Department of Foreign Affairs

About Slovenia

Geography
Climate
History
Population
Public Administration
Time
Languages
Tourism

Geography

The Republic of Slovenia is a country in south-eastern Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north. The capital and largest city of Slovenia is Ljubljana.

Slovenia is a small country with a total area of 20,273 square kilometres. It is a Member State of the European Union.

Climate

Its climate is submediterranean on the coast, alpine in the mountains and continental with mild to hot summers and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east. Average temperatures are -2 °C in January and 21 °C in July.

Information on the current weather in Slovenia can be accessed through the following web page of the National Meteorological Service of Slovenia.

History

The early Slovenes settled in the river valleys of the Danube Basin and the eastern Alps in the 6th century. In the 8th century, Slovenia was brought under Germanic rule, first by the Frankish empire and then as part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century. The Austro-German monarchy took over in the early 14th century and continued to rule (as the Austrian Habsburg Empire from 1804) right up until 1918, with only one brief interruption when Napoleon established the so-called Illyrian Provinces (1809-1813), making Ljubljana the capital. Following World War I the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed in 1918. In 1929 this was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During WWII Slovenia was annexed by Germany, Italy and Hungary. After the war Slovenia joined the federal Yugoslavia. Slovenia declared its independence on 25 June 1991. It joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.

Population

Around 2 million inhabitants live in Slovenia. With 99 inhabitants per square kilometre (256/sq mi), Slovenia ranks low among European countries in population density.

Public Administration

The Republic of Slovenia is a parliamentary democracy.
The President of the Republic of Slovenia (Predsednik Republike) is the Head of State and is elected for a five-year term in direct, general elections.

The Government (Vlada), headed by the Prime Minister (Predsednik Vlade) is elected for a four-year term.

The Parliament has two chambers — the National Assembly (Državni zbor) [88 representatives elected for a four-year term in direct, general elections, and one representative each from the Italian and Hungarian national communities] and the National Council (Državni svet) [40 Members elected for a five year term in indirect elections by interest organisations and local communities].

Time

GMT + 1 (Summer time from end March till the end October GMT + 2 hours)

Languages

The official language is Slovenian, which is a member of the South Slavic language group. Hungarian and Italian enjoy the status of official languages in the ethnically mixed regions along the Hungarian and Italian borders.

Tourism

Slovenia offers tourists a wide variety of landscapes in a small space: Alpine in the northwest, Mediterranean in the southwest, Pannonian in the northeast and Dinaric in the southeast. Slovenia has many interesting towns that are well worth visiting: Ljubljana, Maribor, Ptuj and Škofja Loka are just a few of them. Other attractions include the Julian Alps with the picturesque Lake Bled in the town of Bled, the Soča valley, and the country’s highest peak, Mount Triglav (2,864 metres). Perhaps even more famous is Slovenia's Karst plateau in southwestern Slovenia. More than 28 million visitors have visited Postojna Cave, while a 15-minute ride from it are Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Further in the same direction is the coast of the Adriatic Sea (46.6 kilometres), with a jewel of Venetian Gothic architecture, the town of Piran. The hills around the nation's second city, Maribor, are renowned for their wine-making. Geology has made the northeastern part of the country rich with spas (Rogaška, Čatež, Radenci, Zreče, Dobrna,…). Slovenia is an excellent place for sport and recreation; active holidays are possible in all parts of the country during all seasons. Slovenia has many ski centres (Kranjska Gora, Maribor Pohorje, Rogla, Krvavec, Kanin,..), and very good conditions for hunting and fishing. The Soča and other rivers present a challenge to kayakers, canoeists and rafters and bicycling is also possible almost everywhere.