Austrian Littoral
Encyclopedia
The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land
(Kronland) of the Austrian Empire
in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste
and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria
, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca
, which each had separate administrations and Landtag
assemblies, but were all subject to a k.k. statholder
at Trieste
.
Trieste had strategic importance as Austria-Hungary
's primary sea port and the coast of the Littoral was a resort destination, the Austrian Riviera
. The region was a multi-national one with Italians, Slovenes, Croats
, Germans, Friulians
, and Istriots being the main ethnic groups. In 1910, it had an area of 7969 square kilometres (3,076.8 sq mi) and a population of 894,287.
had gradually been conquered by the Republic of Venice
(Domini di Terraferma
) until the early 15th century. In the east, the Habsburg archdukes of Austria
, based on the March of Carniola
they held from 1335, had gained suzerainty over Istrian Pazin
in 1374 and the port of Trieste in 1382. They also purchased Duino
and Rijeka
(Fiume) on the northern Adriatic
coast in 1474, and inherited the Friuli
an lands of the extinct Counts of Görz in 1500. In 1511 Emperor Maximilian I
annexed the city of Gradisca from Venice.
The Habsburgs however did little initially to consolidate or develop their holdings in the Littoral. The supremacy of La Serenissima in the Adriatic and the attention to the threat posed by an expanding Ottoman Empire
gave the Austrian archdukes little opportunity to enlarge their coastal possessions. Incorporated into the Austrian Circle
of the Holy Roman Empire
, Görz, Trieste and Istria remained separately administered and retained their autonomy until into the 18th century.
Emperor Charles VI
increased sea power of the Habsburg Monarchy
by making peace with the Ottomans and declaring free shipping in the Adriatic. In 1719, Trieste and Fiume were made free port
s. In 1730, administration of the Littoral was unified under the Intendancy in Trieste. However, in 1775, Emperor Joseph II
divided the administration of the two main ports, assigning Trieste as the port for the Austrian "hereditary lands" and Fiume for the Kingdom of Hungary
. Shortly after, Trieste was merged with the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca in the north.
During the Napoleonic Wars
, the Habsburg Monarchy gained Venetian lands in the Istrian Peninsula
and the Quarnero
(Kvarner) Islands as part of the Treaty of Campo Formio
of 1797. However, these territories and all of the new Austrian Empire
's Adriatic lands were soon lost to the French Empire
's puppet state, the Kingdom of Italy
by the Treaty of Pressburg of 1805. The 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn
then transferred the area to the Illyrian Provinces
which were directly ruled by France.
With Napoleon's defeats, the Austrian Empire regained the region and, in 1813, all of the Littoral including Trieste, Gorizia and Gradisca, all of Istria, the Quarnero Islands, Fiume, and the hinterland of Fiume, Civil Croatia
, including Karlstadt
(Karlovac) became one administrative unit. From 1816, the Littoral was a part of the Austrian Empire's Kingdom of Illyria
. In 1822, Fiume and Civil Croatia were separated from the territory and ceded to the Kingdom of Hungary
(and in 1849 to Croatia
).
The Littoral was officially the Trieste (Triest) Province, one of two provinces (or gouvernements) of the Kingdom, the other being Laibach
(Ljubljana). It was subdivided into four district
s (kreis): Gorizia (Görz; including Gorizia and the Julian March
), Istria (Istrien; Eastern Istria and the Quarnero Islands), Trieste (Triest; the Trieste hinterland and Western Istria), and Trieste city (Triester Stadtgebiet).
Around 1825, the Littoral was reorganized into only two subdivisions: Istria with its capital at Mitterburg
(Pisino/Pazin) and Gorizia with Trieste and its immediate surroundings under the direct control of the crown and separate from the local administrative structure.
In 1849, the Kingdom of Illyria
was dissolved and the Littoral became a separate crown land
with a governor in Trieste. It was formally divided into the Margravate of Istria
and the Princely County
(Gefürstete Grafschaft) of Gorizia and Gradisca with Trieste remaining separate from both.
By the 1861 February Patent
, Gorizia and Gradisca and Istria became administratively separate entities and, in 1867, Trieste received separate status as well.
Following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Littoral fell within Italy
's newly expanded borders as part of the Julian March. An area of similar extent under the name of Adriatic Littoral (Adriatisches Küstenland) was one of the operational zones of German
forces during World War II
after the capitulation of Italy
in September 1943 until the end of the war. After World War II, most of it was included in the Second Yugoslavia
.
Today Croatia
and Slovenia
each hold portions of the territory and the city of Trieste remains under Italian rule. The name of the region lives on in its Slovene version, Primorska
(Slovenian Littoral), a region of Slovenia.
Population (1910 Census):
Total:
Gorizia and Gradisca:
Trieste:
Istria:
The Austrian censuses did not count ethnic group
s, nor the mother tongue, but the "language of daily interaction" (Umgangssprache). Except for a small Serbian
community in Trieste, and the village of Peroj
in Istria, inhabited by ethnic Montenegrins, the vast majority of Croatian speakers in the Austrian Littoral can be identified as Croats
.
After 1880, Italian and Friulian languages were counted under one category, as Italian. The estimated number of Friulian speakers can be extrapolated from the Italian census of 1921, the only one in the 20th century when Friulian was counted as a distinct linguistic category. The Austrian Littoral had a large number of foreign nationals (around 71,000 or 7,9% of the overall population), which were not asked about their language of interaction. More than half of them resided in the city of Trieste. The majority were citizens of the Kingdom of Italy, followed by citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary (part of the Dual Monarchy)] and the German Reich. It can be supposed that the majority of these foreign citizens were Italian speakers, followed by German, Croatian (from Rijeka
and Croatia-Slavonia) and Slovene (from Venetian Slovenia
), and Hungarian speakers.
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
(Kronland) of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste
Imperial Free City of Trieste
The city of Trieste was a Habsburg possession from the 14th century to 1918. In 1719 it was declared a free port; the construction of the Austrian Southern Railway turned it into a bustling seaport, through which much of the exports and imports of the Austrian Lands were channelled...
and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria
March of Istria
The Margravate of Istria was originally a Carolingian frontier march covering the Istrian peninsula and surrounding territory conquered by Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy in 789...
, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca
Gorizia and Gradisca
The County of Gorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...
, which each had separate administrations and Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
assemblies, but were all subject to a k.k. statholder
Steward (office)
A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent him or her in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in his or her name; in the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of governor or deputy...
at Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
.
Trieste had strategic importance as Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
's primary sea port and the coast of the Littoral was a resort destination, the Austrian Riviera
Austrian Riviera
The Austrian Riviera is a description for the coastal strip of former Austrian Littoral, a Habsburg crown land which until 1919 stretched along the northeastern Adriatic Coast.The Austrian Riviera covered coastal areas adjacent the port city of Trieste...
. The region was a multi-national one with Italians, Slovenes, Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
, Germans, Friulians
Friulians
Friulians or Furlans are a linguistic minority living in Italy and elsewhere. About 530,000 of them live in the provinces of Udine and Pordenone and in parts of Gorizia and Venice. Their language, the Friulian language, is the second largest minority language in Italy. About 170,000 Friulians live...
, and Istriots being the main ethnic groups. In 1910, it had an area of 7969 square kilometres (3,076.8 sq mi) and a population of 894,287.
History
The territory of the medieval Patriarchate of AquileiaPatriarchate of Aquileia (State)
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an Imperial State in the Friulian region of Northeastern Italy under the control of the Patriarchs of Aquileia.- Foundation :...
had gradually been conquered by the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
(Domini di Terraferma
Domini di Terraferma
The Domini di Terraferma or Stato da Tera was the name given to the territories of the Republic of Venice conquered in the Padano–Veneto hinterland....
) until the early 15th century. In the east, the Habsburg archdukes of Austria
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...
, based on the March of Carniola
March of Carniola
The March of Carniola was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan region of present-day Slovenia...
they held from 1335, had gained suzerainty over Istrian Pazin
Pazin
Pazin is the administrative seat of Istria County in Croatia. The town has a population of 4,986 , the total Pazin municipality population is 9,227...
in 1374 and the port of Trieste in 1382. They also purchased Duino
Duino
Duino is a town at the Adriatic coast in the municipality of Duino-Aurisina, part of the region of Friuli – Venezia Giulia in the province of Trieste, north-eastern Italy....
and Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
(Fiume) on the northern Adriatic
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
coast in 1474, and inherited the Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
an lands of the extinct Counts of Görz in 1500. In 1511 Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
annexed the city of Gradisca from Venice.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
gave the Austrian archdukes little opportunity to enlarge their coastal possessions. Incorporated into the Austrian Circle
Austrian Circle
The Austrian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the four Imperial Circles created in 1512, 12 years after the original Reichsreform created six Circles....
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, Görz, Trieste and Istria remained separately administered and retained their autonomy until into the 18th century.
Emperor Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
increased sea power of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
by making peace with the Ottomans and declaring free shipping in the Adriatic. In 1719, Trieste and Fiume were made free port
Free port
A free port or free zone , sometimes also called a bonded area is a port, port area or other area with relaxed jurisdiction with respect to the country of location...
s. In 1730, administration of the Littoral was unified under the Intendancy in Trieste. However, in 1775, Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
divided the administration of the two main ports, assigning Trieste as the port for the Austrian "hereditary lands" and Fiume for the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. Shortly after, Trieste was merged with the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca in the north.
During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the Habsburg Monarchy gained Venetian lands in the Istrian Peninsula
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , 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...
and the Quarnero
Kvarner Gulf
The Kvarner Gulf ); sometimes also Kvarner Bay, in Italian Quarnaro or Carnaro) is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian seacoast....
(Kvarner) Islands as part of the Treaty of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
of 1797. However, these territories and all of the new Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
's Adriatic lands were soon lost to the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
's puppet state, the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...
by the Treaty of Pressburg of 1805. The 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn
Treaty of Schönbrunn
The Treaty of Schönbrunn , sometimes known as the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at the Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna on 14 October 1809. This treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars...
then transferred the area to the Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
which were directly ruled by France.
With Napoleon's defeats, the Austrian Empire regained the region and, in 1813, all of the Littoral including Trieste, Gorizia and Gradisca, all of Istria, the Quarnero Islands, Fiume, and the hinterland of Fiume, Civil Croatia
Civil Croatia
Civil Croatia was a designation for the areas of Central Croatia that were not part of the Habsburg Military Frontier. Like the Military Frontier, it ceased to exist as a political entity in the late 19th century....
, including Karlstadt
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...
(Karlovac) became one administrative unit. From 1816, the Littoral was a part of the Austrian Empire's Kingdom of Illyria
Kingdom of Illyria
The Kingdom of Illyria was an administrative unit of the Austrian Empire from 1816 to 1849. Its administrative centre was Ljubljana and it included the western and central part of present-day Slovenia, the present Austrian state of Carinthia, as well as some territories in north-western Croatia ...
. In 1822, Fiume and Civil Croatia were separated from the territory and ceded to the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
(and in 1849 to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
).
The Littoral was officially the Trieste (Triest) Province, one of two provinces (or gouvernements) of the Kingdom, the other being Laibach
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
(Ljubljana). It was subdivided into four district
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
s (kreis): Gorizia (Görz; including Gorizia and the Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
), Istria (Istrien; Eastern Istria and the Quarnero Islands), Trieste (Triest; the Trieste hinterland and Western Istria), and Trieste city (Triester Stadtgebiet).
Around 1825, the Littoral was reorganized into only two subdivisions: Istria with its capital at Mitterburg
Pazin
Pazin is the administrative seat of Istria County in Croatia. The town has a population of 4,986 , the total Pazin municipality population is 9,227...
(Pisino/Pazin) and Gorizia with Trieste and its immediate surroundings under the direct control of the crown and separate from the local administrative structure.
In 1849, the Kingdom of Illyria
Kingdom of Illyria
The Kingdom of Illyria was an administrative unit of the Austrian Empire from 1816 to 1849. Its administrative centre was Ljubljana and it included the western and central part of present-day Slovenia, the present Austrian state of Carinthia, as well as some territories in north-western Croatia ...
was dissolved and the Littoral became a separate crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
with a governor in Trieste. It was formally divided into the Margravate of Istria
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
and the Princely County
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
(Gefürstete Grafschaft) of Gorizia and Gradisca with Trieste remaining separate from both.
By the 1861 February Patent
February Patent
The February Patent was a document that was adopted in 1861 as a constitution of the Austrian Empire.-Historical background:In the Austrian Empire, the early 1860’s were a period of significant constitutional reforms. The revolutions and unfortunate wars of the late 1840’s-1850’s had created a...
, Gorizia and Gradisca and Istria became administratively separate entities and, in 1867, Trieste received separate status as well.
Following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Littoral fell within Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's newly expanded borders as part of the Julian March. An area of similar extent under the name of Adriatic Littoral (Adriatisches Küstenland) was one of the operational zones of German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
forces during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
after the capitulation of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in September 1943 until the end of the war. After World War II, most of it was included in the Second Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
.
Today Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
each hold portions of the territory and the city of Trieste remains under Italian rule. The name of the region lives on in its Slovene version, Primorska
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
(Slovenian Littoral), a region of Slovenia.
Area and population
Area:- Gorizia and Gradisca: 2918 km2
- Istria: 4956 km2
- Triest: 95 km2
Population (1910 Census):
- Gorizia and Gradisca: 260,721 - 89.3 persons/km2
- Istria: 403,566 - 81.4 persons/km2
- Triest: 230,000 - 2414.8 persons/km2
Linguistic composition
According to the last Austrian census of 1910 (1911 in Trieste), the Austrian Littoral was composed of the following linguistic communities:Total:
- ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: 356,676 (including estimated 60,000-75,000 Friulian languageFriulian languageFriulan , is a Romance language belonging to the Rhaeto-Romance family, spoken in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy. Friulan has around 800,000 speakers, the vast majority of whom also speak Italian...
speakers) (40 %) - Slovene: 276,398 (31 %)
- CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
: 172,784 (19 %) - GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: 29,077 (3 %) - Other languages or unknown: 59,347(7 %)
Gorizia and Gradisca:
- Slovene: 154,564 (58 %)
- Italian: 90,119 (including 60,000-75,000 Friulian-speakers) (36 %)
- GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: 4,486 (2 %)
Trieste:
- Italian: 118.957 (51.85%)
- Slovene: 56.845 (24.78%)
- German: 11.856 (5.17%)
- Croatian: 2.403 (1.05%)
- Other: 779 (0.34%)
- Non-Austrian citizens, among them 75% from Italy: 38.597 (16.82%)
Istria:
- Croatian: 168,184 (43.5 %)
- Italian: 147,417 (38.1 %)
- Slovene: 55,134 (14.3 %)
- German: 12,735 (3.3 %)
The Austrian censuses did not count ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
s, nor the mother tongue, but the "language of daily interaction" (Umgangssprache). Except for a small Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
community in Trieste, and the village of Peroj
Peroj
Peroj is a village in the Vodnjan municipality on the south-western coast of Istria, currently inhabited by ~400 inhabitants, dating back to the Copper age of prehistory, as testified by a necropolis within the old walls of the town. The town has been settled with families from a variety of origins...
in Istria, inhabited by ethnic Montenegrins, the vast majority of Croatian speakers in the Austrian Littoral can be identified as Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
.
After 1880, Italian and Friulian languages were counted under one category, as Italian. The estimated number of Friulian speakers can be extrapolated from the Italian census of 1921, the only one in the 20th century when Friulian was counted as a distinct linguistic category. The Austrian Littoral had a large number of foreign nationals (around 71,000 or 7,9% of the overall population), which were not asked about their language of interaction. More than half of them resided in the city of Trieste. The majority were citizens of the Kingdom of Italy, followed by citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary (part of the Dual Monarchy)] and the German Reich. It can be supposed that the majority of these foreign citizens were Italian speakers, followed by German, Croatian (from Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
and Croatia-Slavonia) and Slovene (from Venetian Slovenia
Venetian Slovenia
Venetian Slovenia is a small mountainous region in northeastern Italy . Most of the region is located in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the area between the towns of Cividale del Friuli, Tarcento and Gemona ....
), and Hungarian speakers.
Gorizia and Gradisca
- GoriziaGoriziaGorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
City (Stadt Görz) - Gorizia (Görz Land)
- Gradisca
- MonfalconeMonfalconeMonfalcone is a town and comune of the province of Gorizia , located on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means "Mount of Falcon" in Italian....
(Falkenberg) - SežanaSežanaSežana is a town and a municipality in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. According to the census of 2008, it has a population of 12,470, of which around 5,332 live in the town of Sežana and the rest in the neighbouring rural areas.Sežana is located about on the...
(Sesana) - TolminTolminTolmin is a small town and municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.-Geography:Tolmin, the old town that gave the name to the entire area , is the largest settlement in the Upper Soča Valley , as well as its economic, cultural and administrative centre. It is located on a terrace above the...
(Tolmein, Tolmino)
Istria
- Koper (Capodistria)
- KrkKrkKrk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
(Veglia) - LošinjLošinjLošinj is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
(Lussin) - PorečPorecPoreč is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th century Euphrasian Basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997....
(Parenzo) - PazinPazinPazin is the administrative seat of Istria County in Croatia. The town has a population of 4,986 , the total Pazin municipality population is 9,227...
(Mitterburg, Pisino) - PulaPulaPula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
(Pola) - VoloskoVoloskoVolosko is a part of the city of Opatija, located in the Kvarner Gulf in western Croatia. It is located in the north of Opatija, on the road towards Kastav and Rijeka.-People:* Amelia Milka Sablich, born there...
(Volosca)
See also
- Austrian RivieraAustrian RivieraThe Austrian Riviera is a description for the coastal strip of former Austrian Littoral, a Habsburg crown land which until 1919 stretched along the northeastern Adriatic Coast.The Austrian Riviera covered coastal areas adjacent the port city of Trieste...
- London PactLondon PactLondon Pact , or more correctly, the Treaty of London, 1915, was a secret pact between Italy and Triple Entente, signed in London on 26 April 1915 by the Kingdom of Italy, Great Britain, France and Russia....
- Battles of the IsonzoBattles of the IsonzoThe Battles of the Isonzo were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I. They were fought along the Soča River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917...
- Croatian LittoralCroatian LittoralThe Croatian Littoral is a geographical term that refers to the narrow coastal strip along the Adriatic Sea in Croatia extending from east the city Rijeka south to Karlobag...