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Travel to Slovenia — Unbiased reviews and
great deals from TripAdvisorSlovenia
| Republic of Slovenia National
name: Republika Slovenija President: Danilo Türk (2007) Prime Minister: Borut Pahor
(2008)
Current government officials
Land area: 7,780 sq mi (20,151 sq km);
total area: 7,827 sq mi (20,273 sq km) Population (2007 est.): 2,009,245 (growth
rate: -0.1%); birth rate: 9.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.4/1000;
life expectancy: 76.5; density per sq mi: 257
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Ljubljana, 258,000 Other large city: Maribor, 92,400 Monetary units: Slovenian tolar; euro (as of
1/1/07)
Languages:
Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 5% (2002)
Ethnicity/race:
Slovene 93.1%, Croat 1.8%, Serb 2%, Bosniak
1.1%, other or unspecified 12% (2001)
Religions:
Catholic 58% Orthodox 2%, other Christian 1%,
Islam 2%, none 10% Literacy rate:
100% (2003 est.) Economic summary:
GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $54.67 billion; per capita $27,200.
Real growth rate: 6.1%. Inflation: 3.6%.
Unemployment: 4.8%. Arable land: 9%. Agriculture:
potatoes, hops, wheat, sugar beets, corn, grapes; cattle, sheep,
poultry. Labor force: 920,000; agriculture 6%, industry 40%,
services 54% (2002). Industries: ferrous metallurgy and
aluminum products, lead and zinc smelting; electronics (including
military electronics), trucks, electric power equipment, wood
products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools. Natural
resources: lignite coal, lead, zinc, mercury, uranium, silver,
hydropower, forests. Exports: $18.53 billion f.o.b. (2005
est.): manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment,
chemicals, food. Imports: $19.62 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.):
machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals,
fuels and lubricants, food. Major trading partners: Germany,
Italy, Austria, France, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2004). Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 722,000 (1997); mobile cellular: 1 million (2000). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 17, FM 160, shortwave 0 (1998). Radios:
805,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 48 (2001).
Televisions: 710,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 11 (2000). Internet users: 600,000 (2001). Transportation: Railways: total: 1,201 km
(2002). Highways: total: 20,177 km; paved: 20,157 km
(including 427 km of expressways); unpaved: 20 km 2000). Waterways:
n.a. Ports and harbors: Izola, Koper, Piran.
Airports: 16 (2002). International
disputes: Sparliamentarians are far from ratifying the
Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would
have ceded most of Piran Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and
several villages to Croatia.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Slovenia occupies an area about the size of the state of Massachusetts.
It is largely a mountainous republic and almost half of the land is
forested, with hilly plains spread across the central and eastern regions.
Mount Triglav, the highest peak, rises to 9,393 ft (2,864 m).
Government
Parliamentary democratic republic.
History
Slovenia was originally settled by Illyrian and Celtic peoples. It
became part of the Roman Empire in the first century B.C.
The Slovenes were a south Slavic group that settled in the region in
the 6th century A.D. During the 7th century,
the Slavs established the state of Samu, which owed its allegiance to the
Avars, who dominated the Hungarian plain until Charlemagne defeated them
in the late 8th century.
When the Hungarians were defeated by the Turks in 1526, Hungary
accepted Austrian Hapsburg rule in order to escape Turkish domination; the
Hapsburg monarchy was the first to include all of the Slovene regions.
Thus, Slovenia and Croatia became part of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom
when the dual monarchy was established in 1867. Like Croatia and unlike
the other Balkan states, it is primarily Roman Catholic.
Following the defeat and collapse of Austria-Hungary in World War I,
Slovenia declared its independence. It formally joined with Montenegro,
Serbia, and Croatia on Dec. 4, 1918, to form the new nation called the
Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The name was later changed to
Yugoslavia in 1929.
During World War II, Germany occupied Yugoslavia, and Slovenia was
divided among Germany, Italy, and Hungary. For the duration of the war
many Slovenes fought a guerrilla war against the Nazis under the
leadership of the Croatian-born Communist resistance leader, Marshal Tito.
After the final defeat of the Axis powers in 1945, Slovenia was again made
into a republic of the newly established Communist nation of
Yugoslavia.
In the 1980s, Slovenia agitated for greater autonomy and occasionally
threatened to secede. It introduced a multiparty system and in 1990
elected a non-Communist government. Slovenia declared its independence
from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991. The Serbian-dominated Yugoslavian army
tried to keep Slovenia in line and some brief fighting took place, but the
army then withdrew its forces. Unlike Croatia and Bosnia, Slovenia was
able to sever itself from Yugoslavia with relatively little violence. With
recognition of its independence granted by the European Community in 1992,
the country began realigning its economy and society toward western
Europe. Slovenia joined the EU and NATO in 2004.
In a surprise upset, the center-right Slovenian Democrats (SDS) leader
Janez Jansa won in Oct. 2004 elections. Prime Minister Anton Rop, of the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDS), conceded defeat. LDS had been in power for
most of the previous 12 years. Slovenia changed its currency to the euro
on Jan. 1, 2007, becoming the first former Communist country to do so.
In the second round of 2007's presidential elections in November,
Danilo Türk, a leftist former diplomat who spent much of his career
abroad, took 68.3% of the vote, well ahead of former prime minister Lojze
Peterle's 31.7%. Türk's breeze to victory suggested that Slovenians
have grown weary of Jansa's conservative administration. The post of
president in Slovenia is largely ceremonial.
In January 2008, Slovenia became the first former communist nation to
assume the EU presidency.
On September 21, 2008, in parliamentary elections, Borut Pahor's Social Democrats won 30.5% of the vote (29 of 90 seats) and Prime Minister Janez Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party 29.3% (28). Turnout was 62.3%.
In November 2008, Borut Pahor was named prime minister, ending four
years in government of a centre-right coalition under Janez Jansa. The
parliament approved the nomination on November 7 (59-24). On November 11,
Pahor announced his cabinet (subject to approval by parliament) with
Samuel Zbogar as foreign minister, Ljubica Jelusic as defense minister,
Franci Krizanic as finance minister, and Katarina Kresal as interior
minister.
See also Encyclopedia: Slovenia.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Slovenia
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
http://www.gov.si/zrs/eng/index.html .
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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