Through a long period of time, Trieste was seen as being peripheral to Italian commerce and culture; however lately it has been gaining influence as Italy's window to the east (former Yugoslavia). The Kosovo War saw large numbers of refugees passing through the city, which is now negotiating cooperation with Slovenian ports and expanding business with former Yugoslavia.
The local venetian dialect of Trieste is called "Triestino". Italian and the local venetian dialect are spoken in the city center while Slovenian is spoken in many of the immediate suburbs. This linguistic division is historical and cultural and dates back hundreds of years. Italian-speaking and Slovenian-speaking locals are considered autochthonous into the border region of Trieste, eastern Friuli and Istria.
During the Middle Ages, Trieste grew into an important port. Its role as the principal Austrian commercial port and shipbuilding center was emphasized by the construction of the Vienna-Trieste railway, completed in 1857. By the end of the 19th century, Trieste was a buzzing cosmopolitan city, frequented by artists such as James Joyce, and Italo Svevo. The city was a very real part of Mitteleuropa, with a cosmopolitan mix of Italian (75 %), German (5 %) and Slavic (18 %) and other cultures, and a feeling of being a border town that it retains today.