Krk (pronounced [kr̩̂k]; Italian: Veglia; Istro Romanian: Krk; Vegliot Dalmatian: Vikla; archaic German: Vegl, Latin: Curicta; Ancient Greek: Κύρικον, romanized: Kyrikon) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county.

Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending on the methodology used to measure the coastline.

Archaeological findings indicate that the island was inhabited continuously since the Neolithic period, although very little information about the earliest people is known.

[3] There are the remains of prehistoric settlements near Draga Bašćanska, as well as Bronze and Iron Age earthworks near Malinska, Dobrinj, Vrbnik and Baška.

Work began on their construction during the Civil War in Rome (50 BCE) and they were further strengthened in the 160s CE, to enable them to withstand attacks by the Quadi and Marcomanni who were at that time threatening the Adriatic.

Not far from Krk in 49 BCE there was a decisive sea battle between Caesar and Pompey, which was described impressively by the Roman writer Lucan (39–65 CE) in his work Pharsalia.

This is the only temple dedicated to the goddess Venus to be found on the eastern side of the Adriatic and it dates back to 1st century BC.

During the reign of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (10th century), Krk was known as Vekla, of which the Romanized variant, also used by the Venetians, was Veglia.

It is known that from around 875 the Byzantine town paid the Croatian rulers 110 gold pieces a year to be able peacefully to keep their hold there.

During the reign of Peter Krešimir IV the Croatian rulers regained their power, but the Venetians took Krk for the second time in 1118.

When Dujam died in 1163, Venice allowed his sons to make their position hereditary, after a payment of 350 Byzantine gold pieces as tax.

Dujam's youngest son, who died in 1209, succeeded in extending his authority to the mainland, began to serve the Croatian-Hungarian King and received the district of Modruš.

[citation needed] He also promoted the settlement of Morlachs and Vlachs (originally Romanians who later split into Istro-Romanians) in the island (specifically in the areas of Dubašnica and Poljica and between the castles of Dobrinj and Omišalj) to have a bigger manpower.

Thus, these Istro-Romanians would form a community in Krk that would influence the local Croatian dialect and leave several toponyms on the island.

Italian was also used for the church registers for births, marriages and deaths; other public documents were written in a Glagolitic script, which was widespread here more than anywhere else.

At the beginning of 16th century the inhabitants of inland Croatia began to settle on Krk, as a result of their flight from the Ottoman invasions.

[5] Austrian rule over the island came after the fall of Venice in 1797 and was briefly (1806–1813) interrupted by the existence of Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces.

[15] Oak forests made the island attractive for ship builders, dating to Liburnian times.

Krk is a popular tourist destination, due to its proximity to Slovenia, southern Germany, Austria, and northern Italy.

[23] A Eurasian griffon vulture colony lives in protected in an area called Kuntrep on Krk.

Through the program "27 neighborhoods", the city of Krk, Malinska and Vrbnik will be involved in different events during the entire year.