| Istria County Istarska županija (Croatian) Regione istriana (Italian)[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — County — | |||
| |||
 | |||
| County seat | Pazin - Pisino | ||
| Government | |||
| - Župan | Ivan Jakovčić (IDS) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 2,820 km2 (1,088.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2001) | |||
| - Total | 206,344 | ||
| - Density | 73.2/km2 (189.5/sq mi) | ||
| Area code | 052 | ||
| ISO 3166 code | HR-18 | ||
| Website | http://www.istra-istria.hr/ | ||
Istria County (Croatian: Istarska županija; Italian: Regione istriana) is the westernmost county of Croatia which includes the biggest part of the Istrian peninsula (2,820 km2 (1,089 sq mi) out of 3,160 km2 (1,220 sq mi), 89%). The area of the county is called Istra in Croatian and Slovene. The county administrative center is Pazin[2] and the Croatian regional anthem is "Krasna zemljo".
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History
The caves near Pula, Lim fjord, Šandalja and Roumald's cave, house stone age archaeological remains. Less ancient stone age sites, from the period between 6000-2000 BC, can also be found in the area. More than 400 locations are classified as Bronze Age, (1800 - 1000 BC), items. Numerous findings including weapons, tools, and jewelry), which are from the earlier iron era around the beginning of common era.
The Istrian peninsula was known to Romans as the terra magica. Its name is derived from the Histri, an Illyrian tribe who, as accounted by the geographer Strabo, lived in the region. Romans described them as pirates who were hard to conquer due to the difficulty of navigating their territory. After two military campaigns, Roman legions finally subdued them in 177 BC.
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Istria was conquered by the Goths, the Byzantines. During Byzantine rule, it was shortly ruled by Avars. Istria was annexed by the Lombards in 751, by the Avars in 774 and then by the Franks during the reign of (Charlemagne) in 789, then successively controlled by various dukes, (Carinthia, Meran, Bavaria), and the patriarchs of Aquileia.
In 1267 the Republic of Venice annexed the Istrian peninsula because of the strong presence of the autochthonous Italian community; it is in this period that the region prospered. The major Istrian cities were reborn under Italian government, and it was in this half millennium that they developed their typical beauty and atmosphere.
In 1797, with the Treaty of Campo Formio written by Napoleon, the peninsula, with the whole Republic of Venice, passed to the Habsburgs of Austria. Starting in 1861, the capital of Istria and the seat to a Regional Parliament in Austro-Hungarian Empire was in Parenzo (today: Porec).
After World War I, according to the peace treaty of Rapallo, in 1920 Istria became part of Italy. Fascism and, later, Nazi occupation spoiled otherwise tolerant ethnic relations. After the World War II, Istria was assigned to Yugoslavia and many ethnic Italians left in the Istrian exodus.
Famous individuals like Robert Koch and writer James Joyce lived and worked in Istria. Writer Jules Verne was inspired to write his novel Mathias Sandorf after hearing of quarry and cave in Pazin and the poet Dante Alighieri visited and wrote a few lines about Istria.
Geography
Its coastline is 445 km (277 mi) long with islands making up 539.9 km (335 mi). A smaller part of Istria also belongs to the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia. Mirroring the bay of Venice across the Adriatic and the Gulf of Kvarner, the region is not far from the Julian Alps. The western most point is at Savudrija while the southern most is near Premantura, on the local promontory Kamenjak.
The terrain consists of a limestone plateau, much of which lacks water owing to its karst topography. The northeastern section is an extension of the Dinaric Alps. The highest point is Vojak on Učka mountain 1,401 m (4,596.46 ft) above sea level while another range of mountains is Ćićarija.
There are so called "bijela", "siva", "crvena" Istra, (white, grey and red Istria). White Istria is around the mountain peaks, Grey Istria is the fertile inner lands while Red Istria is the blood-red painted lands of terra rossa or "crljenica" near the coastline.
Sites such as the Grotto of Baredine near Poreč, the underground river Pazinčica and the karst Pazin pit (Pazinska jama) near Pazin are popular geologic attractions. The Limski Kanal is the only fjord resembling structure in continental Europe outside of Scandinavia (actually it's not a fjord, but a ria). The quarry near Rovinj is specifically designed for studying geology. The longest river, the Mirna, is only 32 km (20 mi) long with its mouth near Novigrad. Other rivers that pass through Istria include the Dragonja River and Raša River.
The continental plains and valleys, are primarily utilized for agriculture, such as growing cereals and vegetables. Closer to the sea, red lands are used for cultivation of grapes, vine, olives and figs. Agriculture and the production of ecological food, the olive gardens, and the production of quality wines, is the focus of Istria's agriculture sector. The coastline and nearby islands are rich in the maquis shrubland (mostly holm oak and strawberry tree). Woods, mostly oak and pine trees, cover a third of the territory.
The well-known natural reservations national park Brijuni and nature park Učka are legally protected landscapes. Other interesting localities are Lim Kanal, wood near Motovun, park woods Zlatni Rt and Šijana near Pula, protected landscape Kamenjak in the extreme south of Istria, the reservation Palud, (ornithology), near Rovinj. Brijuni archipelago is interesting as the habitat of about 680 plant species, also decorated by the most diverse vegetation and olive groves.
Climate
Protected from the north by the mountain chain of Alps as well the inner highland, the climate is Mediterranean, very pleasant, with the highest air temperature averaging 24 °C during August and lowest averaging 5 °C, in January. Summers are usually warm during the day and cooler near the evening, although strange heat wave patterns are common. The weather also ranges from humid to dry with over 10 hours of sunshine daily. Primarily, there is a lot of moisture in the air, especially in the costal towns of Istra such as Porec, Vrsar, Rovinj, Pula and others. Temperatures above 10 °C last for more than 240 days a year. Excessive heat (above 30 °C) lasts for three weeks at most. Despite air temperatures being lower than those of in Dalmatia, the Adriatic sea is warmer, reaching up to 26 °C in August, coldest in March, (9-11 °C), while the freezing even in small, shallow bays is very rare. Two kinds of winds are here - the bora is bringing cold and clear weather from the north in winters, and the southern jugo (jug=south) bringing rain in summer. Mistral is the summer breeze blowing from the inland to the sea. The salinity of the sea water is 0.37%.
Demographics
Over 205,000 people or 4.65% of the nation's population live here. Population density is 73 inhabitants per km² with an average age of 40.2 years for the entire population.
In addition to Pula, the biggest urban area with 82.000 inhabitants, the cities are Poreč, Rovinj, Pazin, Labin, Novigrad, Umag, Buzet, Buje, Vodnjan. About 70.7% of the population lives in the urban areas.
Municipalities are: Bale, Barban, Brtonigla, Cerovlje, Fažana, Gračišće, Grožnjan, Kanfanar, Karojba, Kaštelir-Labinci, Kršan, Lanišće, Ližnjan, Lupoglav, Marčana, Medulin, Motovun, Oprtalj, Pićan, Raša, Sveti Lovreč, Sveta Nedelja, Sveti Petar u Šumi, Svetvinčenat, Tinjan, Višnjan, Vižinada, Vrsar, Žminj. Numerous are small municipalities and hamlets. In whole Istria there are actually more than 600 of them. So called smallest town in the world - Hum, ("mound") is populated by just three families (22 people).
Besides official Croatian, the Chakavian dialect of the Croatian language is often in use, as in most coastal counties. Italian is also recognized in the county as an official minority language.
As for 2001 the population was 206,344 and the population structure was:
- Croats 148,328
- Italians 14,284
- Istrians 8,865
- Serbs 6,614
- Bosniaks 3,077
- Albanians 2,032
- Slovenes 2,020
- Others and Unknown 4,014
- Haven't declared 13,110
Before World War I and until World War II, Istria contained a large autochthonous Romance language speaking community consisting of Venetian dialects, Istriot and Istro-Romanian along with Italian, plus various local Slavic dialects, some of which were likewise unique to Istria. Today, apart from the local dialects and the official Croatian language, one still finds in this region a small community of people, the Istro-Romanians, who speak the ancient Istro-Romanian language, an ancient dialect of Romanian, other districts where Venetian dialects and Istriot are still spoken.
Due to its traditional bond with Europe and its level of international integration, in 1994 Istria was the first region from the former Yugoslavia to be officially designated as a Region of Europe.[citation needed]
Communication
Istra is well connected with the rest of Croatia and Europe. Due to its connection with a wider European area, road development suitably covers all needs and contributes to a balanced development of the coastal area and the Istrian interior.
Initially, the need for railroads in Istria was based upon fast development of industrial activities; shipbuilding, construction material, machine and electric industries, as well as Austrian military interests. After Vienna and Trieste were connected in 1876, the railway between Divača, (in today's Slovenia) and Pula, (122 km (76 mi) long with 21 km (13 mi) long branch Kanfanar - Rovinj), was opened. Despite numerous initiatives, the western part of Istria have been connected with the railroad only in 1902, with construction of the narrow-gauge track Poreč - Trieste. The famous 123.1 km (76 mi) long "Parenzana", or Parenzaner Bahn, was cancelled in 1935. The nearest commercial airport is in Pula.
Economy
Well-developed are processing industry, with traditional agriculture, sea fishing and growing, construction and production of construction materials (lime, cement, brick, stone), trade and transport. Most developed branches of industry are shipbuilding (In the early 1970s its shipyard Uljanik was building the biggest ships in the world as Berge Adria and others), metal processing, wood industry, furniture industry, automotive components industry, electric machines and appliances industry, glass, plastic, textile, tobacco industry. According to economic indicators, the leading activities are processing industry, tourism, and trade.
Great attention is being given to agriculture and the production of ecologic food, the wine and olive growing. Historically cultivated local wine varietals include Malvasia (white) and Teran (red).
Tourism
Organized tourism in Istria goes back to the Romans, when emperor Vespasian, for the entertainment of that time, built the amphitheater (Arena) in Pula. During the reign of Austro-Hungarian Empire in (1866), Austrian and Hungarian royalty and aristocracy started visiting local resorts and discovered Poreč.
Significant efforts were made after World War II to develop the tourist infrastructure and to accentuate its importance. In combination with the natural beauties, rich history and cultural heritage, investments paid off and resulted in highly developed, competitive service all along the western coast in Poreč, Pula, Rovinj, Umag, Novigrad, and Vrsar.
In the eastern part, as part of another county, there are resorts like Rabac, Opatija. Istria was and still is the most important tourist destination in Croatia, hosting the western and central European visitors. Area is the most visited tourist region with 27% of all visitors and 35% of time spent in all of Croatia.
County government
Current Župan (prefect): Ivan Jakovčić (IDS)
The county assembly is composed of 41 representatives, organized as follows:
- Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) 20
- Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) 5
- Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) 5
- Istrian Democratic Forum (IDF) 4*
- Croatian Party of Pensioners(HSU) 4
- HNS , HSLS, ZELENI 3
Istria (Croatian, Slovene: Istra; Italian: Istria; Istriot: Eîstria; Hungarian: Isztria), formerly Histria (Latin), is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner. It is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy.[1][2]
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[edit] Geography
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, Poreč, Rovinj, Pazin, Labin, Umag, Motovun, Buzet, and Buje. Smaller towns in Istria County include Višnjan, Roč, and Hum.
The northwestern part of Istria lies in Slovenia: it is known as Slovenian Istria, and includes the coastal municipalities of Piran, Izola and Koper, and the Karstic municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina. Westwards of Slovenian Istria, there is a tiny portion of the peninsula that lies in Italy.[1][2] This smallest portion of Istria consists of the comunes of Muggia and San Dorligo della Valle.
The ancient region of Histria extended over a much wider area, including the whole Kras plateau until the southern edges of the Vipava Valley, the southwestern portions of modern Inner Carniola with Postojna and Ilirska Bistrica, and the modern Italian Province of Trieste, but not the Liburnian coast which was already part of Illyricum.[3]
[edit] Climate
- Central Istria (Pazin) has a Continental climate.
- Slovenian coast of Istria (Koper, Izola, Piran) has a Sub-Mediterranean climate,
- West and south coast (Novigrad, Rovinj, Pula) has a Mediterranean climate.
- East coast (Rabac, Labin, Opatija) has a Sub-Mediterranean climate with Oceanic climate influences.
- The warmest places are Pula, Rovinj, while the coldest are Pazin and Koper.
[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The name is derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Histri (Greek: Ιστρών έθνος), which Strabo refers to as living in the region. The Histri are classified in some sources as a "Venetic" Illyrian tribe, with certain linguistic differences from other Illyrians.[4] The Romans described the Histri as a fierce tribe of pirates, protected by the difficult navigation of their rocky coasts. It took two military campaigns for the Romans to finally subdue them in 177 BCE. The region was then called together with the Venetian part the X. Roman Region of "Venetia et Histria", the ancient definition of the northeastern border of Italy. Dante Alighieri refers to it as well, the eastern border of Italy per ancient definition is the river Arsia (Raša). The eastern side of this river was settled by people whose culture was different than Histrians. Earlier influence of the Iapodes was attested there, while at some time between the 4th and 1st century BC, the Liburnians extended their territory and it became a part of Liburnia.[5] On the northern side, Histria went much further north and included the Italian city of Trieste and the region of Venezia-Julia. Today, Trieste and Venezia-Julia are not included in Istria for political reasons.
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 Littoral Croatia and Carolingian Empire, there was a Siege of Trsat, where in a Croatian victory, Frankish commander Eric of Friuli was killed. Afterwards it was successively controlled by the dukes of Carantania, Merania, Bavaria and by the patriarch of Aquileia, before it became the territory of the Republic of Venice in 1267. The medieval Croatian kingdom held only the far eastern part of Istria (the border was near the river Raša), but they lost it to the Holy Roman Empire in the late 11th century.
[edit] Venetian Republic and the Holy Roman Empire
The coastal areas and cities of Istria came under Venetian Influence in the 9th century. On 15 February 1267, Parenzo was formally incorporated with the Venetian state.[6] Other coastal towns followed shortly thereafter.
[edit] Austrian Empire (1797-1805)
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.[7]
[edit] Napoleonic Era 1806-1813
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.
[edit] Austrian Empire (1814-1918)
After this short period, the newly established Austrian Empire ruled Istria as the so-called "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. Today, Istria's borders are defined differently.
[edit] Italy 1919-1947
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.[8] The organization TIGR, founded in 1927 by Slovenian patriots from the western region of Primorsko and regarded as the first armed antifascist resistance group in Europe,[9] soon penetrated into Slovene and Croatian-speaking parts of Istria.
[edit] SFR Yugoslavia 1945-1991
After the end of World War II, Istria was included into Yugoslavia, except for a small part in the northwest corner that formed Zone B of the provisionally independent Free Territory of Trieste; Zone B was under Yugoslav administration and after the de facto dissolution of the Free Territory in 1954 it was also incorporated into Yugoslavia. Only the small town of Muggia, near Trieste, being part of Zone A remained with Italy.[10]
The events of that period are visible in Pula. The city had an Italian majority, and is located on the southernmost tip of the Istrian peninsula. Between December 1946 and September 1947, a large proportion of the city's inhabitants emigrated to Italy.[10] Most of them left in the immediate aftermath of the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty on February 10, 1947, which granted Pula to Yugoslavia. After 1954, the border between the Slovenia and Croatia ran along the river Mirna. According to the Croatian historiographer Stjepan Srkulj,[11] this is the first time in Croatian history that Istria has been fully under Croatian jurisdiction.
[edit] After the breakup of Yugoslavia - after 1991
The division of Istria between Croatia and Slovenia runs on the former republic borders, which were not precisely defined in the former Yugoslavia. Various points of contention remain unresolved between the two countries regarding the precise line of the border.[12] It became an international boundary with the independence of both countries from Yugoslavia in 1991. Since Croatia's first multi-party elections in 1990, the regional party Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS-DDI, Istarski demokratski sabor or Dieta democratica istriana) has consistently received a majority of the vote and maintained through the 1990s a position often contrary to the government in Zagreb, led by the then nationalistic party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica), with regards to decentralization in Croatia and certain regional autonomy. However, that changed in 2000, when the IDS formed with five other parties a left-centre coalition government, led by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP, Socijaldemokratska Partija Hrvatske). After the reformed HDZ won the Croatian parliamentary elections in late 2003 and formed a minority government, the IDS has cooperated with the state government on many projects, both local (in Istria County) and national. Since Slovenia's accession to the European Union and the Schengen area, customs and immigration checks have been abolished at the Italian-Slovenian border.
[edit] Demographic history
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.
In 1910, the ethnic and linguistic composition was completely mixed. According to the Austrian census results (Istria included here parts of the Karst and Liburnia which are not really part of Istria and excluded ancient Istrian parts, like Trieste), out of 404,309 inhabitants in Istria, 168,116 (41.6%) spoke Croatian, 147,416 (36.5%) spoke Italian, 55,365 (13.7%) spoke Slovene, 13,279 (3.3%) spoke German, 882 (0.2%) spoke Romanian, 2,116 (0.5%) spoke other languages and 17,135 (4.2%) were non-citizens, which had not been asked for their language of communication. During the last decades of the Habsburg dynasty the coast of Istria profited from tourism within the Empire. Generally speaking, Italians lived on the coast and in the inland cities of northern Istria, while Croats and Slovenes lived in the eastern and southeastern inland parts of the countryside.
In the second half of the 19th century a clash of new ideological movements, Italian irredentism (which claimed Trieste and Istria) and Slovene and Croatian nationalism (developing individual identities in some quarters while seeking to unite in a Southern Slav identity in others), resulted in growing ethnic conflict between Italians on one side and Slovenes and Croats on the other side. This was intertwined with class conflict, as inhabitants of Istrian towns were mostly Italian, while Croats and Slovenes largely lived out in the eastern countryside.
There is a long tradition of tolerance between 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. Furthemore, Istria is a supranational European Region that includes Italian, Slovenian and Croatian Istria.
[edit] Ethnicity
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.
In the Istrian context, for example, the word "Italian" can just as easily refer to autochthonous speakers of the Venetian language whose antecedents in the region extends before the inception of the Venetian Republic or to the Istriot language the oldest spoken language in Istria, dated back to the Romans, today spoken in the southwest of Istria. It can also refer to Istrian Croats who adopted the veneer of Italian culture as they moved from rural to urban areas, or from the farms into the bourgeoisie. In fact most of the families in Inner Istria are of Croatian or Morlak origin.
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 16 century. Often they were Croatianized Vlachs and Morlachs. 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. Like with other regions, the local dialects of the Croatian communities vary slightly 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, which is not part of historic Istria but today administratively included).
[edit] Census
According to the 2001 Croatian census data for the Istria County, 71.88% of the inhabitants were Croats, 6.92% were Italians, 3.20% were Serbs, 1.49% were Bosnians, and 10.65% did not want to state their nationality. Those declaring themselves regionally as Istrians made up 4.3%. Other nationalities had less than 1% each.[15] (Population according to ethnicity by towns/municipalities)
The data for Slovenian Istria is not as neatly organized, but the 2002 Slovenian census indicates that the three Istrian municipalities (Izola, Piran, Koper) had a total of 56,482 Slovenes, 6,426 Croats and 1,840 Italians.[16]
The small town of Peroj has had a unique history which exemplifies the multi-ethnic complexity of the history of the region, as do some towns on both sides of the Cicarija mountains that are still identified with the Istro-Romanian people which the UNESCO Redbook of Endangered Languages calls "the smallest ethnic group in Europe".[17]-copy of wikipedia
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