Slovenia

The Republic of Slovenia (Slovenian Slovenija) is a littoral and pre-Alpine country in the South of Central Europe bordering the Adriatic Sea, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia.

History Main article: History of Slovenia

As it is believed the Slavic ancestors of the present-day Slovenians settled in the area in the 6th century. In the 7th century the Slavic Duchy of Carantania, the first Slovenian state and one of the first Slavic, was formed. In 745, Karantania loses its independence and becomes a tantamount part of the Frankish empire, many Slavs are gradually converted to Christianity.

Around 1000, the Freising manuscripts are written, representing the first written document in Slovenian and the first ever Slavic dialect written in Latin script. During the 14th century, most of Slovenia's regions pass to the possession of the Habsburgs, which later form the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with Slovenians inhabiting all or most of the provinces of Carniola, Gorizia[?], and Gradisca[?], and parts of the provinces of Istria and Styria.

In 1848 a strong programme for the United Slovenia[?] appeared in the so called of Spring of nations within Austria-Hungary.

With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918, the Slovenians join the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later in 1929 renamed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After Yugoslavia was re-created at the end of World War II, Slovenia joined the Federal Peoples' Republic of Yugoslavia, officially declared on November 29, 1945. Present-day Slovenia was formed on June 25, 1991 with its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Slovenia will join both the European Union and NATO in 2004.

See also: Timeline of Slovenian history

Politics Main article: Politics of Slovenia

The Slovenian head of state is the president, who is elected by popular vote every 5 years. In his task as head of the executive branch, the president is aided by the prime minister and the council of ministers or cabinet, which are elected by parliament.

The unicameral Slovenian parliament is the National Assembly or Državni zbor[?]. It has 90 seats, which are partially filled with directly elected representatives, and partially with proportinally elected representatives. Elections for the Državni zbor are held every four years.

Municipalities Main article: Municipalities of Slovenia[?]

Slovenia is divided into 147 municipalities (občine, singular - občina), of which 11 have urban status (marked with *).

Geography Main article: Geography of Slovenia

Four major European geographic regions meet in Slovenia: the Alps, the Dinaric area, the Pannonian plain[?] and the Mediterranean. Slovenia's highest peak is Mt. Triglav (2864 m); the country's average height above the sea level is 557 m. Around one half of the country (10,124 km²) is covered by forests; this makes Slovenia the third most forested country in Europe, right after Finland and Sweden. Remnants of primeval forests are still to be found, the largest in the Kočevje area. Grassland covers 5593 km² of the country and fields and gardens 2471 km². There are also 363 km² of orchards and 216 km² of vineyards.

Its climate is Mediterranean 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. The average temperatures are -2°C in January and 21°C in July. The average rainfall is 1000 mm for the coast, up to 3500 mm for the Alps, 800 mm for south east and 1400 mm for central Slovenia.

See also: National parks (Slovenia).

Economy Main article: Economy of Slovenia

Slovenia continues to enjoy the highest GDP per capita of the transitioning economies of the region. The country is experiencing an increased, yet manageable, rate of inflation and anticipates increased GDP growth during the year 2000 as growth accelerates in the EU, Slovenia's leading export market. The country is on a sound economic footing. However, much work remains to be done in the areas of privatisation and capital market reform.

During 2000, privatisations were seen in the banking, telecommunications, and public utility sectors. Restrictions on foreign investment are slowly being dismantled, and foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to increase over the next two years. Slovenia can be considered one of the economic front-runners of the countries that will join the European Union in 2004.

Demographics Main article: Demographics of Slovenia

Slovenia's ethnic groups represent Slovenians (89%), Croats, Serbs, Bosnians[?] and other nationalities of the former Yugoslavia (10%) and the ethnic Hungarian and Italian minorities (0.5%). Life expectancy in 2000 was 71.80 years for men and 79.50 years for women.

With 95 inhabitants per km², Slovenia ranks low among the European countries (compare with 320/km² for the Netherlands or 195/km² for Italy). Approximately 50% of the total population lives in urban areas, the rest in rural.

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

Culture Main article: Culture of Slovenia[?]

Slovenia's learned men include physicist Jožef Stefan and linguist Franc Miklošič. See List of Slovenians.

Slovenia is a homeland of numerous musicians and composers, including Renaissance composer Jacobus Gallus and more contemporary ones like Slavko Avsenik and Laibach.

See also: Music of Slovenia

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Slovenia
• Transportation in Slovenia
• Military of Slovenia
• Foreign relations of Slovenia

External links

• Official site of the Slovenian government (In English and Slovenian): http://www.sigov.si

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