Italian language in Slovenia

[1] Between the Late Middle Ages and 1797, part of the territory of the Slovenian Istria (almost entirely corresponding to the current municipalities of Koper, Izola and Piran) was under Venetian rule.

During that period, the population of the coastal area, which had spoken various Romance dialects (either of Rhaeto-Romance or Istriot origin) adopted the Venetian language.

During Austrian rule many Istrian Italians looked with sympathy towards the Risorgimento movement that fought for the unification of Italy.

[3] However, after the Third Italian War of Independence (1866), when the Veneto and Friuli regions were ceded by the Austrians to the newly formed Kingdom Italy, Istria remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with other Italian-speaking areas on the eastern Adriatic.

[5] During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria outlined a wide-ranging project aimed at the Germanization or Slavization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:[6] His Majesty expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and Littoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard.

After World War Two, these areas were annexed to Socialist Yugoslavia, and the vast majority of the Italian-speaking population of the coastal town was either expelled by the Communist regime or decided to flee to Italy, in what became known as the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus.

Of the total 3,762 Italian native speakers in Slovenia, 2,853 live in one of the three municipalities where it is co-official: 1,174 in Piran, 1,059 in Koper, and 620 in Izola.

[1] The vast majority of those live in the Slovenian Littoral, where daily economic and personal contacts with neighboring Italy are common.

Marked in red, the municipalities in which the Italian language is co-official.
Changes to the Italian eastern border from 1920 to 1975.
The Austrian Littoral , later renamed Julian March , which was assigned to Italy in 1920 with the Treaty of Rapallo (with adjustments of its border in 1924 after the Treaty of Rome ) and which was then ceded to Yugoslavia in 1947 with the Treaty of Paris
Areas annexed to Italy in 1920 and remained Italian even after 1947
Areas annexed to Italy in 1920, passed to the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947 with the Paris treaties and definitively assigned to Italy in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo
Areas annexed to Italy in 1920, passed to the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947 with the Paris treaties and definitively assigned to Yugoslavia in 1975 with the Osimo treaty
A multilingual sign in Slovenian and Italian (also partly in Croatian) near Koper/Capodistria.
Bilingual, Slovene-Italian, issue of the Slovenian passport