Istria

The Istrian peninsula, the size of Rhode Island on the eastern side of the northern Adriatic across from Venice, is shared by Italy (1%), Slovenia (10%), and Croatia (the vast majority). Controlled for 500 years by Venice, then Austria-Hungary, Italy between the two World Wars, Yugoslavia, and today’s three-country split, Istria has a mix of languages, ethnicities, religions, cultures, and politics. Medieval trading communities shaped by Venice are on the coast, and hilltop villages in the interior were built for defense.