Slovenia

The Slavic ancestors of the present-day Slovenes settled in the area in the 6th century. In the 7th century the Slavic Duchy of Carantania, the first Slovene state, was formed. In 745, Karantania loses its independence and becomes part of the Frankish empire, Slavs are converted to Christianity.

Around 1000, the Freising manuscripts are written, representing the first written document in Slovene 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 its collapse in 1918, the Slovenes join the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed to Yugoslavia. After Yugoslavia was re-created at the end of World War II, Slovenia joined the Federal Peoples' Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ), officially declared on 29 November 1945. Present-day Slovenia was formed on June 25, 1991 with its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ). Currently, Slovenia is seeking membership of both the European Union and NATO.

See also: Timeline of Slovene history

Politics

Main article: Politics of Slovenia

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, which are elected by the Državni zbor, or National Assembly.

The Državni zbor 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, or občine, of which 11 have urban status.

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).

File:Slovenia-map.jpg

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 are expected 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 currently engaged in accession talks with the EU.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Slovenia

Slovenia's ethnic groups represent Slovenes (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 460/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 Slovene, which is a member of the 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 famous Slovenes.

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

**Holidays**
Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
January 1 and 2	New Year	Novo leto
February 8	Prešeren's day	Prešernov dan, Slovenski kulturni praznik	Slovene Cultural Holiday
Easter Monday
April 27	Day of Uprising Against Occupation	Dan upora proti okupatorju
May 1 and May 2	Labour Day	Praznik dela
June 25	National Day	Dan državnosti
August 15	Assumption Day	Marijino vnebovzetje
October 31	Reformation Day	Dan reformacije
November 1	All Souls' Day	Dan spomina na umrle
December 25	Christmas	Bozic
December 26	Independence Day	Dan neodvisnosti

Miscellaneous topics

External links

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

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