Okrug Gornji, Okrug Donji, Slatine and Prizidnica. The vegetation is typically Mediterranean, consisting mainly in understory (holm oak, myrtle, wormwood, juniper etc.). On the northern side (exposed to the wind bura) are forests of pine and cypress. Major crops include olives, figs, almonds, vines and citrus fruit. Connection to the mainland Since 1964 the island was connected by a bridge to Trogir which is itself connected to the mainland by another bridge. The development of tourism though generated so much traffic that this connection suffered severe capacity shortages in high season. A construction of a new bridge which connects Čiovo directly with the mainland began in February 2015. It was opened to traffic on July 17, 2018. The new long bascule bridge is located about east of the old one. Its navigational clearance when spans are closed is . History The remains of forts and walls, as well as the artefacts dating back to the Antiquity, indicate that the Island of Čiovo, on the western side of which there is the present-day Municipality of Okrug, was already inhabited in the prehistoric times. During the period of the Roman Empire it served as a shelter for the exiled, and in the 5th century it also became an eremitic retreat. If we exclude the religious hermits who used to live next to picturesque churches that may still be seen today, during the second half of the early Middle Ages the Island was not inhabited. The situation changed in 1451 when, due to ever more frequent Ottoman sieges, the Republic of Venice, under the dominion of which the Town of Trogir had been since the year 1420, allowed