Fiume (Rijeka), located on the Kvarner gulf of the Adriatic Sea, was incorporated into Austria in 1471, made a free port in 1717, united to Croatia in 1776, and declared an autonomous city of the Austria crown in 1779. The French occupied the city during 1809-14, after which it alternated under Austrian, Hungarian and Croatian rule until after WWI, when it was yielded to the new Yugoslavia. It came under Italian control in 1924. Occupied by Germany during WWII. Liberated by Yugoslavia in 1945, and again became part of Yugoslavia. Rijeka became a city in Croatia when the latter proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.