Pula, Croatia (Part 1)

Croatia officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska About this sound listen, is a country in Central Europe and Southeastern Europe at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. Croatia borders Slovenia to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast.

The Croats arrived in the early seventh century in what today is Croatia. They organized the state into two dukedoms. The first king, King Tomislav was crowned in AD 925 and Croatia was elevated into the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for almost two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Demetrius Zvonimir. Croatia entered a union with Hungary in 1102. In 1526, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, Croatia declared independence from Austria–Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. An independent Croatian state briefly existed during World War II. After World War II, Croatia became a founding member of the Second Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence and became a sovereign state.

Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization and CEFTA. The country is a candidate for European Union membership and is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia is classified as an emerging and developing economy by the International Monetary Fund and a high income economy by the World Bank. (Wikipedia)

Pula is one of Istria's most authentic and complex cities. Unlike other Istrian destinations, Pula has a flourishing life apart from the tourist business. It's an important shipbuilding centre, an industry that dates back to the days when it was an important naval port under the Austro-Hungarian empire. Even the Romans liked Pula's position and made it their administrative headquarters. Visitors may want to make Pula their headquarters for their Istrian holiday (croatiatraveller.com)

Pula is the largest city in Istria county, with a metropolitan area of 90,000 people. The city itself has 62,080 residents (2005), while the metropolitan area includes Barban (2,802 residents), Fažana (3,050 residents), Ližnjan (2,945 residents), Marc(ana (3,903 residents), Medulin (6,004 residents), Svetvinc(enat (2,218 residents) and Vodnjan (5,651 residents).

Its population density is 1,093.27 residents/km², ranking Pula fifth in Croatia.

Its birth rate is 1.795 per cent and its mortality rate is 1.014 per cent (in 2001 466 people were born and 594 deceased), with a natural population decrease of -0.219 per cent and vital index of 78.45.

The majority of its citizens are Croats representing 71.65% of the population (2001 census). Ethnic minorities and their composition is as follows: 3,415 Serbs (5.83 per cent), 2,824 Italians (4.82 per cent), 980 Bosniaks (1.67 per cent), 731 Slovenians (1.25 per cent) and the rest belong to other minor ethnic communities. (Wikipedia)

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