Lika region

Lika
Historical region of Croatia^a
Lika (highlighted) on a map of Croatia
Country	Croatia
Largest city	Gospić
Area
• Total	5,000 km² (2,000 sq mi)
Population
• Total	c. 50,000
^a Lika is not designated as an official region, it is a geographic and historical region only..

Lika (pronounced [lǐːka]) is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass. Today most of the territory of Lika (Gospić, Otočac, Brinje, Donji Lapac, Lovinac, Perušić, Plitvička Jezera, Udbina and Vrhovine) is part of Lika-Senj County. Josipdol, Plaški and Saborsko are part of Karlovac County and Gračac is part of Zadar County.

Major towns include Gospić, , and Gračac, most of which are located in the karst poljes of the rivers of Lika, Gacka and others. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is also in Lika.

Bijelohrvati (or White Croats) originally migrated from White Croatia to Lika in the first half of the 7th century. After the settlement of Croats (according to migrations theories), Lika became part of the Principality of Littoral Croatia. Lika then became a part of the Kingdom of Croatia in 925, when Duke Tomislav of the Croats received the crown and became King of Croatia.