| |
|
Important towns include Koper/Capodistria ("head of Istria"), Pula/Pola, Poreč/Parenzo, Rovinj/Rovigno, Pazin/Pisino, Labin/Albona, Motovun/Montona, Buzet/Pinguente and Buje/Buie. Of special mention are the tiny towns of Hum and Roč.
The name is derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Histri, which Strabo mentioned that lived in this region. The Romans described them as a fierce tribe of Illyrian 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.
After the fall of the Western empire, Istria was pillaged by the Longobardi and the Goths, annexed to the Frankish kingdom by Pippin III (789), then successively controlled by the dukes of Carinthia, the dukes of Meran, the duke of Bavaria and the patriarch of Aquileia, before it became territory of the republic of Venice. It passed to the Habsburgs in 1797, (reverting temporarily to Napoleon in 1805 - 1813). Later it became part of Italy and Yugoslavia.
Most of Istria lies in Croatia today, in the Istria county. It has a long tradition of tolerance between the people who live there, be it Croats, Italians, Slovenians, Istroromanians, Albanians, Serbs or anyone else. The Istrians are somewhat skeptical of official Zagreb and like their cultural autonomy.