Piran
Encyclopedia
Piran is a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 and municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in southwestern Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

 on the Gulf of Piran
Gulf of Piran
The Gulf of Piran or Piran Bay is located in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, and is a part of the Gulf of Trieste. It was named after the town of Piran, and its shores are shared by Croatia and Slovenia. It is delimited by a line connecting Cape Savudrija in the south to the Cape Madona ...

 on the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria
Slovenian Istria
Slovenian Istria often called Obala in Slovene is a region in southwest of Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula, and it is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovenian Littoral . Its largest urban center is Koper. Other larger settlements...

. The city resembles a large open-air museum, with medieval architecture
Medieval architecture
Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of architecture common in Medieval Europe.-Characteristics:-Religious architecture:...

 and a rich cultural heritage. Narrow streets and compact houses give the town its special charm. Piran is the administrative centre of the local area and one of Slovenia's major tourist attractions.

History

In the pre-Roman era, the hills in the Piran area were inhabited by Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

n Histri tribes who were farmers, hunters and fishermen. They were also pirates who disrupted Roman trade in the north Adriatic Sea.
The Piran peninsula was incorporated into the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 in 178 and 177 BC and settled in the following years with rural homes (ville rusticae
Villa rustica
Villa rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate . The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa...

). The decline of the Empire, from the 5th century AD onwards, and incursions by the Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

 and Slavs
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

 at the end of the 6th century, prompted the Roman population to withdraw into easily defensible locations such as islands or peninsulas. This started local urbanisation and by the 7th century, under Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 rule, Piran had become heavily fortified. Despite the defences, the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 conquered Istria in 788 and Slavs settled in the region. By 952, Piran had become a part of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

. The earliest reliable records of the area are in the 7th century work Cosmographia
Ravenna Cosmography
The Ravenna Cosmography was compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around AD 700. It consists of a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland. Textual evidence indicates that the author frequently used maps as his source....

 by an anonymous cleric of Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...

. Here, the name "Piranon" (Piran) was referred to as a Roman town on the Istrian coast.

On 22 February 1812, the Battle of Pirano was fought between a British and a French ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 in the vicinity of Piran. This was a minor battle of the Adriatic campaign
Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
The Adriatic campaign was a minor theatre of war during the Napoleonic Wars in which a succession of small British Royal Navy squadrons and independent cruisers harried the combined naval forces of the First French Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Illyrian Provinces and the Kingdom of Naples...

 of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. The French Rivoli
French ship Rivoli (1810)
The Rivoli was a Téméraire class ship of the line of the French Navy.Rivoli was built in Venice, whose harbour was too shallow for a 74 to exit. To allow her to depart, a system of external ballasts, known as Chameaux , was added to improved her Buoyancy...

 had been recently completed at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. The French naval authorities intended her to bolster French forces in the Adriatic, following a succession of defeats in the preceding year. Captain John Talbot
John Talbot (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir John Talbot, GCB was a senior British Royal Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was engaged in several prominent single ship actions, all of which were successful...

 of HMS Victorious
HMS Victorious (1808)
HMS Victorious was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Bucklers Hard on 20 October 1808, just five years after the previous had been broken up....

 arrived off Venice in mid-February and blockaded the port. When Rivoli attempted to escape under the cover of fog, Talbot chased her and forced her to surrender in a five hour battle, Rivoli lost over half her crew as either wounded or dead. This was the only battle ever fought in the sea nowadays belonging to Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

.
The first trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

 line in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 was introduced to public service on 24 October 1909 in Piran, then part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

. It ran from the Tartini Square
Tartini Square
The Tartini Square is the largest and main square in the town of Piran, Slovenia. It was named after a famous violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, of whom a mounument was made in 1896.-History:...

, the central square of the town, along the coast and the shipyard to Portorož
Portorož
- External links :**...

 and Lucija
Lucija, Piran
Lucija is a settlement in the Piran Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia. With a population close to 5,800, it is the largest settlement in Slovenia that is not a municipality in its own right.-External links:*...

. The town authorities bought five trolleybuses manufactured by the Austrian company Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. In 1912, it was replaced by a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 that operated on the same route till 1953.

On 24 October 2010, Slovenia became the first country of former communist Europe to elect a black mayor. The physician Peter Bossman
Peter Bossman
Peter Bossman is a Ghanaian-born Slovenian doctor and politician. He is currently serving as mayor of Piran, a city and municipality in Slovenian Istria in south-western Slovenia. A member of the centre-left Social Democrats, he defeated the incumbent mayor Tomaž Gantar in the October 2010 mayoral...

, who came over from Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

 in the late 1970s, was elected mayor of Piran. He officially took office at the first constitutional meeting of the municipal council on 12 November 2010, succeeding Tomaž Gantar. He represents the Social Democrats
Social Democrats (Slovenia)
The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:...

.

Culture and education

Piran is the birthplace of composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian baroque composer and violinist.-Biography:Tartini was born in Piran, a town on the peninsula of Istria, in the Republic of Venice to Gianantonio – native of Florence – and Caterina Zangrando, a descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic Piranian families.It...

, who played an important role in shaping its cultural heritage. The town's main square, Tartini Square
Tartini Square
The Tartini Square is the largest and main square in the town of Piran, Slovenia. It was named after a famous violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, of whom a mounument was made in 1896.-History:...

 , is named after him. In 1892, to mark the 200th anniversary of Tartini's birth, the people of Piran decided to erect a monument in his honour. Venetian artist Antonio dal Zotto was commissioned to create the larger-than-life bronze statue of the maestro, which was eventually mounted on its pedestal in 1896. The statue dominates the square, overlooked by the Cathedral of Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

.

Piran is now the seat of the Euro-Mediterranean University
Euro-Mediterranean University
The Euro-Mediterranean University or EMUNI University is the first international University in Slovenia. It has 115 member institutions from 32 countries.- History :...

 (EMUNI), founded in 2008 as one of the cultural projects of the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.

Cultural events

The municipality's festival is on October 15, which celebrates the foundation of the first Slovenian partisan naval detachment named Koper, in 1944. This was the first ever Slovenian naval military unit.

Geography and climate

Piran is situated at the tip of the Piran peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 on the Gulf of Piran. It borders Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 to the south, and the municipalities of Izola
Izola
Izola is an old fishing city and a municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. Its name originates from the Italian Isola, which means island.- History :...

 and Koper to the east and faces Italy across the Gulf of Trieste
Gulf of Trieste
The Gulf of Trieste is a shallow bay of the Adriatic Sea, in the extreme northern part of the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Gulf of Venice and is shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia...

 and the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

. The highest point, Baretovec pri Padni, is 289 metres high.
To the east of the city, along the northern coastline (in the direction to Strunjan
Strunjan
Strunjan is a settlement in the Piran Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.-Overview:The Strunjan Nature Reserve, located along a 4 km stretch of Adriatic coast to the north of the settlement, is the longest section of unspoilt coastline in the entire Gulf of Trieste.The Parish...

) there is a small tourist settlement named Fiesa
Fiesa, Slovenia
-Overview:There are two lakes in the middle of the village, which were made because of digging clay for a nearby factory. The smaller lake is around 6.5 meters deep while the bigger lake is up to 9 meters deep...

. Piran and Fiesa are connected by a promenade along the beach.

Piran has a Humid subtropical climate
Humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...

 with warm summers and cool rainy winters. Snow is rare (usually 3 days per year, almost always in traces). There are 22 days a year with maximum of 30 °C (86 °F) or higher, while one day a year temperature does not exceed 0 °C (32 °F). Fog appears in about 4 days per year, mainly in winter. The climate is also characterized by frequent rainfall.

Demographics

The municipality has 16,758 (2002) inhabitants and covers an area of 46.6 square kilometres; the town has 4,576 (2002) inhabitants in a single square kilometre. The municipality is bilingual, both Slovene and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 are official languages.
According to the Austrian language census of 1910, there were 7,379 inhabitants in the town proper, 95,97% Italians and 0,09% Slovenes. In the surrounding countryside, which is now included within the city limits, the population was mixed, both Italian and Slovene, with some villages (like Sveti Peter
Sveti Peter, Piran
Sveti Peter, known by locals as Šupeter, also officially from 1954 to 1992 as Raven, is a village in the Piran Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.The local church is dedicated to Saint Peter.-External links:*...

 or Padna
Padna
Padna is a village in the Piran Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is first mentioned in sources dating to 1186.The local church is dedicated to Saint Blaise. Another small church above the settlement is dedicated to Saint Sabbas...

) which were almost entirely Slovene, and others (like Sečovlje
Secovlje
Sečovlje is a settlement in the Municipality of Piran in the Littoral region of Slovenia.-Overview:This is the last Slovenian settlement before the Slovenia-Croatia border. This village was once the centre of Slovenian salt production, now its main source of income is tourism at the Sečovlje...

 or Seča
Seca
seca GmbH & Co. KG. is looked upon as being the leader in the sector of medical weighing and measuring. seca develops, produces and sells weighing scales and measuring instruments. Its products are exported to more than 110 countries...

) that were almost exclusively Italian-speaking.
In 1945, there were 5,035 citizens, 91,32% Italians and 8,54% Slovenes. In 1956. there were 3.574 inhabitants, 67,6% Slovenes and 15,5% Italians. After 1947, the ethnic composition changed radically due to the migration of Italians to Italy
Istrian exodus
The expression Istrian exodus or Istrian-Dalmatian exodus is used to indicate the departure of ethnic Italians from Istria, Rijeka, and Dalmatia , after World War II. At the time of the exodus, these territories were part of the SR Croatia and SR Slovenia , today they are parts of the Republics of...

 and their replacement with Slovene settlers, both from other areas of Slovenian Istria
Slovenian Istria
Slovenian Istria often called Obala in Slovene is a region in southwest of Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula, and it is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovenian Littoral . Its largest urban center is Koper. Other larger settlements...

 and from interior areas of the country.

Important monuments

Piran was heavily influenced by the Venetian Republic and Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

, therefore the monuments differ greatly from the ones in inner parts of Slovenia. The Piran town walls
Piran town walls
Piran town walls are fortification walls built to protect the town of Piran in southwestern Slovenia.Large parts of the fortification walls remain well-preserved up to now.-History:...

 were constructed to protect the town from Ottoman incursions, and many parts of the city walls from different eras remain up to this day and are important attractions for tourists. In the middle of the town the Tartini Square
Tartini Square
The Tartini Square is the largest and main square in the town of Piran, Slovenia. It was named after a famous violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, of whom a mounument was made in 1896.-History:...

 is located, on which a monument in memory of Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian baroque composer and violinist.-Biography:Tartini was born in Piran, a town on the peninsula of Istria, in the Republic of Venice to Gianantonio – native of Florence – and Caterina Zangrando, a descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic Piranian families.It...

 stands since 1896. Nearby are located various important buildings, such as, Tartini’s house
Tartini’s house
Tartini's house is the birthplace of a famous violinist from Piran, Giuseppe Tartini. The house is located on the Tartini Square in town of Piran.-History:...

 which is first mentioned in 1384, and is one of the oldest in town, the Municipal Palace, Loggia and Benečanka, among others. On the hill above the town is the biggest and most important church, the Church of Saint George
Church of Saint George, Piran
The Church of Saint George is a catholic church located on the hill above Piran, a Slovenian coastal town. It is dedicated to Saint George.-Early history:...

, with the Franciscan monastery nearby.

Communications and transport

The municipality has an international airport
Portorož Airport
-Airport Services:Although relatively small, a wide-variety of services are offered at Portorož Airport:modern airport facilities including technical and fuel service, services under contract , panoramic flights, business charter flights, a flight school, parachute jumping, minibus transfer, a...

 and a marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....

. Piran is also the transmission site of the mediumwave transmitter of Radio Koper. It works on 1170 kHz and uses as an antenna a 123.6 metres tall guyed mast with cage antenna.
The town is also connected with Koper, Izola
Izola
Izola is an old fishing city and a municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. Its name originates from the Italian Isola, which means island.- History :...

, Portorož
Portorož
- External links :**...

 (the location of the airport including), Sečovlje
Secovlje
Sečovlje is a settlement in the Municipality of Piran in the Littoral region of Slovenia.-Overview:This is the last Slovenian settlement before the Slovenia-Croatia border. This village was once the centre of Slovenian salt production, now its main source of income is tourism at the Sečovlje...

 and Lucija by a cheap bus line, while the bus line connecting to the parking lot in Fornače is free. The lines ot other coastal settlement operate mostly during the tourist season.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Piran participates in town twinning
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 arrangements to encourage international contacts and understanding.
Acqualagna
Acqualagna
Acqualagna is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about 70 km west of Ancona and about 40 km southwest of Pesaro. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,304 and an area of 50.8 km²....

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (since 2003) Aquileia
Aquileia
Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (since 1977) Bjugn
Bjugn
Bjugn is a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. The village of Botngård is the administrative centre of Bjugn municipality...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 (since 1985) Castel Goffredo
Castel Goffredo
Castel Goffredo is a comune in the province of Mantova, in Lombardy, Italy, lying from Mantua and a few more from Brescia. It lies in a region of springs at the foot of the slopes that contain Lake Garda, towards the plain of the Po....

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (since 1993)
Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (since 2001) Łańcut, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

  Keszthely
Keszthely
Keszthely is a Hungarian city of 21,100 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It's the second largest city by the lake after Siófok....

, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 (since 1998) Ohrid
Ohrid
Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has...

, Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

 (since 1981)
Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...

, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 (since 2002) Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (since 2001) Vis
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...

, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

(since 1973)

External links

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