with a characteristically large number of sunshine hours (over 2,500 annually). It has relatively little atmospheric humidity and is rarely overcast, although its' atmospheric currents are usually strong. ( Its' characteristic winds are the jugo, (pronounced 'yugo') which is warm and damp, and the bura, which is a cool dry north-easterly)

GEO-PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:- It is an emphatically Karst area (made up of chalky limestone) with stretches of limestone expanses, coves, basins and funnel shaped holes in the limestone formation.

HYDROGRAPHICS:- It is an exceptionally dry area,and its' main source of water supply is the river Neretva.

DEMOGRAPHIC NOTES:- The population has been in constant fluctuation due to a series of migrations. Indeed it is only in recent years that there has been a steady growth in the number of inhabitants. By todays' calculations, there are somewhere between 3,000 to 3,500 dwellers, all of whom are Croatian by nationality and Roman Catholic by creed. The administrative zone of Citluk (to which Medjugorje and Bijakovici belong) by its' most recent calculation (1991) numbers 15, 083 inhabitants, over a total area of 181 square kilometres, which shows an average population of 83.3 persons per square kilometre (population density).

AGRICULTURAL NOTES: - The area has always been and still is to a certain extent a developed agricultural region, with arable farming as the main traditional activity of the local people. The two main cultures persued are the well-known hercegovinian tobacco, and their renowned wines ( a cultivated genus of vine, which produces the characteristic "Blatina" and "Zilavka" wines.)

However, since 1981, the majority of local people live from tourism and the range of services required for the pilgrims which come from all over the world.

Prominent manufacturers of Medjugorje/Bijakovici wines:

1. Stanko Vasilj (Stankela) 651-042

2. Veselko Sivrić (Andrin) 651-106

3. Grgo Vasilj (Cigin) 651-210

4. Marinko Ostojić (Jošić) 651-496

5. Martin Buntić 651-321