n.
ancient Tergeste
Seaport city (pop., 2001 prelim.: 209,520), capital of FriuliVenezia Giulia region, northeastern Italy.
It lies at the head of the Adriatic Sea on the Gulf of Trieste. It was under Roman control from the 2nd century BC until the collapse of the empire; then it was under episcopal rule (9481202). It placed itself in 1382 under Habsburg protection and later became the prosperous main port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . After World War I Trieste was ceded to Italy. Occupied by Germany in World War II and seized by Yugoslavia in 1945, it became the centre of the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947. Returned to Italy in 1954, it became the regional capital in 1963.