Slovenia
Republic of Slovenia Republika Slovenija | |
|---|---|
| Anthem: Zdravljica | |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Ljubljana |
| Official languages | Slovenian, Italian1, Hungarian1 |
| Government | Parliamentary republic |
| Janez Drnovšek | |
| Janez Janša | |
| Independence From Yugoslavia | |
• Declared | June 25, 1991 |
• Recognized | 1992 |
• Water (%) | 0.6% |
| Population | |
• July 2005 estimate | 1,967,000 (145th) |
• 2002 census | 1,964,036 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate |
• Total | $45.73 billion (81st) |
• Per capita | $21,911 (31st) |
| HDI (2003) | 0.904 very high (26th) |
| Currency | Tolar2 (SIT) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Calling code | 386 |
| ISO 3166 code | SI |
| Internet TLD | .si |
1 In the residential municipalities of Italian or Hungarian national community. 2 Will be replaced by the euro (EUR) on 1 January 2007. | |
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovenian: Republika Slovenija), is a coastal Alpine country in southern Central 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.
Throughout Slovenia's history, the country has been part of: the Roman Empire, the Duchy of Carantania (only Slovenia's modern northern part), the Holy Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929) between the World Wars, and the SFR of Yugoslavia from 1945 until gaining independence in 1991. Slovenia became a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004. It is also a member of the Council of Europe and NATO, and has observer status in La Francophonie.
History
Slavic ancestors of the present-day Slovenians settled in the area in the 6th century. The Slavic Duchy of Carantania was formed in the 7th century. In 745, Carantania lost its independence, being largely subsumed into the Frankish empire. Many Slavs converted to Christianity.
The Freising manuscripts, the earliest surviving written documents in a Slovenian dialect and the first ever Slavic document in Latin script, were written around 1000. During the 14th century, most of Slovenia's regions passed into ownership of the Habsburgs whose lands later formed 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, Carinthia and Styria.
In 1848 a strong programme for a united Slovenia emerged as part of the Spring of Nations movement within Austria.
With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918, Slovenians initially formed part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which shortly joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed (1929) the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the re-establishment of Yugoslavia at the end of World War II, Slovenia became a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, officially declared on 29 November 1945. Present-day Slovenia was formed on 25 June 1991 upon its independence from Yugoslavia. Slovenia joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. Slovenia will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2008, being the first "new" member state to do so.
Politics
The Slovenian head of state is the president, who is elected by popular vote every 5 years. The executive branch is headed by the prime minister and the council of ministers or cabinet, which are elected by the parliament.
The bicameral Slovenian parliament consists of the National Assembly or Državni zbor, and the Državni svet or National Council. The National Assembly has 90 seats, which are partially filled with directly elected representatives, and partially with proportionally elected representatives (two seats reserved for autochthonous Hungarian and Italian minorities). The National Council has 40 seats, and is made up of representatives of social, economic, professional and local interest groups. Parliamentary elections are held every four years.
Regions
Historical Regions
As given by Enciklopedija Slovenije (Encyclopedia of Slovenia), traditional Slovenian regions, based on the former division of Slovenia into four Habsburg crown lands (Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, and the Littoral) and their parts, are:
- Upper Carniola (Gorenjska) (denoted on the map by U.C.)
- Styria (Štajerska) (S)
- Prekmurje (T)
- Carinthia (Koroška) (C)
- Inner Carniola (Notranjska) (I.C.)
- Lower Carniola (Dolenjska) (L.C.)
- Goriška (G)
- Slovenian Istria (Slovenska Istra) (L)
The last two are usually considered together as the Littoral Region (Primorska). White Carniola (Bela krajina), otherwise part of Lower Carniola, is usually considered a separate region, as is Zasavje, which is otherwise a part of Upper and Lower Carniola and Styria.
Natural Regions
The first regionalizations of Slovenia were made by geographers Anton Melik (1935-1936) and Svetozar Ilešič (1968). The newer regionalization by Ivan Gams divides Slovenia in the following macroregions:
- the Alps (visokogorske Alpe)
- the Prealpine Hills (predalpsko hribovje)
- the Ljubljana basin (Ljubljanska kotlina)
- Submediterranean (Littoral) Slovenia (submediteranska - primorska Slovenija)
- the dinaric Karst of inner Slovenia (dinarski kras notranje Slovenije)
- Subpannonian Slovenia (subpanononska Slovenija)
According to a newer natural geographic regionalization, the country consists of four macroregions. These are the Alpine world, the Mediterranean world, the Dinaric world and the Pannonian world. Macroregions are defined according to major relief units (the Alps, the Pannonian plain, the Dinaric mountains) and climate types (continental, alpine, mediterranean). These are often quite interwoven.
Macroregions consist of multiple and very diverse mesoregions. The main factor that defines them is the relief together with the geologic composition. Mesoregions in turn consist of numerous microregions.
Administrative Regions
As of May 2005, only statistical regions exist, and, as their name suggests, are only used for statistical purposes. There are 12 of these regions.
The Statistical regions are:
- Gorenjska
- Goriška
- Jugovzhodna Slovenija
- Koroška
- Notranjsko-kraška
- Obalno-kraška
- Osrednjeslovenska
- Podravska
- Pomurska
- Savinjska
- Spodnjeposavska
- Zasavska
The Government, however, is preparing a plan for new administrative regions. The number of these regions is not yet defined, but is said to be around 12 to 14. The plan will, after being publicly unveiled, need to undergo parliamentary debate, and it is expected that constitution changes will be needed before the regionalization can come into effect. If the scenario of 12 administrative regions is selected, the regions will most likely be the same as the current Statistical regions.
Municipalities
Slovenia is divided into 205 municipalities (občine, singular - občina), of which 11 have urban status.
Geography
Four major European geographic regions meet in Slovenia: the Alps, the Dinarides, the Pannonian plain, and the Mediterranean. Slovenia's highest peak is Triglav (2,864 m; 9,396 ft); the country's average height above the sea level is 557 metres (1,827 ft). Around one half of the country (10,124 km²; 3,909 sq mi) is covered by forests; this makes Slovenia the third most forested country in Europe, after Finland and Sweden. Remnants of primeval forests are still to be found, the largest in the Kočevje area. Grassland covers 5,593 square kilometres (2,159 sq mi) of the country and fields and gardens 2,471 square kilometres (838 sq mi). There are also 363 square kilometres (140 sq mi) of orchards and 216 square kilometres (83 sq mi)of vineyards.
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. The average temperatures are -2°C (28°F) in January and 21°C (70°F) in July. The average rainfall is 1,000 millimetres (39.4 in) for the coast, up to 3,500 millimetres (138 in) for the Alps, 800 millimetres (31.5 in) for south east and 1,400 millimetres (55 in)for central Slovenia.
Economy
Slovenia is a high-income economy which enjoys the highest GDP per capita ($23,250 in 2006 [1]) of the newly joined EU countries. The country's relatively high rate of inflation (3.6% in 2004) declined to 2.5% in 2005 and is now comparable to the average in the European Union. Slovenia's economy has started to grow more strongly in the last few years (5.1% in Q1 2006, 3.9% in 2005, 4.2% in 2004), after relatively slow growth in 2003 (2.7%). Overall, the country is on a sound economic footing.
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 few years. Slovenia is the economic front-runner of the countries that joined the European Union in 2004 and is the first "new" member which will adopt the euro as the country's only currency on 1 January 2007. Moreover, Slovenia will be the first new member state to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2008.
Demographics
Slovenia's main ethnic group is Slovenians (83%). Nationalities from the former Yugoslavia (Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks & Muslims by nationality) form 6.3% and the Hungarian, Italian and Roma minorities 0.6% of the population. Ethnic affiliation of 8.9% was either undeclared or unknown. Life expectancy in 2003 was 72.2 years for men and 80 years for women.
With 99 inhabitants per square kilometre (256/sq mi), Slovenia ranks low among the European countries in population density (compare with 320/km² (829/sq mi) for the Netherlands or 195/km² (505/sq mi) for Italy). The Notranjsko-kraška region has the lowest population density while the Osrednjeslovenska region has the highest. Approximately 51% of the population lives in urban areas and 49% in rural areas.
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 border.
By religion, Slovenians have traditionally been largely Roman Catholic. The pre-1945, pre-socialists' rule, percentage is estimated at as high as 88%, while by 1991 this had already dropped to 71.6%, and the number of followers is still falling (57.8% in 2002).
Culture
Slovenia's first book was printed by the protestant reformer Primož Trubar (1508-1586). It was actually two books, Catechismus (a catechism) and Abecedarium, which was published in 1550 in Tübingen, Germany.
The central part of the country, namely Carniola (which existed as a part of Austria-Hungary until the early 20th century) was ethnographically and historically well described in the book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (German Die Ehre deß Herzogthums Crain, Slovenian Slava vojvodine Kranjske), published in 1689 by baron Janez Vajkard Valvasor (1641-1693).
Slovenia's two greatest writers were the poet France Prešeren (1800-1849) and writer Ivan Cankar (1876-1918). The most important Slovenian painters are Ivana Kobilca and impressionist Rihard Jakopič. The most famed Slovenian architect is Jože Plečnikwho worked in Poland as well as the Czech Republic.
Slovenia is a homeland of numerous musicians and composers, including Renaissance composer Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591), who greatly influenced Central European classical music. In the 20th century, Bojan Adamič was a renowned film music composer.
Contemporary popular musicians have been Slavko Avsenik, Laibach, Vlado Kreslin, Zoran Predin, Pero Lovšin, New Swing Quartet, DJ Umek, Siddharta, Magnifico, recently also Atomik Harmonik and others.
Slovenian cinema has a century-long tradition with Karol Grossmann, Janko Ravnik, Ferdo Delak, France Štiglic, Mirko Grobler, Igor Pretnar, France Kosmač, Jože Pogačnik, Matjaž Klopčič, Jane Kavčič, Jože Gale, Boštjan Hladnik and Karpo Godina as its most established filmmakers. Notable contemporary film directors are Janez Burger, Jan Cvitkovič, Damjan Kozole, Janez Lapajne and Maja Weiss.
Slovenia's learned men include chemist and Nobel prize laureate Friderik Pregl, physicist Jožef Stefan, philosopher Slavoj Žižek, linguist Franc Miklošič, physician Anton Marko Plenčič, mathematician Jurij Vega.
Biodiversity
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. |
Although Slovenia is a small country, there is an exceptionally wide variety of habitats. In the north are the Alps (namely, Julian Alps, Karavanke, Kamnik Alps), and in the south lie the Dinarides. There is also a small part of the Pannonian plain and a Littoral Region. It also has the Karst - a very rich, often unexplored underground habitat containing diverse flora and fauna.
Half of the country (53%) is covered by forest. These forests are an important natural resource, but their true value lies in the preservation of natural diversity. Further value lies in their ecological (protection of the soil, water and air) and social value (tourism and recreation) functions as well as the natural beauty they lend to the Slovenian landscape. In the interior of the country there are typical Central European forests as well as (oak and beech whilst in the mountains there is spruce, fir and pine). The tree-line is at 1,700-1,800 metres (5,575–5,900 ft).
Pine grows also on the Karst plateau. The Karst and White Carniola are well known for the mysterious proteus. Only one third of Kras (Karst) is now covered by pine forest. It is said that most was cut down long ago to provide the wooden pylons on which the city of Venice now stands. The lime (linden) tree, also common in Slovenian forests, is a national symbol. A national proverb says: "A true Slovenian must raise a child, write a book and plant a tree."
In the Alps are flowers of great beauty such as Daphne blagayana, various gentians (Gentiana clusii, Gentiana froelichi), Primula auricula, Edelweiss (the symbol of Slovenian mountaineering), Cypripedium calceolus, Fritillaria meleagris (Snakes's head), and Pulsatilla grandis.
Fauna include marmot (introduced), steinbocks, and chamois. There are numerous deer, roe deer, boar and hares. The loir or fat dormouse is often found in Slovenian beech forests. Hunting these animals is a long tradition and is well described in the book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (Slava vojvodine Kranjske) (1689), written by Janez Vajkard Valvasor (1641-1693). Some important carnivores include the Eurasian lynx (reintroduced to Kočevje area in 1973), European wild cat, fox (especially the red fox), and the rare jackal [2]. There are also hedgehogs, and different species of marten, snakes (viper, grass snake, etc.). As of March 2005, Slovenia also has a limited population of wolves and about 400 brown bears.
There is a variety of birds: the tawny owl, long-eared owl and Eagle Owl, hawks, Short-toed Eagle and other birds of prey. Other birds include the woodpecker (black and green woodpecker) and the white stork which nests in Prekmurje. Various other birds of prey have been recorded, as well as a growing number of ravens, crows and magpies migrating into Ljubljana and Maribor where they thrive.
The indigenous Slovenian fish is the Marmorata. Extensive breeding programs have been introduced to repopulate the Marmorata into lakes and streams invaded by non-indigenous species of trout. The only regular species of cetaceans in the northern Adriatic sea is the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) [3].
Domestic animals originating in Slovenia include the Carniolan honeybee, the indigenous Karst Sheepdog and the Lipizzan horse. The exploration of various cave systems has yielded discoveries of many cave-dweling insects and other organisms.
Slovenia is a veritable cornucopia of forest, cavern and mountain-dwelling animals and many of the species that are endangered or have even gone extinct in other parts of Europe can still be found here.
Education
The Slovenian education system consists of:
- pre-school education,
- basic education (single structure of primary and lower secondary education),
- (upper) secondary education: -vocational and technical education, -secondary general education,
- higher vocational education,
- higher education.
Specific parts of the system:
- adult education
- music and dance education
- special needs education
- modified programmes and programmes in ethnically and linguistically mixed areas.
See also
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
- Bank of Slovenia
- Communications in Slovenia
- Foreign relations of Slovenia
- Economy of Slovenia
- Military of Slovenia
- Tourism in Slovenia
- Transportation in Slovenia
- List of computer systems from Slovenia
Geographical sights
Institutions
References
- ^ Template:En icon "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2006-04-06.
- ^ Template:Sl icon Maja Berden Zrimec (2005). ""Šakali"". GEA (journal). Retrieved 2006-04-06.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Template:En icon "Dolphins in Slovenia". Morigenos. Retrieved 2006-04-06.
External links
General information on Slovenia
- Official tourist guide to Slovenia
- Ljubljana-Life - The guide for you!
- The Slovenia Times - the only general newspaper on Slovenian affairs in English
- Moja Slovenija - a site featuring 3D photos of various spots in the country
- Panoramas of Slovenia
- Guide to virtual Slovenia at Matkurja.com - the first Slovenian search engine
- Weather forecast for Slovenia Template:Sl icon
- Slovenia-Guide.com - a complete guide to travelling and living in Slovenia.
- GeaBios - interactive maps and aerial orthophotos of Slovenia, scale from 1:2.500.000 to 1:2.500
- SLORadio.com - list of all Slovene online radio stations with links to their program streams
- SloveniaWelcomes.com - Blogs about Slovenia - a directory of travel blogs writing about their experiences in Slovenia.
Institutions in Slovenia
- Bank of Slovenia
- Public Libraries
- Jožef Stefan Institute - the official site of the leading Slovenian research organization and links to resources on Slovenia
- The Republic of Slovenia - government links
- Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
- University of Ljubljana
- University of Maribor
- University of Primorska
Slovenian web search engines
- Najdi.si - the first Slovenian search engine Template:Sl icon
- Mat'kurja - the first Slovenian web directory
- Slowwwenia.com - a Slovenian internet directory Template:Sl icon
- Raziskovalec.com - a Slovenian local web directory Template:Sl icon
Currency
Member states of the European Union | ||
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