Knin: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Knin is a town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, population 15,190 (2001). It is located near the source of the river Krka in the Dalmatian hinterland.

Knin is a town of some historical importance to Croatia as it was the seat of one of the first native bishoprics since 1040 and briefly the capital of the medieval Croatian state around 1080 during the rule of king Zvonimir. Between the 10th and the 13th century, Knin was a notable military fort.

On May 29, 1522, the Knin fort fell to the Ottoman Empire. On September 11, 1688, it was captured by the Venetian Republic. It later passed on to the Habsburgs, and briefly to the Illyrian Provinces of France. After World War I, it became part of Yugoslavia.

In the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, Knin became the main stronghold of rebel Serbs and eventually the capital of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Its restoration to Croatia on August 5, 1995 is today marked as a national holiday (Victory day and Homeland thanksgiving day).