When we look at a map, we see the clear outlines of the Istrian peninsula jutting into the Adriatic Sea between Western Europe and the Balkans. And if we have known it long, and crossed it innumerable times in all directions, and sailed around its coast, and pressed it into our memory and soul, it almost appears to be an island. It is an that island does not have a defined coast that stretches to a certain point – it is not important that the sea does not wash its shores on all sides. Well, then, how far does Istria stretch? Is it to Trieste on one side and Rijeka on the other? To Venetian Slovenia and to the Dinaric Alps? And inland? To Postojna and Ilirska Bistrica, or all the way to Ljubljana? Where does it become Notranjska? Where does Istria end? Where does it meet the other provinces? Where does Istria become Dalmatia and where does it touch the Pannonian plane? How far is Istrian land and how far is its sea? And where is the centre of Istria? In what town, what castle, what village, sinkhole or underground cave?