Dalmatia Sheep Reusable Natural Cotton Tote Bag souvenir from a local Croatian designer.

The earliest recorded instances of sheep breeding in Croatia can be traced back to 1781. This practice eventually led to Dalmatia, a region in Croatia, boasting the highest number of sheep per citizen in Europe in 1966. Today, there are eight native Croatian sheep breeds, including the Istrian Sheep, Krk Island Sheep, Cres Island Sheep, Rab Island Sheep, Lika Pramenka, Pag Island Sheep, Dalmatian Pramenka, and Dubrovnik Sheep. So integral are these animals to Croatian culture that Dalmatia derives its name from the Illyrian word "Dalma," which means "sheep."