The five-day festival was organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) association of publishers and book shops, and will include meetings with authors, book launches and panels.
Opening the festival, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek said this was a very important event also because of its "Mediterranean dimension".
Croatia is not promoting cooperation in the Mediterranean enough and the festival is an opportunity to launch translations and contacts with foreign authors and publishers, and Split can become a book capital in relations with our Mediterranean partners, she said.
The first Mediterranean Book Festival will focus on authors from Split and the Dalmatia region who wrote about the Mediterranean, said Miso Nejasmic, president of the HGK association of publishers and book shops.