One of the features that makes us unique among over 7 billion human beings is our fingerprint. Located on the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia, the small island of Baljenac has a terrain that resembles this feature present on each of our fingers - especially that of the "joinha".

The curious formation is the result of stone walls built in centuries past to delimit areas of agriculture. These walls do not carry any kind of mortar, but were made only by engaging the stones to create structures solid enough to withstand the weather.

Stones are stacked to release soil

Croatia's terrain is quite rocky, which makes agriculture difficult. In the past, farmers would remove the stones from the ground and stack them in various chains of walls to clear the land. Thus, even the small island of Baljenac, which is only 1.4 km², is capable of over 23 km of these stone walls.

Another advantage of this type of construction is that it cuts wind in coastal regions, which can also damage crops. Several areas of Croatia have adopted this technique, but in few cases the aesthetic results are as curious as in Baljenac - also known as Bavljenac. Now the country's government is pushing UNESCO to include the island among the World Heritage Sites.

From above, the island looks like the thumbprint of a big thumb