Velebit is the largest though not the highest mountain in Croatia. Its highest peak is the Vaganski Vrh at 1757 m.
It is part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the northwest near Senj with the Vratnik mountain pass and ends 145 km to the southeast near the source of the Zrmanja river reasonably near Knin.
Velebit as a whole is a nature park , from which two national parks have been carved out: Paklenica and Sjeverni Velebit . A further category of even more careful nature preservation exists within Sjeverni Velebit, the Hajdučki i Rožanski Kukovi.
Velebit also has the largest and deepest caves in Croatia. The three-part "Lukina jama" cave is 1392 m deep, while the "Slovačka jama" is 1320 m. See Velebit caves.
The imposing nature of the Velebit mountain has made it something of a national symbol in Croatian folklore. There's a patriotic folk song Vila Velebita that personifies a fairy in Velebit.
Velebit is home to the Degenia velebitica, an endemic and protected species of the degenia plant from the Brassicaceae family.
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