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Identity is a group of characteristics which determine the distinctiveness of an individual or a group in terms of differences from or affiliation with other individuals or groups; accordingly, it follows that to identify oneself means to (self)determine the self. Whereas space is an essential formational element in the process of shaping identity, particularly national, regional and local, it is of interest to geographers and is mostly pursued by political and cultural geographers. This paper presents a model of geographical research of identity manifest in the names of streets and squares in nine towns of the North Croatian Littoral. It has three main objectives: to corroborate the fact that identity in the urban landscape can be observed through quantitative (statistical-mathematical) and qualitative (interpretative) semantic analysis of street and square names; then to establish the difference in the presence of hodonyms which reflect regional identity (the so-called regional hodonyms), and those which reflect national identity (the so called national hodonyms) in Kvarner and Istria; and finally to examine the level of prominence of the Italian influence in the urban toponymy of Istria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last inter-census period, between 1991 and 2001, Rijeka recorded population decrease for the first time after World War II as the result of negative natural movement and negative net migration. At the same time the number of inhabitants in the suburban region increased owing exactly to in-migration. Besides migration characteristics analysis of the population of the city and its suburban region based on the data of previous censuses, especially on that in 2001, basic results of the empirical research conducted in 2006 by the way of questionnaire method on the sample of 411 respondents in four settlements in the Rijeka suburban region are presented in the paper. The analysis of respondents' replies to four questions regarding reasons for out-migration from their previous place of residence and settling in the Rijeka suburban region settlements points to solving housing problem as the main push factor of out-migration and main pull factor of in-migration to suburbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]