Dubrovnik is a southern Croatian city of 42,641 inhabitants, located along the Dalmatian coast. Dubrovnik is the capital of the region and the largest city in southern Dalmatia. The city was originally founded on a rocky island and then connected to the mainland by burying a thin arm of the sea (which today corresponds to the flat part of the city). Dubrovnik boasts a particularly beautiful historic center which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and which has earned it the nickname "pearl of the Adriatic".