Position: Rijeka, a city and port in the Rijeka Bay, on the northern side of the Kvarner Gulf.

Population: 167.964.

General data: good traffic connections with the hinterland, modern port facilities and strong naval and commercial tradition helped Rijeka to develop into the biggest Croatian port. Rijeka is also an important European transit port. The development of the town increased in the 19th century by the construction of the road to Karlovac and the railvay connections to Vienna and Budapest. Today is Rijeka an inportant commercial and naval centre with developed industry (shipbuilding, oil raffinerie, diesel engines, ship cranes, ship equipment, paper, etc.). Rijeka is also a cultural and artistic centre with a large number of cultural and educational instituions and schools. In Rijeka proper as well as in its surroundings chief occupations are tourism, farming, forestry and fishing. Rijeka is an important traffic intersection connecting the Central Europe with central and southern parts of the Adriatic coast.

History: The name Rijeka appears for the 1st time in the 13th century. In Roman times here was a fortification Tarsatica and a settlement on the border with the Illyrian Liburnia. Until the 7th century the town was under croatian rule. After having changed several souvereigns 1466 Rijeka fell under the rule of the Habsburgs, its autonomy Rijeka gained at the end of the 16th century and in 1719 it was proclaimed a free port. Under Maria Theresa Rijeka and a part of the Primorje were a special territorial unit within Croatia. In 1822 Rijeka was included under Croatian administration. Under the 1st and the 2nd World Wars Rijeka was under italian rule and 1945 it was annexed to its parent country, Croatia.