The Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
The Plitvice Lakes National Park, located in central Croatia, is the country’s oldest and largest national park, spanning nearly 300 square kilometres.
Thanks to its unique formation of tufa (traverine), the park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. Though famous for its stunning cascading lakes, these cover just under 1% of the park’s total area, with the rest covered in forest vegetation or grassland. Many wildlife species call these areas home, including bears, roe deer, and various birds.
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is visible in this image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 26 October 2024.
The Copernicus Sentinel satellites deliver free and open data useful for monitoring important ecosystems around the world. This information informs strategies to ensure that their unique characteristics and wildlife are better preserved.
![Download [WEBP, 1.45 MB]](https://eu-space.europa.eu/sites/default/files/images/iotd/20250302_Plitvice_20lakes.webp){kind=link}