Poreč (Italian Parenzo, Latin Parens or Parentium, archaic German: Parenz) is a city and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria county, Croatia. Poreč is almost 2,000 years old, and is based on a harbour protected from the sea by the small island of Sveti Nikola (Saint Nicholas). The city's population of approximately 12,000 resides mostly on the outskirts, while the Poreč region as a whole has a population of approximately 17,000 inhabitants. The city area covers 142 km², with the 37 km long shoreline stretching from the Mirna river near Novigrad-Cittanova to Funtana-Fontana and Vrsar-Orsera in the south.