The Brijuni islands, also known as the Brioni, are a group of twelve small islands in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, off the west coast of the peninsula of Istria, Croatia, from which they are separated by the narrow Fažana Strait (Canale di Fasana). The largest island is Veli Brijun (Brion) at 5.6 square km² and lying 2 km off the coast. The islands are currently a national park. The Adriatic Sea Source: NASA The Adriatic Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea separating the Apennine peninsula (Italy) from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. ... Rovinj, on the western coast of Croatian Istria. ... Yosemite National Park in the United States. ...

History

Up to the early 20th century they were chiefly noted for their quarries, which have been worked for centuries and have supplied material not only for the palaces and bridges of Venice and the whole Adriatic Coast. The Islands belonged to the Republic of Venice until the republic's annexation by France under Napoleon, when they were briefly part of Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the islands, along with the rest of the Venetian territories, were given to Austria-Hungary. During the Austrian period the islands' quarries supplied stone to Vienna and Berlin. As they commanded the entrance to the naval harbour of Pula, the Austrians erected a strong fortress on Brioni, together with minor fortifications on some of the others. Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′ N 12°19′ E, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ... The Most Serene Republic of Venice was a city-state in Venetia in Northeastern Italy, based around the city of Venice. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Illyrian Provinces (French Provinces illyriennes) were formed in 1809 when Austria ceded with the Treaty of Schoenbrunn its lands Carinthia, Carniola, Croatia southwest of the river Sava, Gorizia and Trieste to France after the defeat at the Battle of Wagram. ... The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from October 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ...   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city; down from 4. ... Pula (Italian Pola, Slovenian Pulj) is the largest city in Istria, Croatia, at the southern tip of that peninsula, population 58,594 (2001). ...

The islands became part of Italy after World War I, and after World War II became part of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia's leader Josip Broz Tito used the islands as a summer residence for himself and some top officials of the Yugoslav government. Slovene architect Jože Plečnik designed a pavilion for Tito. Almost 100 foreign heads of state visited Tito on the islands, along with film stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Carlo Ponti, and Gina Lollobrigida. Tito died in 1980, and in 1983 the islands were declared a national park. World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages, in Cyrillic Југославија) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ... Marshal Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito   listen? (May 7, 1892 – May 4, 1980) was the leader of Yugoslavia between the end of World War II and his death in 1980. ... Jože Plečnik, (born January 23, 1872 in Ljubljana, Austro-Hungary (now Slovenia), died January 7, 1957 in Ljubljana) was a famous Slovene architect who practiced in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana. ... Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor, DBE, (born February 27, 1932) is a British Academy Award winning actress. ... This article is about the 20th-century actor. ... Sophia Loren in 1955 Sophia Loren (born September 20, 1934) is considered to be the most famous Italian actress of all time. ... Carlo Ponti (born December 11, Italian film producer. ... Gina Lollobrigida (born on July 4, 1927) is an Italian actress who was born Luigina Lollobrigida in Subiaco, Italy in the Lazioregion. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Croatia became independent of Yugoslavia in 1991, and the islands were the site of an international conference that produced the Brioni Agreement. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Brioni Agreement is a document signed on the Brioni (Brijuni) islands (near Pula, Croatia) on July 7th 1991 by representatives of the Republic of Slovenia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the political sponsorship of the European Community. ...

Veli Brijun is home to four hotels as well as a safari park, which holds animals given to the Croatian president.