Short answers, pulled from the story.
Split was founded as the Greek colony of Aspálathos in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE, as a colony of the polis of Issa (modern-day Vis), which was itself a colony of the Sicilian city of Syracuse. The site was later chosen by Roman Emperor Diocletian, who began constructing his palace there in 293 CE.
The historic core of Split, centered on Diocletian's Palace, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. It represents a continuous urban settlement from late antiquity to the present day, making it one of the best-preserved examples of a late Roman palace complex that evolved directly into a living city.
According to the 2021 census, the city of Split had 160,577 inhabitants. The broader Split metropolitan area, which includes cities such as Kastela, Omis, Sinj, Solin, and Trogir, encompassed approximately 310,000 people as of 2021.
The name may derive from the Greek word for the spiny broom plant, Calicotome spinosa. The Roman name Spalatum evolved through medieval forms including Spalatro and the Venetian Spalato, before the Croatian form Split was officially adopted by decision of the city council in 1910.
Split hosted the 1979 Mediterranean Games and the 1990 European Athletics Championships. Its basketball club KK Split won the EuroLeague three consecutive times from 1989 to 1991. Tennis player Goran Ivanisevic, born in Split in 1971, won Wimbledon in 2001, and swimmer Durdica Bjedov won an Olympic gold medal in 1968.
Italy formally annexed Split on the 18th of May 1941 under the Treaties of Rome. Citizens organized the first armed resistance group on the 7th of May 1941, and ten Italian fascist officials were assassinated in the city between September and October 1941 alone. The Partisans liberated Split on the 26th of October 1944.