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The Kornati archipelago () of Croatia, also known as the Stomorski islands, is located in the northern part of Dalmatia, south from Zadar and west from Šibenik, in the Šibenik-Knin County. With length and 89 , some large, some small, in a sea area of about , the Kornati are the densest archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. From northwest to southeast (from the island of Balabra to Samograd), and from northeast to southwest (from Gangarol to Mana) they stretch for . The name of the archipelago is the plural form of the name of the largest island, called Kornat.
The islands known as Gornji Kornati include the northernmost island of Sit and the surrounding islets, divided by a channel from Žut and its surrounding islets to the south. Žut is the largest and most indented of these islands.
The national park includes 109 islands, of which 76 are less than 1 hectare in size. Of the total land surface area of Kornati, , or 85%, is stony, and only 5% has been cultivated.Naklada Naprijed (1999), The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide, pg. 211-212, Zagreb,
The most important places on the Kornati islands are: the shallow channel Mala Proversa, the oval-shaped Taljurič island, Špinuta Bay, Stivina Bay, the fourth largest island Levrnaka, the second largest karst rock-area Tarac, Svršata Vela island, Mana island, Piškera island, Panitula Vela island, the picturesque Lavsa Bay, the resort island Ravni Žakan, Smokvica Vela island, the Opat peninsula, Samograd island, the Purara reserve for marine life, Vrgada and Gangarol islands.
The names of the islands Babina Guzica and Kurba Vela, which in Croatian refer to buttocks and prostitution, offer an opportunity to explain the many vulgar names officially given to many places in the Kornati archipelago. When Austrian surveyors came to record the archipelago at the end of the 19th century, their local guides mocked them by making up vulgar names for the various locations.
Kornat, the biggest of the islands with a total area of , comprises two-thirds of the park's land area. Although the island is long, it is no wider than .Jeanne Oliver (2005), Croatia, pg. 187, Lonely Planet Publications, The park is managed from the town of Murter, on the island of the same name, which is connected to the mainland by a drawbridge in the Tisno.
Human presence on the Kornati islands appear to extend back to the Neolithic Age, and the remains of Illyrians were found on the island of Kornat. The presence of wealthy Romans is attested by the mosaic floors of , and Kornat island has a small tower, Toreta, that was probably built in the 6th century AD. The island of Piškera was also inhabited during the Middle Ages and served as a storage point for fish. Archeological sites in Stražišče and Tarac, and on Levrnaka and Lavsa provide evidence that during the Roman era life on Kornati was very active. There are many buildings and it is known that there were also stone quarries.
During the long period of Venetian occupation, the islands were used for resupplying the Venetian fleet. Deforestation and subsequent erosion, and overgrazing by sheep and goats, for whose benefit the scrub was periodically burnt over, impoverished the fauna and depopulated the islands, which were purchased by citizens of Murter during the late 19th century. DK Eyewitness Travel: Croatia
Not only the land but also the sea is within the protection of the National Park. Fishing is extremely limited in order to allow the regeneration of fish shoals that had been severely over-fished. According to tradition, the Mediterranean monk seal ( Monachus albiventur) once lived among these islands. The name of the southernmost point on Vela Kurka (Mendo) is connected with this almost extinct species.
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