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Slovene Littoral Primorska | |
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 Typical Littoral rural landscape inŠmartno | |
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| Country |  Slovenia |
TheSlovene Littoral, or simplyLittoral (Slovene:Primorska,pronounced[pɾiˈmóːɾska]ⓘ;[1]Italian:Litorale;German:Küstenland), is one of thetraditional regions ofSlovenia. Thelittoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the formerAustrian Littoral (Avstrijsko Primorje), theHabsburg possessions on the upperAdriatic coast, of which the Slovene Littoral was part. Today, the Littoral is often associated with the Slovenian ethnic territory that, in the first half of the 20th century, found itself in Italy to the west of theRapallo Border, which separated a quarter ofSlovenes from the rest of the nation,[2] and was strongly influenced byItalian fascism.[3][4]
The region forms the westernmost part of Slovenia, bordering the inter-municipal union of Giuliana in the region ofFriuli-Venezia Giulia ofItaly. It stretches from the Adriatic Sea in the south up to theJulian Alps in the north.
The Slovene Littoral comprises two traditional provinces:Goriška andSlovene Istria. The Goriška region takes its name from the town ofGorizia (Slovene:Gorica) now inItaly; the adjacentconurbation ofNova Gorica andŠempeter-Vrtojba today is the urban centre of the Slovene Littoral. Slovene Istria comprises the northern part of theIstrian peninsula, and it provides the country's only access to the sea on theSlovene Riviera coastline with the ports ofKoper,Izola, andPiran.
AfterLjubljana, the Slovene Littoral is the most developed and economically prosperous part of Slovenia. The western part of Slovene Istria is a bilingual region where both Slovene andItalian may be used in education, legal and administrative environments.
The northern part of the Slovene Littoral is part of the largerGorizia Statistical Region, and the south belongs to theCoastal–Karst Statistical Region.
After they had acquired theCarniola hinterland in 1335, the Habsburgs gradually took possession of the coastal areas. In the second half of the 14th century, they acquired Postojna and the UpperVipava Valley from thePatriarchate of Aquileia, followed byDuino and parts of the Karst Plateau. These areas were annexed to Carniola, though they maintained a separate identity well into the Early Modern Age.[7] In 1500 the Habsburgs inherited the comital lands ofGorizia (Görz), when the last CountLeonhard of Gorizia died childless. The HabsburgPrincely County of Gorizia and Gradisca was established in 1754, it became part of theAustrian Kingdom ofIllyria in 1816. With the Istrian march and theImperial Free City of Trieste, it was re-arranged as the Austrian Littoralcrown land in 1849.
At the end ofWorld War I and the dissolution ofAustria-Hungary in 1918, the area, together with the western part ofInner Carniola and theUpper Carniolan municipality of Bela Peč / Weissenfels (later Italianized to Fusine in Valromana, now afrazione ofTarvisio), was occupied by theItalian army. As stipulated in the 1915London Pact, a quarter of predominantly Slovene ethnic territory and approximately 327,000[6] out of the total population of 1.3[5] million Slovenes were adjudicated to Italy by the 1919Treaty of Saint-Germain and finally annexed according to the 1920 borderTreaty of Rapallo.
Incorporated into theJulian March (Venezia Giulia) a forcedItalianization of theSlovene minority began, intensified after the Fascists underBenito Mussolini came to power in 1922, andlasted until 1943. The Slovenes in Italy lacked any minority protection under international or domestic law.[8] Numerous Slovenes emigrated to theKingdom of Yugoslavia, others fought against Italian rule in the anti-fascistTIGR organization.
AfterWorld War II, according to the 1947Paris Peace Treaties, the bulk of the region with the upperSoča (Isonzo) Valley fell toYugoslavia. Parts of the area were re-arranged as theFree Territory of Trieste, whileItaly retained the urban centres of Gorizia andGradisca. In 1954 Italy also recovered the main port ofTrieste. As a result, the new urban centres on the Slovenian side of the border developed.
Media related toSlovene Littoral at Wikimedia Commons45°59′21.58″N13°48′35.33″E / 45.9893278°N 13.8098139°E /45.9893278; 13.8098139
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