Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name Split derives from the Greek colony of Aspálathos, named after the spiny broom bush that grew wild on the peninsula. This original identity dates to the 3rd or 2nd century BCE, centuries before Emperor Diocletian built his palace there in 305 CE.
The Roman palace became the city of Split in 650 when surviving Romans fled to the fortress for safety after the Pannonian Avars destroyed Salona in 639. Emperor Constans II granted them an Imperial mandate to establish themselves in the Palace as the City of Spalatum.
Split was ruled by the Habsburg monarchy from 1815 after the Congress of Vienna and later by the French Empire in 1806. During World War II, Italy formally annexed the city on the 18th of May 1941, and it became part of Yugoslavia after the war.
The city has a population of 160,577 according to the 2021 census, with 96.42% identifying as Croats and 77.53% as Roman Catholics. The wider urban area contains 293,298 inhabitants, and the metropolitan area has 346,314 people.
The historic center of Split was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979. The city is also home to the University of Split, founded in 1974, which has grown to 18,000 students.
The traditional sport of Picigin is played in ankle-deep water on the sandy Bačvice beach and dates back to 1908. This unique local tradition remains a key part of the city's cultural life alongside its vibrant nightlife and sports clubs.