Zadar, city and seaport in southwestern Croatia, on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, about 115 km (about 70 mi) northwest of Split. Zadar is an important cargo port with a strategic maritime location. The city has a shipyard and industries producing processed fish, textiles, and liqueur. The city is a popular seaside resort, with beaches and camping nearby. Ferry service connects it with other cities on the Dalmatian coast and with Italy. The city is connected to the rest of Croatia by road and rail. There are numerous architectural landmarks, including the 9th-century Saint Donatus Church, and several museums.
Zadar was probably first settled in the 4th century BC by the Illyrians, an ancient people of Indo-European stock. In the 1st century BC the settlement became a colony of Rome and was known as Iadera. Zadar came under the control of the republic of Venice in 1202. It passed to Austria in 1797 and was held by the French under Napoleon I from 1805 to 1813, when it was again taken by Austria. It was ceded to Italy in 1920 and passed to Yugoslavia in 1947. Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991; in the ensuing civil war, Zadar and other cities became battlegrounds between ethnic Croats and ethnic Serbs. Population (1991) 76,343.
