Izola

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Izola - Isola

---

image_caption = The town of Izola


image_shield = Wappen Izola si.png

map_caption = Municipal location in Slovenia
pushpin_

pushpin_map_caption =Location of the town of Izola in Slovenia
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Slovenia
established_title =
established_date =
leader_party = Izola je naša
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Tomislav Klokočovnik
area_total_km2 = 28.6
population_total = 14,549
males = 7,164
females = 7,385
population_as_of = 2002
population_footnotes = [cite web |url=http://www.slo-istra.com/statistika/statistika-iz.htm |title=Izola statistics |publisher=Slovenian Statistical Office |year=2002 |accessdate=2008-07-31]
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 45 | latm = 32 | lats = 4 |latNS = N
longd = 13 | longm = 40 |longs = 3 | longEW = E
elevation_m = 2
area_code = 05
blank_name = Vehicle Registration
blank_info = KP
website = http://www.izola.si/
footnotes =

Izola (Italian: "Isola" or "Isola d'Istria") is an old fishing town and a municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. Its name originates from the Italian "Isola" (island).

History

An ancient Roman port and settlement known as Haliaetum stood to the southwest of the present town as early as the 2nd century BC. The town of Izola was established on a small island by refugees from Aquileia in the 7th century . The coastal areas of Istria came under Venetian influence in the 9th century. The settlement was first mentioned in writing as "Insula" in a Venetian document entitled Liber albus in 932AD [From the Izola-Isola municipal website: "Izola se prvič omenja v virih 14.1.932 kot Insula in sicer v beneški listini Liber albus". "Izola was first mentioned in [written] sources in a Venetian document [entitled] Liber albus [dated] 14.1.932". See http://www.izola.si/index.php?page=static&item=431&tree_root=296] . It became definitely the territory of the Republic of Venice in 1267, and the centuries of Venetian rule left a strong and enduring mark on the region. The Venetian part of the peninsula passed to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in 1797 with the Treaty of Campo Formio, until the period of Napoleonic rule from 1805 to 1813 when Istria became part of the Illyrian provinces of the Napoleonic Empire. After this short period, during which Izola's walls were torn down and used to fill in the channel that separated the island from the mainland, the newly established Austrian Empire ruled Istria until November 1918. Then Istria became part of the Kingdom of Italy, until Italian capitulation in September 1943, whereupon control passed to Germany. Izola was liberated by a naval unit from Koper at the end of April 1945. After the end of World War II, Izola was part of Zone B of the provisionally independent Free Territory of Trieste; after the "de facto" dissolution of the Free Territory in 1954 it was incorporated into Slovenia, then a part of Yugoslavia [http://www.izola.si/index.php?page=static&item=309&tree_root=296] . The newly defined Italo-Yugoslav border saw the migration of many people from one side to the other. In Izola's case, many Italian speakers chose to leave, and in their place Slovenian-speaking people from neighbouring villages settled in the town [http://www.izola.si/index.php?page=static&item=309&tree_root=296] .

In 1820, a thermal spring was discovered in Izola, leading to the town's earliest forms of tourism. Between 1902 and 1935 the Porečanka, a narrow-gauge railway line connected the town to Trieste and Poreč. Today Izola has many hotels near the sea, a famous discotheque(Embassy of Gavioli), many painter’s galleries, summer concerts in the streets and a movie festival.

Population

The municipality has 14,549 inhabitants. There are marginally more females (7,385) than males (7,164). By mother tongue, they identify themselves as Slovenes (10,059), Croatians (1,199), Italians (620) and Serbo-Croatians (562) with other smaller minorities [http://www.slo-istra.com/statistika/statistika-iz.htm] .

;Population by mother tongue, census 2002 [http://www.stat.si/Popis2002/en/rezultati/rezultati_red.asp?ter=OBC&st=7] :Slovene 10,059 (69.14%):Croatian 1,199 (8.24%):Italian 620 (4.26%):Serbo-Croatian 562 (3.86%):Bosnian 537 (3.69%):Serbian 385 (2,65%):Macedonian 124 (0.85%):Albanian 93 (0.64%):Others and Unknown 970 (6.67%):Total 14,549

Municipality

The municipality of Izola-Isola [ [http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/pdf/but46.PDF The Statute of Izola/Isola - page 77] ] is officially bilingual, with both Slovene and Italian as official languages [ [http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/pdf/but46.PDF The decree on the implementation if bilingualism in the nationally mixed territory of the municipality of Isola - from page 9] ] .

In addition to Izola town, the broader municipality of Izola-Isola comprises the villages of Šared, Baredi, Grbči, Cetore, Medljan, Malija, Fičurji, Nožed, Morgani, Kašler, Gocan, Čedlje, Korte, Medoši and Stara vas [http://www.slo-istra.com/izola/a/podezelje/index.html] .

References

External links

* [http://www.slo-istra.com/izola/eng.asp Izola website in English]
* [http://www.izola.si/ Izola] , official page of municipality (in Slovenian and Italian)