Founded by Celts as Tarsatica and became municipium under the Romans as Flumen, the current city Rijeka was ruled successively, from the 5th century onwards, by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Lombards, the Avars, the Franks, the Croats, the Hungarians and the Venetians before coming under the control of the Archduchy of Austria in 1466, where it remained for over 450 years, since 1723 as free port. Because of its strategic position (on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea), and of its deep-water port, the city was fiercely contested among Italy, Hungary, and Croatia, changing hands and demographics many times over centuries.
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