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Vir ([v̞îːr]; Italian: Puntadura, Dalmatian: Punta de Ura), an island on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea with an area of 22 km2, lies north of the city of Zadar. It is connected to the mainland via a road bridge. The main village on the island, the eponymous village of Vir, had a population of 1,608 as of 2001. There are two more villages, Lozice and Torovi. The highest peak on the island is Bandira (112 m).
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History
The first known mention of Vir was in Mare Nostrum Dalmaticum (1069), a charter by king Peter Krešimir IV, where the island is referred to as Ueru (Veru), a word believed to have an ancient Mediterranean origin, meaning "pasture".
Overpopulation
The island is one of the biggest described endemic places of origin of house-mouse-borne lymphocytic choriomeningitis in the world, with IFA testing having found LCMV antibodies in 36% of the tested population.