Slovenia is a Country of Southeast Europe. Located in the Northwest of the Balkans, it has an area of 20 253 km2. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast and Croatia to the east and south; to the southwest, it has a narrow coastline (25 km) on the Adriatic Sea (Gulf of Venice), between Trieste, Italy, and the Istrian Peninsula, Croatia. The most important cities are Ljubljana, the capital, with 258 700 residents (2004), Maribor (92 6 000 residents), Celje (37 100 residents), Kranj (35 100 residents) and Novo Mesto (22 400 residents ). The territory is predominantly mountainous.
The climate is Mediterranean type along the coast, but it has continental climate characteristics in the plateau interior and in the western valleys with cold winters and hot, rainy summers.
Economy
Slovenia is historically one of the most prosperous regions in the Balkans, with an industry-based economy. Industrial products are steel, aluminum, building materials, detergents, fabrics, leather products and bicycles. There are large reserves of coal and some deposits of oil and natural gas. Agriculture is not very developed, but corn, potatoes, wheat, beets and fruits are still cultivated. Slovenia’s main trading partners are Germany, Italy, Croatia and France.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 7.3.
Population
The population is 2 010 347 residents (2006), which corresponds to a population density of 99.2 residents/km2. The birth and death rates are respectively 8.98% of the and 10.31%, which corresponds to a natural negative growth rate (-0.05%). Average life expectancy is 76.33 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.821 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.879 (2001). The main ethnic groups are Slovenian, with 91%, Croatian, with 3%, Serbian, with 2% and others, with 4%. The religion with the greatest expression is Catholic. The official language is Slovenian.
History
In the 9th century, Slovenia joined the German Empire and Slovenians were reduced to serfdom. From the thirteenth century, the suzerainty of the Austrian Habsburgs in the territory was gradually being established. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, there were some rebellions among the Slovenian peasants. But in the 18th century, Empress Maria Teresa and her son José II managed to stop the uprisings by enacting some reforms. For Slovenia democracy and rights, please check intershippingrates.
After a short period of Napoleonic rule, between 1809 and 1814, the Habsburg administration was reestablished in the region. In 1870, the population’s hopes for the political union of the southern Slavic countries (Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia) arose. Twenty years later, the first political parties began to emerge. In 1918, at the end of the First World War, Slovenia’s political leaders cooperated in the formation of the Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian Empire, which in 1929 was renamed Yugoslavia. At the beginning of World War II, Slovenia was occupied and divided by the Axis Powers, Germany, Italy and Japan. But resistance began to emerge, mainly the communist Liberation Front. With the victory of the Allies in 1945, Slovenia became a constituent republic of Yugoslavia.
In the late 1980s, Slovenian communist leaders began building a multiparty system, thus placing themselves at an advantage over the rule of the Communist Party of Yugoslav Serbia. In April 1990, the first multi-party elections within the Yugoslav Federation, since World War II, were won in Slovenia, which were won by a center-right coalition. Shortly thereafter, the new government decided on the right to independence. Slovenia separated from the federation in June 1991, and a year later, independence was recognized by the European Union. From that moment on, the country’s economy and society began to follow Western European standards.
Slovenia formally joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, in a ceremony held in Dublin, and on 1 January 2007 it became the 13th country to join the single currency.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Slovenia, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Slovenia. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Slovenia
Browse a collection of country, political and shaded relief maps of this eastern European country.
