The Austrian Littoral (german: Österreichisches Küstenland, it, Litorale Austriaco, hr, Austrijsko primorje, sl, Avstrijsko primorje, hu, Osztrák Tengermellék) was a

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...

(''Kronland'') of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

, established in 1849. It consisted of three regions: the

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwee ...

peninsula, Gorizia and Gradisca, and the

Imperial Free City of Trieste The Imperial Free City of Trieste and its Territory (german: Reichsunmittelbare Stadt Triest und ihr Gebiet, it, Città Imperiale di Trieste e Dintorni) was a possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire from the 14th century to 18 ...

. Throughout history, the region has been contested frequently, with parts of it controlled at various times by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

among others. The Kingdom of Italy annexed it after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

according to the

Treaty of London The Treaty of London or London Convention or similar may refer to: *Treaty of London (1358), established a truce between England and France following the Battle of Poitiers *Treaty of London (1359), which ceded western France to England *Treaty of ...

and later Treaty of Rapallo. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, it was split between

(West) and

(East). Trieste had strategic importance as Austria-Hungary's primary seaport and the coast of the Littoral was a resort destination, the Austrian Riviera. The region was a multi-national one, with

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = Flag of Italy, The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , ...

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, History ...

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and

Friulians Friulians, also called Friulans or Furlans are an ethnolinguistic minority living primarily in Italy, with a significant diaspora community. Friulians primarily inhabit the region of Friuli and speak the Rhaeto-Romantic language Friulian, wh ...

being the main ethnic groups. In 1910, it had an area of and a population of 894,287.

History

The territory of the medieval

Patriarchate of Aquileia The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see in northeastern Italy, centred on the ancient city of Aquileia situated at the head of the Adriatic, on what is now the Italian seacoast. For many centuries it played an important part in histo ...

had gradually been conquered by the

(''

Domini di Terraferma The ( vec, domini de terraferma or , ) was the hinterland territories of the Republic of Venice beyond the Adriatic coast in Northeast Italy. They were one of the three subdivisions of the Republic's possessions, the other two being the origina ...

'') until the early 15th century. In the east, the Habsburg archdukes of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, based on the

March of Carniola The March (or Margraviate) of Carniola ( sl, Kranjska krajina; german: Mark Krain) 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 Carniola ...

they held from 1335, had gained

Suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

over Istrian

Pazin Pazin ( it, Pisino, german: Mitterburg) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8, ...

in 1374 and the port of Trieste in 1382. They also purchased

Duino Duino ( sl, Devin, german: Tybein) is today a seaside resort on the northern Adriatic coast. It is a ''hamlet'' of Duino-Aurisina, a municipality (''comune'') of the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The settlement, pictures ...

and

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

(Fiume) on the northern Adriatic coast in 1474, and inherited more territory in

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giul ...

when the line of the Counts of Görz died out in 1500. In 1511, Emperor

Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to: *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519 *Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651 *Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689) *Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795� ...

annexed the city of

Gradisca Gradisca d'Isonzo ( fur, Gardiscja or ''Gardiscje'', sl, Gradišče ob Soči, archaic german: Gradis am Sontig) is a town and ''comune'' of the Province of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy. The lawyer, linguist, philologist Ph ...

from Venice. Austrian Littoral 1897

The Habsburgs did little initially to consolidate or develop their holdings in the Littoral. The supremacy of the Republic of Venice in the Adriatic, and the attention to the threat posed by an expanding

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, gave the Austrian archdukes little opportunity to enlarge their coastal possessions. Incorporated into the Austrian Circle of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, Görz, Trieste and Istria remained separately administered and retained their autonomy until the 18th century. Emperor Charles VI increased the 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 ports. In 1730, administration of the Littoral was unified under the Intendancy in Trieste. However, in 1775, Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 u ...

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 The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

. Shortly after, Trieste was merged with the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca in the north. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the Habsburg monarchy gained Venetian lands in the Istrian Peninsula and the Quarnero (Kvarner) Islands as part of the

Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

of 1797. However, these territories and all of the new

's Adriatic lands were soon lost to the

French Empire French Empire (french: Empire Français, link=no) may refer to: * First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon I from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815 and by Napoleon II in 1815, the French state from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815 * Second French Empire, led by Nap ...

's puppet state, the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...

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. 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 () was a designation for the areas of Central Croatia that were not part of the Habsburg Military Frontier. It was formed as part of the French-dominated Illyrian Provinces and disestablished in 1822 when it was given to the Kingdom of ...

, 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

(and in 1849 to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

). 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 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

s (''kreis''): Gorizia (''Görz''; including Gorizia and the

Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

), 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

with a governor in Trieste. It was formally divided into the Margravate of Istria and the Princely

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

(''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, and the Littoral was divided into the three crown lands of the

and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate administrations and

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

assemblies, but were all subject to a '' k.k.'' statholder at

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

. Following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Littoral fell within

's newly expanded borders as part of the

. An area of similar extent under the name of Adriatic Littoral (''Adriatisches Küstenland'') was one of the operational zones of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

forces during

after the capitulation of

in September 1943 until the end of the war. After World War II, most of it was included in the

Second Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

. Today

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

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.

Area and population

Area: * Gorizia and Gradisca: 2,918 km² * Istria: 4,956 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: * Italian: 356,676 (including estimated 60,000–75,000

Friulian language Friulian ( ) or Friulan (natively or ; it, friulano; de-AT, Furlanisch; sl, furlanščina) is a Romance language belonging to the Rhaeto-Romance family, spoken in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy. Friulian has around 600,000 speaker ...

speakers) (39.85%) * Slovene: 266.845 (29.82%) *

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

: 170,706 (19.08%) *

: 29,615 (3.31%) * Other languages or unknown: 66,560 (7.44%) Gorizia and Gradisca: * Slovene: 154,564 (58%) * Italian: 90,119 (including 60,000–75,000 Friulian-speakers) (36%) * German: 4,486 (2%) Trieste: * Italian: 118,957 (51.85%) * Slovene: 56,845 (24.78%) * German: 11,856 (5.17%) * Serbo-Croatian: 2,403 (1.05%) * Other: 779 (0.34%) * Non-Austrian citizens, among them 75% from Italy: 38,597 (16.82%) Istria: * Serbo-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 groups, nor the

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tong ...

, but the "language of daily interaction" ('). Except for a small Serbian community in Trieste and the village of Peroj in Istria . 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 Empire. It can be supposed that the majority of these foreign citizens were Italian speakers, followed by German, Croatian (from

and

Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; hu, Horvát-Szlavónország or ; de-AT, Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation with ...

) and Slovene (from Venetian Slovenia), and Hungarian speakers.

Districts

Gorizia and Gradisca

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label=Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Goritz ...

City (''Stadt Görz'') * Gorizia (''Görz Land'') *

* Monfalcone (''Falkenberg'') *

Sežana Sežana (; it, Sesana) is a town in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. It is the seat of the Municipality of Sežana. Sežana is located on the Karst Plateau, from Trieste, Italy, and from Ljubljana, the c ...

(''Sesana'') * Tolmin (''Tolmein'', ''Tolmino'')

Istria

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

(''Capodistria'') * Krk (''Veglia'') * Lošinj (''Lussin'') *

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, wh ...

(''Parenzo'') *

(''Mitterburg'', ''Pisino'') *

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the ...

(''Pola'') * Volosko (''Volosca'')

References

{{coord, 45.6333, N, 13.8000, E, source:wikidata, display=title History of Austria-Hungary States and territories established in 1813 Lands of the Empire of Austria (1867–1918) States and territories disestablished in 1919 1919 disestablishments in Europe