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For other uses, see Istria (disambiguation).
The Istrian peninsula



The geographical features of Istria include the Učka mountain ridge, which is the highest portion of the Ćićarija mountain range; the rivers Dragonja, Mirna, Pazinčica, and Raša; and the Lim bay and valley. Istria lies in three countries: Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. By far the largest portion (89%) lies in Croatia. "Croatian Istria" is divided into two counties, the larger being Istria County in western Croatia. Important towns in Istria County include Pula/Pola, Poreč/Parenzo, Rovinj//Rovigno, Pazin//Pisino, Labin/Albona, Umag/Umago, Motovun//Montona, Buzet/Pinguente, and Buje/Buie. Smaller towns in Istria County include Višnjan, Roč, and Hum.




The Piran salt pans in the Northern Istria were probably started in Antiquity and were first mentioned in 804 in the report on Placitum of Riziano.
  • Central Istria (Pazin) has a Continental climate.


Main article: History of Istria

Early history[edit]

See also: March of Istria and Histri


Some scholars speculate that the names Histri and Istria are related to the Latin name Hister, or Danube. Ancient folktales reported—inaccurately—that the Danube split in two or "bifurcated" and came to the sea near Trieste as well as at the Black Sea. The story of the "Bifurcation of the Danube" is part of the Argonaut legend. There is also a suspected link (but no historical documentation is available) to the commune of Istria in Constanţa, Romania.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was pillaged by the Goths, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Avars. It was subsequently annexed to the Lombard Kingdom in 751, and then annexed to the Frankish kingdom by Pippin III in 789. In 799, on the border between Dalmatian Croatia and Carolingian Empire, there was a Siege of Trsat, where in a Croatian victory, Frankish commander Eric of Friuli was killed. In 804, the Placitum of Riziano was held in the Parish of Rižan (Latin: Risanum), which was a meeting between the representatives of Istrian towns and castles and the deputies of Charlemagne and his son Pepin. The report about this judicial diet illustrates the changes accompanying the transfer of power from the Eastern Roman Empire to the Carolingian Empire and the discontent of the local residents.[6]


Venetian Republic[edit]


Austrian Empire (1797–1805)[edit]

The Inner Istrian part around Mitterburg (Pazin), had been held for centuries by the Holy Roman Empire. In 1797, with the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Venetian parts of the peninsula also passed to the Holy Roman Empire.[8]

Napoleonic Era (1806–1813)[edit]

The Holy Roman Empire ended with the period of Napoleonic rule from 1806 to 1813, when Istria became part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy (1806–1810) after the Peace of Pressburg, and then part of the Illyrian provinces of the French Empire (1810–1813) after the Treaty of Paris.

Austrian Empire (1814–1918)[edit]

After this short period, the newly established Austrian Empire ruled Istria as the "Küstenland", which included the city of Trieste and Gorizia in Friuli until 1918. At that time the borders of Istria included a part of what is now Italian Venezia-Giulia and parts of modern-day Slovenia and Croatia, but not the city of Trieste.

Italy (1919–1947)[edit]


After World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, Istria was given to Italy. After the advent of Fascism, the portions of the Istrian population that were Croatian and Slovene were exposed to a policy of forced Italianization and cultural suppression. They lost their right to education and religious practice in their mother tongue.[9] The organization TIGR, founded in 1927 by young Slovene liberal nationalists from Gorizia region and Trieste and regarded as the first armed antifascist resistance group in Europe,[10] soon penetrated into Slovene and Croatian-speaking parts of Istria.

Since World War II, the term "foiba" (sinkhole) has been commonly associated with the mass killings perpetrated by local and Yugoslav partisans during and shortly after the war. These were directed mainly against native Italians, but sometimes even against other real or perceived enemies of the incoming Tito communists. One famous case of the complained Ethnic cleansing of Italians (in Istria and Dalmatia) is related to the rape and murder of Corsetto Norma, an Italian girl of western Istria, in October 1943: the Foibe where she was thrown alive is near Pirano, in northwestern Istria. Other foibe were found nearby, with other Italian girls murdered (like Albina Radecchi, Caterina Radecchi, Fosca Radecchi and Amalia Ardossi)[3]

However, sometimes such usage of the foibe was known to have been in practice by the Ustaše regime during late World War II, in particular at the foiba of Pazin (Pisino), now called "Pazinska jama". Another example of a foibe being used by the communist Partisans as a mass grave for their perceived enemies, many of them civilians, including women and elderly is Kevina jama near Kastela in Dalmatia. In the latter case, it was not ethnic cleansing as both perpetrators and victims were mostly Croats, but a case of dealing with alleged collaborators with the Italians, non-Communists and land owners, whose assets were meant to be confiscated by individuals partisans after their demise.

SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1991)[edit]


Location map of Slovenian Istria.


After the breakup of Yugoslavia (after 1991)[edit]


Demographic history[edit]

Ethnographic map depicting Istria and the Kvarner in 1855

The region has traditionally been ethnically mixed. Under Austrian rule in the 19th century, it included a large population of Italians, Croats, Slovenes and some Vlachs/Istro-Romanians, Serbs[13] and Montenegrins; however, official statistics in those times did not show those nationalities as they do today.



There is a long tradition of tolerance among the people who live in Istria, regardless of their nationality, and although many Istrians today are ethnic Croats, a strong regional identity has existed over the years. The Croatian word for the Istrians is Istrani, or Istrijani, the latter being in the local Chakavian dialect. The term Istrani is also used in Slovenia. Today the Italian minority is organized in many towns[14] and consists officially of around 45.000 inhabitants. The Istrian county in Croatia is bilingual, as are large parts of Slovenian Istria. Every citizen has the right to speak either Italian or Croatian (Slovene in Slovenian Istria) in public administration or in court. Furthermore, Istria is a supranational European Region that includes Italian, Slovenian and Croatian Istria.


Percentage of native Italian speakers in Croatia's Istria County in 2001

As with many other regions in former Yugoslavia, common concepts about ethnicity and nationality fail when applied to Istria. Discussions about Istrian ethnicity often use the words "Italian," "Croatian" and "Slovene" to describe the character of Istrian people. However, these terms are best understood as "national affiliations" that may exist in combination with or independently of linguistic, cultural and historical attributes.


Similarly, national powers claim Istrian Croats according to local language, so that speakers of Čakavian and Štokavian dialects of the Croatian language are considered to be Croatians, while speakers of other dialects may be considered to be Slovene. Those Croatian dialect speakers are descendants of the refugees of the Turkish invasion and Ottoman Empire of Bosnia and Dalmatia in the 16th century. The government of the Republic of Venice had settled them in Inner Istria, which had been devastated by wars and plague. Many villages have the Morlachian name like Katun. As with other regions, the local dialects of the Croatian communities vary greatly across close distances. The Istrian Croatian and Italian vernaculars had both developed for many generations before being divided as they are today. This meant that Croats/Slovenes on the one side and Venetians/other Italians on the other side yielded to each other culturally while simultaneously distancing themselves from members of their ethnic groups living farther away. Another important Istrian community are the Istro-Romanians in the east and north of Istria (Ćićarija) and parts of neighbouring Liburnia (the east coast of the peninsula, called Liburnia, is part of historic Istria). A small Albanian community, which until the late 19th century spoke the Istrian Albanian dialect, is also present in the peninsula.


According to the 2011 Croatian census data for the Istria County, 68,33% of the inhabitants were Croats, 6,03% were Italians, 3,46% were Serbs, 2,95% were Bosnians, 1,15% were Albanians, and 1,96% did not want to state their nationality. Those declaring themselves regionally as Istrians made up 12,11%. Other nationalities had less than 1% each.[15] (Population according to ethnicity by towns/municipalities)




See also[edit]


  9. ^ A Historical Outline Of Istria
  12. ^ Julio Aramberri, Richard Butler, Tourism Development, pg. 195
  13. ^ Serbs are autochthonous; see also Census 2001
  14. ^
  15. ^ "STANOVNIŠTVO PREMA NARODNOSTI PO GRADOVIMA/OPĆINAMA, POPIS 2011". Republic of Croatia - Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 April 2014. 
  16. ^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia Population Census 2002 results
  17. ^ Tapani Salminen (1999). "UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages". Retrieved 9 September 2010. 

Further reading[edit]

  • Ashbrook, John (December 2005). "Self-perceptions, denials, and expressions: Istrianity in a nationalizing Croatia, 1990-1997". Nationalities Papers 33 (4): 459–487. doi:10.1080/00905990500353923. 

External links[edit]
