Trieste, << tree EHST or tree EHS tee >> (pop. 200,594), is a city in northeastern Italy. It lies on the Gulf of Venice at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea.
Trieste’s free port, which does not tax imported cargo, handles trade between the Mediterranean and central Europe. Products made in the Trieste area include clothing, iron and steel, machinery, and paint. Tourists visit the city’s castles and other historic buildings.
Trieste was a Roman colony from the 100’s B.C. to about A.D. 500. Austria gained control of the area in the late 1300’s. Treaties following World War I (1914-1918) gave Trieste to Italy.
When World War II ended in 1945, both Italy and Yugoslavia claimed Trieste and the surrounding region. The United Nations divided the area into two zones. United States and British troops occupied Zone A, which included the city of Trieste and an area to the north. Yugoslav forces occupied Zone B, an area south of the city. An agreement in 1954 gave Italy control of the city and most of Zone A and Yugoslavia control of Zone B. In 1975, Italy and Yugoslavia signed a treaty that made this arrangement permanent. Today, Zone B is administered by Slovenia and Croatia, two of the countries that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990’s.
