Rijeka (in Italian Fiume , name used also in Hungarian) is the third town of Croatia with 154.000 inhabitants (2005). It is the harbor main city of the country.

A historically disputed city

Its inhabitants are primarily Croatian S but a strong community Italian did not live in Rijeka until in 1945. The majority left it after the transfer of the city to the Yugoslavia and are called in Italian, Esuli (exiled). In 1920, Gabriele D' Annunzio occupied the city which did not form part of the Istrie annexed by the Italy and created transitory the Italian Régence of Carnaro recognized by the Société of the Nations, followed by the free State of Fiume. The city was annexed by the Italy in 1924 after the signature of a treaty with the Yugoslavia. A small Italian minority remains. Currently there is approximately between 6.000 and 8.000 Italians. They have of four fundamental schools (primary education + college) and a college. For more than 60 years, has been published the daily newspaper in Italian language Voce del Popolo founded in an original manner in 1885.

Significance of the toponym

• the Croatian toponym Rijeka means river; if one finds reka for “river” in the dictionaries of Serbo-Croatian, that is explained by a dialectal difference E / ije (dialects E kavien and ije kavien).
• Besides in Slovenien, Slavic Language very near, the city is called Reka .
• the Italian toponym Fiume is identical to the common noun fiume , means “river” and comes from Latin flumen .
• the forms Fiùme and fiùme are used only in the dictionaries, the grave accent being used to specify the place of the tonic accent in the mot.
• the German toponym Sankt Veit amndt Flaum (or Sankt Veit ) means “Saint-GUI on Flaum”, where Flaum seems the reduction of Latin flumen with his only stressed syllable and where the U long would be diphthong in with.

External bonds