Istria

Istria is a county in western Croatia that covers the Croatian part of the Istrian peninsula, in the northern Adriatic, on the border with Slovenia. With 2,813 km², 445 kilometres of coastline and 195,794 inhabitants according to the 2021 census, it comprises 41 local units, 10 towns and 31 municipalities, with Pazin as its administrative seat and Pula as its most populous city. Its landscape is mostly a limestone plateau with karst features, rising to Vojak on Mount Učka at 1,401 metres, and forests cover about a third of the territory. Its history can be read in monuments such as the Roman amphitheatre of Pula, built under Emperor Vespasian, and the Euphrasian Basilica of Poreč, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while coastal towns such as Rovinj, Umag, Novigrad and Vrsar are well-established tourist destinations.

Istrian sport has international showcases: since 1990 Umag has hosted the Croatia Open, an ATP 250 tennis tournament on clay, and inland Buzet stages the Buzetski dani every year, a hill climb in the FIA European Hill Climb Championship since 2014. The racing drivers Mario and Aldo Andretti were born in Motovun. According to figures presented by the county prefecture for the candidacy, the county has 32,773 registered athletes, around 600 sports clubs and associations and some 1,200 active coaches, and over the past ten years it invested more than 66 million euros in sports infrastructure.

Istria was recognised by ACES Europe as European Region of Sport 2025. The designation was announced in September 2023, after a delegation from the federation spent two days on the peninsula visiting facilities in Labin, Pula and Rovinj and meeting athletes and coaches. To be eligible for the category, a region must have at least two towns that have previously held an ACES title, a condition Istria met through Buzet, European Town of Sport 2016, and Umag. The recognition places it within the Croatian representation in the ACES network.