Tourism is the main driver for the economy today as cruise ships such as this disgorge their throngs during the season. (In 2008, cruise ships stopped over 700 times -- jamming crowds into a walled town of 1500 inhabitants!) The Dinaric Alps here plunge into clear sea giving this a beautiful -- but not necessarily sandy beached -- coastline. While winds in this part of the world can be rough, Dubrovnik is insulated from the rain-soaked southern wind (called the jugo) by the island of Lokrum, and from the cold norther (called the bura) by mount Srdj.Before tourism, Dubrovnik's wealth depended upon trade. Nobles controlled most of the land, all of the political power -- but not all of the wealth which could be earned through shipbuilding and shrewd trading. The common people had good jobs, individual rights, and prosperity. Civic unrest was pretty much unheard of.
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