Istria is a peninsula not only geographically but also geopolitically. One look at a map shows it all. As the crow flies, there is fifty-one kilometer from Matulji close to Opatija in Croatia to Muggia close to Trieste in Italy. These two places define the geographic limits of Istria. But there is Slovene Istria in between. When one looks at the borders of the three countries, there are fifteen kilometers as the crow flies from Matulji to the nearest border crossing with Slovenia while Croatia does not share any border with Italy. Geopolitically, Istria is even more of a peninsula than geographically. In addition, it is separated from the rest of Croatia by Učka that peaks at one-thousand and four-hundred meters. Which is perhaps why Valter Flego, the governor of Istria, argues that it should have a special status within Croatia. In the context of a heated discussion of the excessive number of regions in the country, which has been raging for months, he even likens it to the island of Corsica that enjoys a special status in France in spite of the fact that it has only a hundred-thousand inhabitants more than Croatian Istria. It has just crossed my mind that there is a simple geopolitical move to make Istria an island: a narrow stretch of Istrian land along the Učka range, where the link with Croatia is the thinnest, could be given to Slovenia as a permanent gift. The loss of land would be minimal, but the status of Istria as a geopolitical island would be unassailable forever. Governor Flego would love this idea, I am quite sure.