Rijeka

Rijeka (Croatian pronunciation: [rijɛ̌ːka]; Italian: Fiume; Hungarian: Fiume; Slovene: Reka, German: Sankt Veit am Flaum, other names) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,624 inhabitants (2011). The metropolitan area, which includes adjacent towns and municipalities, has a population of 245,054 (2011).

Historically, because of its strategic position and its excellent deep-water port, the city was fiercely contested, especially among Italy, Hungary (serving as the Kingdom of Hungary's largest and most important port), and Croatia, changing hands and demographics many times over centuries. According to the 2011 census data, the overwhelming majority of its citizens (82.52%) are presently Croats, along with small numbers of Bosniaks, Italians and Serbs.

Rijeka is the main city of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The city's economy largely depends on shipbuilding (shipyards "3. Maj" and "Viktor Lenac Shipyard") and maritime transport. Rijeka hosts the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc, first built in 1765, as well as the University of Rijeka, founded in 1973 but with roots dating back to 1632 School of Theology.

Fiume (disambiguation)

Fiume is the historical name of Rijeka, a city in Croatia.

Fiume may also refer to:

Corpus separatum (Fiume)

The Corpus separatum of Fiume (formally known as City of Fiume and its district (Hungarian: Fiume város és kerülete) was the name of the legal and political status of the city of Fiume (now modern Rijeka), instituted by Empress Maria Theresa in 1776, determining the semi-autonomous status of Fiume within the Habsburg Empire until the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 – the longest-lasting known case of an actually implemented corpus separatum.

Origins

Maria Theresa of Austria, with her sovereign decision of 2 October 1776, gave up possession of Fiume, which was a hereditary fief of the Habsburgs within the Holy Roman Empire, and gave it to the Kingdom of Hungary, of which she was also Queen, with a view of fostering trade. Since Hungary proper was some 500 km away, the city was annexed to Croatia, whose territory began at the city walls. Croatia, as a kingdom, was united with Hungary and with it formed the “Lands of the Holy Crown of St Stephen”. Two and a half years later, Maria Theresa, as Queen of Hungary, by a royal rescript dated 23 April 1779, annexed the city of Fiume directly to Hungary as a corpus separatum (that is, not as a part of Croatia, which was in a personal union with Hungary). Since Fiume had to serve a similar function for Hungary as Trieste did for the Habsburg lands, the Hungarian estates (and probably the Queen) wanted to grant the City a similar degree of institutional autonomy to that already enjoyed by Trieste.