Trieste


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General Information

Trieste (German and Friulian: Triest; Slovenian,Croatian and Serbian: Trst) is a city and port in northeastern Italy right on the border with Slovenia. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. With a population of 211,184 (2001) it is the capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trieste province. Trieste flourished as part of Austria-Hungary during the period 1857-1918 when it was Central Europe's prosperous mediterranean sea port and its capital of literature and music. Today, Trieste is a border town par excellence. The population is an ethnic mix of the neighboring regions; The dominant local Venetian dialect of Trieste is called Triestine. This dialect and Italian are spoken in the city center while Slovenian is partially spoken in many of the immediate suburbs.

Italian and Slovenian language are considered autochthonous to the area. There is also a Friulian and a Croatian speaking minority, with a fair number of German-speakers too. The economy depends on the port and on trade with its neighboring regions. Throughout the Cold War Trieste was peripheral, but is rebuilding some of its former influence. The sights in Trieste include numerous examples of Art Nouveau and neoclassical architecture from its Austrian past, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, International School for Advanced Studies, Triest University, and a beautiful coastline outside the city.

Source: Wikipedia