The opening of the port in 1957 has placed Koper/Capodistria on the map of transoceanic harbors in the Northern Adriatic. Trieste and Rijeka/Fiume, established during Austro-Hungary, received a new player in handling ships. The construction of the port of Koper was initiated due to ideological reasonings, as to socialist Yugoslavia the access to port facilities of Trieste, in NATO's Italy, were denied. The closed border and the ideologicaly inspired treatment of economy and ethnicity has had impact on the structure of settlements and population. The port logistics enterprise "Luka Koper" was the largest employer in the region, therefore have the specific labor needs initiated migration and the change of the structure of the resident population according to age, sex and ethnic composition. The modernisation of the highway and the construction of the railway from and to the port, outcircling Italian territory, have placed Koper/Capodistria well into the center of economic interests along the European E-5 development/traffic corridor (The Sun-Belt Axis). "Luka Koper" has become important exporter and importer for the land-locked countries and provinces of Central Europe. On logistic terminals of the enterprise within the harbor and in the hinterland added value to goods of transshipment is provided Koper/Capodistria has along with Slovenia become a gateway to Central and South-eastem Europe.
