Place:Istria, Croatia

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Istria County (; ; , "Istrian Region") is the westernmost county of Croatia which includes the biggest part of the Istrian peninsula ( out of , or 89%).

Administrative centers in the county are Pazin, Pula and Poreč. Istria County is the most prominent Italian-speaking part of Croatia.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The caves near Pula (in latinium Pietas Julia), Lim fjord, Šandalja, and Roumald's cave, house Stone Age archaeological remains. Less ancient Stone Age sites, from the period between 6000 and 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 the 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 and then by the Byzantines. During Byzantine rule, it was shortly ruled by Avars. Istria was annexed by the Lombards in 751, by the Avars in 774, by the Franks during the reign of Charlemagne in 789, and successively controlled by various dukes, (Carinthia, Merano, Bavaria). Later it was run by the patriarchs of Aquileia.

In 1267 the Republic of Venice annexed the western and southern coast of the Istrian peninsula because of the strong presence of the autochthonous Italian community; during this period the region prospered. The major Istrian cities were reborn under Italian government; it was in this half millennium that they developed architecturally and culturally. The eastern half of Istria was administered by the Habsburgs, and was referred to as "Imperial Istria" with its capital at Pisino (German: Mitterburg).

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. The Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 handed Istria to the Kingdom of Italy. The Treaty of Schönbrunn in 1809 transferred Istria to France. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna confirmed Austria's possession on the Northern Adriatic Sea along with Istria. Regional guvernative units were formed in Gorizia (Gorizia county), Trieste (Istrian area), and Rijeka (Pazin county and Kvarner Gulf). From 1849 they were united in Austrian Littoral. The free port of Trieste presented an individual guvernative unit outside of other guvernative areas. Starting in 1861 until 1918/1920 the seat to a regional Parliament in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in Parenzo (today: Poreč).

After World War I, according to the peace treaty of Rapallo Istria became part of Italy in 1920. Fascism and later Nazi occupation spoiled otherwise tolerant ethnic relations in the area. After World War II Istria was assigned to Yugoslavia and many ethnic Italians (Istrian Italians) left in the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus. With the collapse of Communist Yugoslavia Istria became part of an independent Croatia and the region saw no fighting in the ensuing war. Today it is one of the most economically developed parts of Croatia. Currently, some people ask for a higher degree of autonomy for the county. This is known as Istrianism.

Personalities 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 the quarry and cave in Pazin and the poet Dante Alighieri visited and wrote a few lines about Istria.

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