Istrian identity

{{Short description|Istrian regionalism}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Multiple images|total_width=300|direction=horizontal|align=right|image1=Zastava Istarske županije.svg|image2=Grb Istarske županije.svg|footer=Flag and coat of arms of Istria}}

Istrian identity, also known as Istrianity,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6U2DwAAQBAJ|title=Multiethnic Regionalisms in Southeastern Europe|first=Dejan|last=Stjepanović|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|series=Comparative Territorial Politics|year=2018|doi=10.1057/978-1-137-58585-1|isbn=9781137585851}} Istrianism{{cite news|url=https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/50925-what-language-do-they-speak-in-istria|title=People also ask Google: What language do they speak in Istria?|first=Donatella|last=Pauković|newspaper=Total Croatia News|date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325224344/https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/50925-what-language-do-they-speak-in-istria|archive-date=25 March 2023|url-status=dead}} or Istrianness,{{cite journal|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24659/1/vrzic_singler_2016.pdf|title=Identity and language shift among Vlashki/Zheyanski speakers in Croatia|first1=Zvjezdana|last1=Vrzić|first2=John Victor|last2=Singler|editor1-first=Vera|editor1-last=Ferreira|editor2-first=Peter|editor2-last=Bouda|journal=Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication|volume=9|pages=51–68|year=2016}} is the regionalist identity developed by the inhabitants of the part of Istria located in Croatia. Istria is the biggest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea and a multiethnic region divided between Croatia, Italy and Slovenia. Italians and Slovenes live in both the Italian and Slovene parts (which make up 1% and 9% of the territory of Istria, respectively), while in the Croatian part (90% of the region), there are Croats, Italians, Istro-Romanians and Istriot-speakers, as well as some non-native minorities. Most of Croatian Istria is located in the Istria County of the country. Istria is the region of Croatia where regionalist sentiment is the strongest.

In the 2011 Croatian census, 25,203{{cite web|url=https://web.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/publication/2012/SI-1468.pdf|title=Popis stanovništva, kućanstava i stanova 2011|publisher=Croatian Bureau of Statistics|year=2013|language=hr|issn=1333-1876}} people of the Istria County, constituting 12% of its population, declared themselves to be Istrian before any other nationality, making it the most abundant one in the county after Croatian. People also declared an Istrian identity in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the county where the rest of Croatian Istria is located, therefore making the number of people declaring an Istrian identity in Croatia a total of 25,409. Most of these people in these counties were ethnic Croats, but there were also Istro-Romanians declaring themselves as Istrian. Later, the 2021 Croatian census saw a decrease on Istrian self-designation, as 10,025 inhabitants of the Istria County used it.{{cite web|url=https://popis2021.hr/|title=Popis '21|publisher=Croatian Bureau of Statistics|year=2021|language=hr|access-date=16 October 2022|archive-date=15 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115062703/https://www.popis2021.hr/|url-status=dead}}

It has been proposed that Istria gain greater autonomy within a more decentralized Croatia. Examples of supporters of this include several members of the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), such as its former president Boris Miletić{{cite news|url=https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/autonomija-istre-kakvu-zaziva-jakovcic-je-neustavna-1203721|title=Autonomija Istre kakvu zaziva Jakovčić je neustavna|first=Iva|last=Boban Valečić|newspaper=Večernji list|date=27 October 2017|language=hr}} or the IDS deputy Emil Daus.{{cite news|url=https://www.glasistre.hr/politika/ids-ov-zastupnik-emil-daus-autonomija-istre-rijesila-bi-vecinu-problema-nasih-gradana-747536|title=IDS-ov zastupnik Emil Daus: AUTONOMIJA ISTRE RIJEŠILA BI VEĆINU PROBLEMA NAŠIH GRAĐANA!|newspaper=Glas Istre|date=23 September 2019|language=hr}}