Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park

The Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park is a marine park in the Vlorë County of Southwestern Albania. The marine park encompasses over 125.70 km2 and comprise the boundaries of both the Peninsula of Karaburun and Island of Sazan. It is home to a vast array of landforms as for instance mountains, caves, islands, depressions, bays, cliffs, canyons and rocky coasts which in turn contribute to an exceptionally rich biological diversity. The marine park has been identified as an Important Bird and Plant Area, because it supports great bird and plant species. Containing ecosystems and habitats that are specific to the Mediterranean Basin, the convention of Barcelona has classified the marine park as a Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance.
The Karaburun Peninsula is mostly hilly and a geological continuation of the Ceraunian Mountains, a mountain range that rises along the Ionian Sea. Its crests form a northwest-southeast line with a series of distinct peaks along its irregular structure that are broken apart by steep and irregular slopes. The coastal landscape is marked by a rough relief and calcareous limestone cliffs, that dips vertically into the sea. The uninhabited Sazan Island is primarily made up of limestone rocks, which was formed during the Cretaceous period. The waters of Mezokanal in the south separates the island from the peninsula. The most characteristic feature of the island is its unique climate. The island's climate is not mediterranean but rather subtropical on account of its warm winters and hot summers, resembling those of the south of Crete, Tunisia and Egypt.

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