Senj (Croatian: [sêɲ];[3] Italian: Segna; Latin: Senia; Hungarian and German: Zengg) is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains.

For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks (Italian: Uscocchi), who were Christian refugees from Ottoman Bosnia resettled here to protect the Habsburg borderlands.

[4] A settlement called Athyinites or Athuinites (Αθυινιτες) in today's Senj was mentioned in Greek documents dated to the 4th century BC.

They served an important purpose during the wars since they had small units of men rowing swift boats that proved to be very effective guerrilla forces.

The 18th century brought some prosperity, especially with the construction of the Josephina (named after Emperor Joseph II) linking the Adriatic coast via Senj to Karlovac.

Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Lika-Krbava County after the compromise of 1867), in the Croatian Military Frontier (Regiment III).

According to the Köppen climate classification it falls within a cool, dry-summer subtropical zone (Csb), with cool-summer Mediterranean characteristics such as its usually dry summers.