The
Republic of Ragusa, or
Republic of Dubrovnik, was a
maritime republic centered on the city of
Dubrovnik ( in
Italian and
Latin) in
Dalmatia (today in southernmost
Croatia), that existed from 1358 to 1808. It reached its commercial peak in the 15th and the 16th centuries, before being conquered by
Napoleon's
French Empire and formally annexed by the
Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1808. It had a population of about 30,000 people, out of whom 5,000 lived within the city walls. Its motto was
"", which translated from
Latin means "Liberty is not well sold for all the gold".