Perušić is municipality (općina) in Lika-Senj County, Croatia. The municipality has 2,638 inhabitants, while the settlement itself has 852. The municipality is within the mountainous Lika region of central Croatia. The Kosinj valley region sprawls alongside it. Perušić is one of the poorest inhabited municipalities in Croatia, with a shrinking population. Farming and agricultural industries are the main occupations. The small settlements of the municipality are built on hillsides due to frequent flooding. Geography The Municipality of Perušić is located in the southeastern part of Lika, at an altitude of , in a valley of the Lika River watershed. It lies in a field, Perušićko polje, bounded by the hills west of Klis and the railway line east of the Old Town of Perušić (Stari grad Perušić Gradina). Perušić connects to major roadways including the D50 state road, and the Zagreb–Split motorway (A1). The main railway line M604 also connects to Zagreb and Split, with daily passenger and freight service. History The region has been inhabited since the ancient times. Stone Age artifacts have been found on the road to Otočac, while more finds come from the Bronze Age including grave sites from the 8th or 9th century BC. In the woods of Begovača near Kosinje there is a Roman monolith engraved with the verdict of a water dispute between Illyrian tribes. Perušić became an organized settlement in the 16th century, when it was on the border between the Ottoman Empire and European states. It was first called Perušić in 1487. It was founded by brothers Dominik and Gašpar Perušić, from a noble family who came from the hinterland. The family built a hill fortress, known by various names in writings of that time, including Stari grad Perušić (Old Town of Perušić), Gradina (fortified town), and most often Perušićka kula (Perušić tower). When the Turks conquered Lika and Krbava, 1527, the fort became the main stronghold of Turkish Lika. This borderland between three empires – the Habsburg monarchy including the remains of the Croatian-Hungarian Empire, the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire – was the scene of constant warfare. Liberation from the Turkish authorities in Lika began in 1685. Until 1918, Perušić was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia after the Compromise of 1867), in the Croatian Military Frontier, administered by the Kommando Ottotschaner Regiment 2. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Perušić was