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Rab is an island and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea, today in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. The island is 22 km long, has an area of 93.6 km² and 9,480 inhabitants. The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters. The northeastern side of the island is mostly barren, karst, while the southwestern side is covered by one of the last oak forest of the Mediterranean. The island is very popular nowadays with tourists and families for its beautiful beaches and many events, particularly the Rab arbalest tournament and Rab Medieval festival - Rapska Fjera. The main town on the island is also named Rab. It has 554 residents and is located on a small peninsula on the southwestern side of the island. Ferries connect the island of Rab with the mainland port of Jablanac and with the neighbouring island Krk. The town Rab has a long history that dates back to 360 BC when it was under the Illyrians. The island was the frontier between the provinces Liburnia and Dalmatia. From the third century BC to the sixth century AD Rab was part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus proclaimed it a Municipium in 10 BC. It was the first town of Roman Dalmatia to be given honorary title felix. Marinus, the Christian founder of San Marino, was a native of Rab who was said to have fled the island under Diocletian's persecution in AD 301. During the Middle Ages Rab was part of the Byzantine Empire, then, for some time, part of the Kingdom of Croatia, then in 1358 the island came under the rule of King Louis the Great, the Angevin ruler of Hungary. From the Renaissance it was governed by Venice. It was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, then the Italian Kingdom, before becoming part of Yugoslavia. The four church belltowers became the symbol of the town and island. The oldest dates back to the eleventh century. There are many churches in the town, St. Mary the Blessed being the largest of them, dated to the 13th century. St. Justine church is now a museum of sacred arts, while St. Christopher (the patron saint's chappel) is nowadays called Lapidarium. Nowadays island Rab is vacation and wellness oasis, also known as a pioneer of naturism.
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