In the city of Rovinj-Rovigno, in Croatia on the north Adriatic Sea

 Small is beautiful. Nowhere is that truer than in Istria, the compact, heart-shaped peninsula at the northern end of Croatia's coast, in the Adriatic Sea

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(on Istria, a triangular peninsula that is part of Croatia and Slovenia; it extends into the northeastern Adriatic Sea, between the Gulf of Venice (west) and the Gulf of Kvarner (east).

+ Istria has a history of being conquered and reconquered by different cultures: the Franks in 788, the Venetians in 1145, the Hapsburg Empire in 1348, Napoleon in 1797. Between World War I and World War II, Istria was part of Italy; following WWII, it became part of Yugoslavia, before Croatia became independent in 1991.

+ The northern portion is part of Slovenia, while the central and southern parts belong to Croatia. (A tiny strip of coast at its northwestern base is the site of Trieste, which belongs to Italy.) Istria’s highly indented shoreline, 267 miles (430 km) in length, exhibits many drowned valleys. The west coast has a score of small offshore island groups, the most notable being Brioni (Brijuni). The terrain consists of a limestone plateau, much of which lacks water due to its karst topography. The northeast section consists of the mountains of the Dinaric Alps, with a maximum elevation of 4,596 feet (1,401 meters) at Mount Učka. These modest heights slope gradually south and west in undulating terraces toward the Adriatic. Parts of the peninsula have thick forests, and places suffering from extensive timber cutting are being reforested. In the waterless karst areas a scrub vegetation prevails. A Mediterranean climate brings hot, dry summers and warm, wet winters.

The population of Istria, approximately two-thirds of which is Croatian, engages mostly in agriculture. Wheat, corn (maize), rye, oats, figs, fruit, and olives are grown in the fertile western and southeastern coastal areas, and cattle are bred. There has been an increase in viticulture, and fishing (and shipbuilding) are other activities. Salt is obtained from seawater at Piran and Portorož in Slovenia. Raša, in Croatia, is an important site for the mining of high-quality anthracite coal; and bauxite, building stone, and quartz are also extracted. Istria’s most important town and harbor is Pula, which has a well-preserved Roman amphitheater. Opatija and Brioni are best known as seaside resorts.After World War I, Italy forcibly seized the peninsula from Austria in 1919 and afterward tried to Italianize the population. But, following Italy’s defeat in World War II, Yugoslavia occupied most of Istria in 1947. The peninsula’s northwestern section, around Trieste, was finally divided between Italy and Yugoslavia in 1954 after decades of diplomatic wrangling and periodic political crises. Istria quietly became part of Croatia and Slovenia in 1991 when those states became independent nations. (Italian minorities remain in both the Slovene and Croatian parts.)

+ Shown here is Rovinj-Rovigno, a city in Croatia on the north Adriatic Sea: