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Today Dubrovnik is a tranquil touristic and cultural center hosting many musical, art and theater events year round. The annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival is a cultural event when keys of the city are given to artists who entertain Dubrovnik's population and their guests for entire month with live plays, concerts, and games.

The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages , as the Republic of Ragusa , it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice . Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy , the city achieved a remarkable level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries . Ragusa was one of the centers of the development of the Croatian language and literature , home to many notable poets , playwrights , painters , mathematicians , physicists and other scholars.

Dubrovnik is a historic city on the Adriatic Sea coast in the extreme south of Croatia , positioned at 42°39'N, 18°04'E at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik . It is one of the most prominent tourist resorts, a seaport and the center of the Dubrovnik-Neretva county . Its population was 43,770 in 1991 and 49,728 in 2001 . In 2001 the absolute majority of its citizens declared themselves as Croats with 88.39% (2001 census ). Dubrovnik is nicknamed "Pearl of the Adriatic" .

The climate along the Dubrovnik Region is a typical Mediterranean one, with mild, rainy winters and hot and dry summers . The air temperatures can slightly vary, depending on the area or region. Summer temperatures in July rise till 34°C in the northern part, while in the southern part they usually rise to 38°C. During winter the coldest temperatures are recorded in the northern Adriatic with temperatures dropping sometimes below zero, while the southern regions of the Adriatic coast generally remain above zero.