Imperial Free City of Trieste

Imperial Free City of Trieste Libera Città imperiale di Trieste (Italian) Reichsunmittelbare Freistadt Triest (German)
1382–1809 1849–1922
Flag of Austrian Trieste Coat of arms of Trieste (1850–1918)
Map of the Austrian Littoral   Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca   Imperial Free City of Trieste   March of Istria
Capital	Trieste 45°38′N 13°48′E / 45.633°N 13.800°E / 45.633; 13.800
Government	Free city
Emperor
Legislature	Diet of Trieste
Historical era	High Middle Ages Early modern period
• Occupied by Venice	1369–72
• Ceded to Austria	October 1382
• Treaty of Schönbrunn creates Illyrian Prov.	14 October 1809
• Austrian reconquest	1813
• Kingdom of Illyria	1816–49
• Armistice of Villa Giusti	4 November 1918
• Treaty of Rapallo	12 November 1920
• March on Rome	28 October 1922
Area
1910	95 km2 (37 sq mi)
Population
• 1910	229,995
Preceded by Succeeded by County of Gorizia Kingdom of Illyria Illyrian Provinces Kingdom of Italy
Today part of	Italy

The Imperial Free City of Trieste and its Territory (German: Reichsunmittelbare Stadt Triest und ihr Gebiet, Italian: Città Imperiale di Trieste e Dintorni) was a possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire from the 14th century to 1806, a constituent part of the German Confederation and the Austrian Littoral from 1849 to 1920, and part of the Italian Julian March until 1922. In 1719 it was declared a free port by Emperor Charles VI; the construction of the Austrian Southern Railway (1841–57) turned it into a bustling seaport, through which much of the exports and imports of the Austrian Lands were channelled. The city administration and economy were dominated by the city's Italian population element; Italian was the language of administration and jurisdiction. In the later 19th and early 20th century, the city attracted the immigration of workers from the city's hinterlands, many of whom were speakers of Slovene.