Pašman () is an Adriatic island off the coast of northern Dalmatia in Croatia with an area of 60.11 km2, located to the south of Zadar, surrounded by the islands of Ugljan to the northwest, Iž to the west, and Dugi Otok and Žut to the southwest. The island is inhabited by 2,845 people, according to the 2011 census. There are 10 settlements on the island; Ždrelac, Banj, Dobropoljana, Neviđane, Mrljane, Barotul, Pašman and Kraj, belonging to the Municipality of Pašman, and Ugrinić and Tkon, belonging to the Municipality of Tkon. Among all islands in the Croatian archipelago it is Pašman that has the biggest green surface considering its total area. It is the 12th largest island in the archipelago by land area. It is also known to have the cleanest water in the Adriatic due to the constantly changing currents. History In addition to rare Stone Age finds, many Bronze and Iron Age fortifications confirm the early settlement of the island. Roman writers count Pašman among the Liburnian islands. From the Liburnian period comes the oldest known name of one of the island settlements: Katan (today's Tkon). The oldest known names of the island (Flaveico or Insula Postimana) can be associated with Roman colonisation. Due to the importance of the Pašman Channel as a protected waterway, the eastern side of the island was densely populated in antiquity. Pašman belonged to the Zadar area, but no larger urban-type settlement developed on it. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus probably mentions Pašman in the middle of the 10th century, and his records show that the island was uninhabited at the time. In the Middle Ages, most of Pašman was owned by the nobles of Zadar, citizens and church institutions. The first Benedictine estate on Pašman, St. Michael's in Neviđane, owned by the Zadar Monastery of St. Chrysogonus, mentioned in the 11th century. The island seems to have been part of the Diocese of Biograd at that time. According to some sources, the Bishop of Biograd Prestancije ceded in 1076 to the monastery of St. John in Biograd (founded 1059) the Church of St. Cosmas and Damian on the hill Ćokovac above Tkon. After the Venetian destruction of Biograd in 1125, the seat of Rogovska Abbey was moved there. After the Crusaders' Siege of Zadar in 1202, the Zadar Chapter was located on Ćokovac and the city's nobility escaped. During the Siege of Zadar in