- Goriška
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The plain at the confluence of the Soča and Vipava rivers. In the foreground, Miren Castle and the village of Bilje.
Goriška is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. The name means "the Gorizia region" because it is named after Gorizia, Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral (Primorska). Its principal urban center is Nova Gorica. It is entirely included in the Goriška statistical region.
Before World War I, the region was part of the Austrian County of Gorizia and Gradisca, with Gorizia as its capital. Following World War I, the area was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, where it was included in the Julian March administrative region. During the fascist regime it was submitted to a violent policy of Italianization. After World War II, the present borders were established: most of the Slovene-inhabited areas of Gorizia and Gradisca were ceded to the Yugoslav republic of Slovenia, while the town of Gorizia and some surrounding villages were left in Italy.
The region encompasses the municipalities of Bovec, Kobarid, Tolmin, Cerkno, Idrija, Kanal ob Soči, Brda, Nova Gorica, Šempeter-Vrtojba, Renče-Vogrsko, Miren-Kostanjevica, Ajdovščina, and Vipava. The municipalities of Komen and Sežana also used to be part of the Gorizia region, but are now usually considered part of the Littoral-Kras statistical region.
Well-known people from the region include architects Max Fabiani and Vojteh Ravnikar; poets Simon Gregorčič, Alojz Gradnik, Srečko Kosovel, and Matej Bor; writers Danilo Lokar, France Bevk, Ivan Pregelj, and Ciril Kosmač; aviation pioneer Edvard Rusjan; artists Veno Pilon, Zoran Mušič, and Anton Gojmir Kos; military men Anton Haus, Sergej Mašera, Janko Premrl Vojko, and Leon Rupnik; the composer of the melody for the Slovenian national anthem Stanko Premrl; sportsman Jure Franko; entrepreneur Ivo Boscarol; politicians Engelbert Besednjak, Drago Marušič, Marko Natlačen, and Borut Pahor; and scholars Simon Rutar, Milko Kos, Dušan Pirjevec Ahac, Ivo Urbančič, and Dean Komel.
See also
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