A city of extreme northeast Italy on the Gulf of Trieste, an inlet of the Gulf of Venice at the head of the Adriatic Sea. Held by Austria from 1382 until 1919, Trieste became in 1947 the center of the Free Territory of Trieste administered by the United Nations. In 1954 the territory was divided; the city and northern zone were given to Italy and the remainder of the area became part of Yugoslavia.