Koper in the context of "City Municipality of Koper"

Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. Formed in 1991, Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, and Croatia to the south and southeast; its southwestern boundary consists of a 46.6 km coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia is mostly mountainous and forested, covers 20,271 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi), and has a population of approximately 2.1 million people. Slovene is the official language. Slovenia has a predominantly temperate continental climate, with the exception of the Slovene Littoral and the Julian Alps. Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia, is geographically situated near the centre of the country. Other larger urban centers include Maribor, Ptuj, Kranj, Celje, and Koper.

Slovenia's territory has been part of many different states, including the Byzantine Empire, the Carolingian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Republic of Venice, the Illyrian Provinces of Napoleon's First French Empire and the Habsburg Empire. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in December 1918; in 1929, the Kingdom became known as Yugoslavia. In 1946, after World War II, Slovenia was established as one of six republics that made up the socialist federation of Yugoslavia. In June 1991, Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia and became an independent sovereign state.

Slovene Istria is a region in southwest Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula and is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovene Littoral. Its largest urban center is Koper. Other large settlements are Izola, Piran, and Portorož. The entire region has around 120 settlements. In its coastal area, both Slovene and Italian are official languages.

There are 69 towns in Slovenia. According to the Local Self-Government Act of the Republic of Slovenia, a town is a larger urban settlement with more than 3,000 residents and differing from other settlements in its size, economical structure, population, population density and historical development. A settlement acquires the status of town through a decision by the Government of Slovenia. Until 2005, the decision was made by the National Assembly of Slovenia.

The Gulf of Trieste is a shallow bay in the extreme northern part of the Adriatic Sea. It is part of the Gulf of Venice and is shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. It is closed to the south by the peninsula of Istria, the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, shared between Croatia and Slovenia. The entire Slovenian sea is part of the Gulf of Trieste.

Port of Koper (Slovene: Luka Koper, Italian: Porto di Capodistria) is a public limited company, which provides port and logistics services in the only Slovenian port, in Koper. It is situated in the Gulf of Koper in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, mainly connecting markets of Central and Southeast Europe with the Mediterranean Sea and Far East. Unlike other European ports, which are managed by port authorities, the activities of Port of Koper comprise the management of the free zone area, the management of the port area and the role of terminal operator. It is currently the main port that serves the route between the Adriatic sea and Central Europe.

Italians of Croatia are an autochthonous historical national minority recognized by the Constitution of Croatia. As such, they elect a special representative to the Croatian Parliament. There is the Italian Union of Croatia and Slovenia (Croatian: Talijanska Unija, Slovene: Italijanska Unija), which is a Croatian-Slovenian joint organization with its main site in Rijeka, Croatia and its secondary site in Koper, Slovenia.

There are two main groups of Italians in Croatia, based on geographical origin: