City in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia
About Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and in 2021 had a population of 107,964 inhabitants. Historically, because of its strategic position and its excellent deep-water port, the city was fiercely contested, especially between the Holy Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Italy and Yugoslavia, changing rulers and demographics many times over centuries. According to the 2021 census data, 85% of its citizens are Croats, along with small numbers of Serbs, Bosniaks and Italians.
Name
Historically, Rijeka was called Tharsatica, Vitopolis (lit. 'City of [Saint] Vitus'), or Flumen (lit. 'River') in Latin. The city is called Rijeka in Croatian, Reka in Slovene, and Reka or Rika in the local dialects of Chakavian. It is called Fiume in Italian, in Hungarian and in Fiuman Venetian. All these names mean 'river' in their respective languages. Meanwhile, in German the city has been called Sankt Veit am Flaum/Pflaum (lit. 'St. Vitus on the Flaum/Pflaum', with the name of the river being derived from Latin flumen). Today, the name Fiume is not used for official purposes for legal reasons. …
History
Though traces of Neolithic settlements can be found in the region, the earliest modern settlements on the site were Celtic Tharsatica (modern Trsat, now part of Rijeka) on the hill, and the tribe of mariners, the Liburni, in the natural harbour below. The city long retained its dual character. Rijeka was first mentioned in the 1st century AD by Pliny the Elder as Tarsatica in his Natural History (iii.140). Rijeka (Tarsatica) is again mentioned around AD 150 by the Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy in his Geography when describing the "Location of Illyria or Liburnia, and of Dalmatia" (Fifth Map of Europe). In the time of Augustus, the Romans rebuilt Tarsatica as a municipium Flumen (MacMullen 2000), situated on the right bank of the small river Rječina (whose name means "the big river"). It became a city within the Roman Province of Dalmatia until the 6th century. …
Geography
Rijeka is located in western Croatia, 131 kilometres (81 miles) south-west of the capital, Zagreb, on the coast of Kvarner Gulf, in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea. Geographically, Rijeka is roughly equidistant from Milan (485 km [301 mi]), Budapest (502 km [312 mi]), Munich (516 km [321 mi]), Vienna (516 km [321 mi]) and Belgrade (550 km [340 mi]). Other major regional centers such as Trieste (76 km [47 mi]), Venice (240 km [150 mi]) and Ljubljana (115 km [71 mi]) are all relatively close and easily accessible. The Bay of Rijeka, which is bordered by Vela Vrata (between Istria and the island of Cres), Srednja Vrata (between Cres and Krk Island) and Mala Vrata (between Krk and the mainland) is connected to the Kvarner Gulf and is deep enough (about fifty metres or 160 feet) to accommodate large commercial ships. …
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