Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty
Regions of Italy, and one of
five with administrative autonomy. Located in northeastern
Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia borders the region of
Veneto to the west, the republics of
Austria and
Slovenia to the north and east, and the
Adriatic Sea to the south. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of 7844 km² and 1.2 million inhabitants and the coastal length is 111,7 km. Its capital is
Trieste (Slovene
Trst, German
Triest) pop. 210,000.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia (
Friulian:
Friûl-Vignesie Julie;
Croatian and
Slovenian:
Furlanija - Julijska krajina;
German:
Friaul-Julisch Venetien) is comprised of two historical regions:
*
Friuli, which forms 90% of the territory, including the city of
Udine (Friulian
Udin, Slovenian
Videm) pop. 97,000;
*
Venezia Giulia, including the capital city of
Trieste (Slovenian
Trst) pop. 207,000.
The name comes from the
Latin name of the town of
Cividale, ancient capital of the
Lombard duchy, which used to be "Forum Iulii" ("Julius'
forum", named after
Julius Caesar).
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The entrance of the regional council, with text in the four languages of the region. |
Main articles: History of Friuli and Venezia Giulia.This artificial region was created after
World War II to solve to problem of
Trieste, who had lost its natural hinterland, that was the major part of Venezia Giulia and has been included in the then-existing country of
Yugoslavia. Therefore it was decided to aggregate the historical region of Friuli to Trieste.
A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is traversed by the major transport routes between the east and west of southern Europe.
Apart from Italian, the
Friulian language is spoken throughout the region; there is also a sizeable
Slovenian and a small
German minority.
Slovenian language community
The Slovenian language is spoken in the eastern parts of the provinces of
Trieste and
Gorizia, in the Resia valley and in the upper valleys of the rivers Torre and Natisone, with many villages having both Italian and Slovenian names.
German language community
The number of German speakers in Friuli-Venezia Giulia is estimated to be around 2,000. They live in the
Channel Valley (municipalities of
Tarvis,
Malborghetto-Valbruna, and
Pontebba), which is adjacent to Austria, and in the municipality of
Zahre and the village of
Tischlbong (municipality of
Paluzza), which each form a language exclave.
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Official site of the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia*
Map of Friuli-Venezia Giulia*
Tourism Friuli Venezia Giulia*
Airport of Friuli Venezia Giulia*
La Patrie dal Friûl*
Friulian Meteorological Observatory*
Tourism in Friuli Venezia Giulia*
Guide of Friuli Venezia Giulia
