Language: Slovene
Currency: Euro € (EUR)
Calling Code: 386
Slovenia , officially Republic of Slovenia is a
sovereign country in Central Europe , member of the European Union.
It borders Italy to the west; with the Adriatic Sea , to the
southwest; with Croatia to the south and east; with Hungary , to the
northeast; and with Austria to the north. It has a population of
2,080,908 inhabitants as of January 1, 2019. The capital and most
populous city is Ljubljana . About this sound
The present
-day Slovenia was formed on 25 of June of 1991 to the independence
from Yugoslavia , after a relatively short armed conflict called
ten-day war (which was the first war of the dissolution of
Yugoslavia), which opposed the army former Yugoslav federation. At
that time, it was already the most developed country of that
federation.
Culturally and historically, Slovenia gravitates
towards Italy, Austria and Germany (Catholic and Protestant
culture). Throughout history, Slovenia has always been part of
empires, kingdoms, etc. Central Europe and has never been part of
the political bodies that ruled most of the Balkans, for example. of
the Eastern Roman Empire (Orthodox Church) and the Sultanate of
Turkey (Islam).
In 2004 he joined the European Union.
Slovenia joined the euro on January 1, 2007, and in the Schengen
area, in 2004. Already in 1993 it had joined the Council of Europe
and since July 2010 is part of the OECD .
1 Bled on Lake Bled.
2
Kranjska Gora (Občina Kranjska Gora)
world famous winter sports resort.
3 Koper is the only seaport in
Slovenia and thus the Slovenian gateway to the world.
4
Ljubljana the provincial capital.
5
Maribor. the second largest city in the country, in the east on the
Drava.
6 Piran is one of the loveliest coastal towns in Slovenia,
situated on a promontory jutting into the Mediterranean Sea.
7 Ptuj,
the oldest town in Slovenia.
8 Velenje internet wikipedia commons.
fifth largest city in Slovenia.
The name Slovenija comes from the ethnonym "Slovene" -
the Proto-Slavic form of the ethnonym "Slavs", that is, it means
"Slovenian land". The etymology of the ethnonym "Slavs", according to a
number of linguists, remains unclear, although there are a number of
hypotheses in this regard.
The name of modern Slovenia comes from
the Slovenian Committee for National Liberation (Slovenski
narodnoosvobodilni svet), created in 1944 during the national liberation
movement of Yugoslavia against the German occupation. The official name
of the state in 1945-1946 was "Federal Slovenia" (Sloven. Federalna
Slovenija), at that time - one of the countries that made up the SFRY.
On February 20, 1946, "Federal Slovenia" was renamed the "People's
Republic of Slovenia" (Sloven. Ljudska republika Slovenija), which, in
turn, on April 9, 1963 was renamed the "Socialist Republic of Slovenia"
(Slovene: Socialistična republika Slovenija). On March 8, 1990, Slovenia
removed the prefix "Socialist" from its name, becoming the "Republic of
Slovenia", and gained independence on June 25, 1991.
Prehistory and antiquity
In ancient times the
current territory of Slovenia was encompassed by the culture of the
ballot boxes , later, in the iron age the Hallstatt culture
developed in the region .
In the second century BC the
historical sources record the existence of the Kingdom of Noricum in
the Eastern Alps. This kingdom maintained friendly relations with
the Romans, to whom they sold iron. This iron was, in fact, the key
of the Romans to produce effective weapons, necessary in their wars
against the Celts. In the year 16 BC, Noricum is associated with the
Roman Empire where it preserved its autonomy in the terms of the
"ius gentium". This law allowed Noricum to keep its own social
organization until the fall of the Roman Empire. However, Roman
culture and Romanization spread in Noricum.
The most
important cities of Roman times in the area were Celeia (now Celje
), Emona ( Ljubljana ), Nauportus (Vrhnika) and Poetovio ( Ptuj ).
Slovenian territory was divided between the Roman provinces of
Dalmatia, Italy, Noricum and Pannonia.
In the fourth century,
Noricum was divided into two Roman provinces, Noricum Ripense and
Noricum Mediterraneum, the latter also called Interriore Noricum.
While the first of these provinces was invaded by Germanic tribes at
the Fall of the Roman Empire, the second was able to maintain its
social structure and, after the occupation of the Ostrogoths ,
declared its own independence.
Some believe that the Slavic
ancestors of the current Slovenes settled in this area around the
6th century. However, there are others who argue that they descend
from the native villages of the Eastern Alps.
Middle and
Modern Age
In the year 595 the appointment is recorded, by
Lombard historian Paulus Diaconus , of the first stable Slavic and
Slovenian state as "Sclaborum Province", which would later be known
as Carantania . In the year 623 , the Slavs were united in an
alliance under a king named Samo , also known in historical sources
as the Vinedorum Mark , which included the territories of
Carantania. In 658 , after Samo's death, the Slavic Alliance
disintegrated, but Carantania survived and maintained its
independence.
In 745 , Carantania , which until then was a
pagan nation, was seriously threatened militarily by the Avavans of
neighboring Panonia . That is why Duke Borut requested military help
from the friendly Bavarians , who were already Christianized. The
Bavarians belonged to the political dominance of the King of the
Franks , who was the protector of Christianity in Europe. The king
of the Franks gave permission to Bavaria to help the pagan
Carantania, but only on the condition that the latter accept
Christianity. Duke Borut accepted the condition and with the help of
the Bavarians Carantania definitely defeated the Avars. This is how
Duke Borut sent his son Gorazd and his nephew Hotimir to be educated
in the Christian faith in Bavaria . In the decades following the
defeat of the Avars the bishop of Salzburg , Saint Virgil , sent a
series of Irish monks to Carantania, highlighting Saint Modestoas
apostle of the carantanios. After the death of Saint Modesto there
was a brief pagan restoration because the Treaty by which Carantania
had agreed to assume Christianity was violated. Thus, the Bavarian
army entered the country and suppressed the pagan government.
Because of this among the pagan people grew distrust of
Christianity.
Thanks to the task of Duke Domitian
(Domicijan), the conversion to Christianity was total. Finally, at
the time of Charlemagne , in 802 the Duke Domitian died; then he
would be recognized saint. By 828 the Duchy of Carantania occupied
the current territory of Austria and Slovenia.
Carantania
joined the kingdom of the Franks with its own law ( Consuetudo
Sclavorum ) and preserved the proclamation of his knez (prince) in
Slovenian until 1414 on the Prince's Stone ( knezji kamen ). Until
the year 1651 the ceremony of appointment of the lord took place in
the Throne of the Duke ( vojvodski stol ) and until the year 1728 in
the county mansion of Klagenfurt ( Celovec ). The coronation ritual
of the Carinthian ruler is described in the book by Jean Bodin Six
livres de la République .
Around the year 1000 the Freising
Manuscripts were written , representing the first document written
in Slovenian and the first in Slavic dialect in Latin writing .
During the fourteenth century , most of the regions of Slovenia
became the property of the Habsburgs whose lands would later form
the Austro-Hungarian Empire , the Slovenians inhabited totally or
mostly the provinces of Carniola , Gorizia and Gradisca , and parts
of the provinces of Istria and Styria .
Contemporary Age
During the Napoleonic wars , the Illyrian
Provinces (dependent on France) were established with capital in the
Slovenian city of Ljubljana. After the collapse of the French Empire
and the end of the Napoleonic wars, they returned to the control of
Austria-Hungary. In 1848 , a strong program for a united Slovenia
emerged as part of the "Spring of the Nations" movement within
Austria-Hungary.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century
and during the first decade of the twentieth century, one in six
inhabitants emigrated from Slovenia to other parts of Europe, the
USA, And Hispanic America, especially Paraguay. Industrial and
mining centers attracted them mainly, such as Pittsburgh, Chicago,
Butte in Montana, and Salt Lake / Salt Lake in Utah. The largest
group of emigrants to the United States is located in Pueblo,
Colorado, where picnics, folk dances of their ethnicity and samples
of women's special clothing are still held every year.
With
the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918 , the Slovenes
joined the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , which changed
its name in 1929 to that of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . After the
restoration of Yugoslavia at the end of World War II , Slovenia
became part of the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia ,
officially declared on November 29 , 1945 . At that time its
official name was the Socialist Republic of Slovenia .
The
current Slovenia was formed on June 25 , 1991 due to its
independence from Yugoslavia. To make its independence effective,
Slovenia faced the federal armed forces of Yugoslavia in a brief
armed conflict called the Ten-Day War , also commonly known as the
"Slovenia War" ( Slovenian : Slovenska osamosvojitvena vojna ,
"Slovenian War of Independence" ; or desetdnevna vojna, " War of the
ten days ").
Slovenia joined NATO on 29 March as as 2004 and
the European Union on 1 as maypole as 2004 . He adopted the euro as
its official currency on 1 January 2007.
The country is divided into 212 communities (občina), 11 of which
have the status of a city, the capital is divided into district
communities (Četrtna skupnost).
The representative bodies of the
city and the community are the city council (mestni svet), elected by
the population; executive - zhupan (Župan).
The representative
body of the district community is the council of the district community
(Svet Četrtne skupnosti), elected by the population; the executive body
is the chairman of the district community council (predsednik sveta).
The head of Slovenia is the president, who is elected every 5 years.
Executive power is vested in the President and the Cabinet of Ministers.
The latter is appointed by Parliament.
Parliament consists of two
chambers: the National Assembly (državni zbor) and the Council of State
(državni svet). 90 deputies are elected to the State Assembly: 88 of
them - by proportional system, and 2 seats - by majoritarian system for
the Slovenian-Italian and Hungarian communities. The Council of State
performs the functions of the upper house. It has 40 deputies, elected
for a five-year term, representing important economic, structural and
national groups of society. Parliament is elected every 5 years. The
main parties in the parliament are the Slovenian Democratic Party and
the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia.
The constitutional review body is the Constitutional Court (Ustavno sodišče), the highest court is the Supreme Court (Vrhovno sodišče), the courts of appeal are the higher courts (Višje sodišče), the courts of first instance are the regional courts (Okrajno sodišče) and district courts (Okrožno sodišče) , the supreme body of prosecutorial supervision is the supreme state prosecutor's office (Vrhovno državno tožilstvo), the highest control body is the financial court (Računsko sodišče).
The number of personnel of the ground forces is 9,550 people. In combat strength are (as of 2002): - 7 infantry brigades, each with 3 infantry battalions: 1 fully equipped and 2 cadre battalions; - 1 special purpose brigade; - 1 airborne brigade; - 1 anti-tank battalion; - 2 separate mechanized battalions; - 1 engineering company; - 1 WMD defense unit; - 1 logistics regiment; - 1 anti-aircraft missile brigade.
Slovenia is located in the Alpine-Danube region of Central Europe.
There are four main geographical regions: in the northwest there are the
Alps (Yulian, Kamensko-Savinsky, Karavanke and Pohorie ridges, occupying
42% of the territory), in the northeast - the Pannonian (Middle Danube)
lowland (28%), in the south - the Dinaric Highlands (21%), including the
Karst karst plateau, which gave its name to this type of relief, in the
west - the Mediterranean coast (Adriatic Sea, 9%). The area is 20,273
km². The land area is 20,151 km². The area of the water space is 122
km². The highest point is the top of Mount Triglav (2864 m), the lowest
is the coast of the Adriatic Sea - 0 m.
Large rivers: Sava (221
km), Drava - right tributaries of the Danube. Mountain-glacial lakes
(Bleysko, Bohinsko) and karst lakes (Cerknica, drying up, the largest in
the country, maximum 26 km²). About a thousand karst caves (Postojnska
Pit, Shkotsyansky caves). Many waterfalls, the largest is Chedtsa (130
m). The climate in most of the north is temperate continental, the
average temperature in January is 0 ... −2 ° C, in July - 19 ... 21 ° C.
Precipitation - 800-1200 mm, in the mountains - in places over 3000 mm /
year. More than half of the territory is occupied by beech, oak,
coniferous forests, in the mountains - alpine meadows, in the seaside -
maquis, on the Karst plateau - steppe vegetation.
Slovenia has a developed economy. Of all Slavic and former communist
planned economies, Slovenia has the highest nominal GDP per capita and
second only to the Czech Republic in terms of PPP per capita GDP. The
minimum wage for 2022 is EUR 1,074.43 (gross) and EUR 749.73 (net). The
average salary as of December 2021 is 2064.12 euros (gross) and 1336.82
euros (net).
Advantages: stability; the manufacturing industry is
competitive; strong export; the prospect of increased trade due to EU
membership; competitive port in Koper.
Weaknesses: the economy is
partially liberalized, which deters foreign investors; privatization
(including the banking sector) is proceeding slowly.
The official
currency of Slovenia is the euro (formerly the national currency of
Slovenia was the tolar).
Slovenia became the first country that
joined the EU in 2004 to launch a single European currency.
The
average gross salary in Slovenia as of December 2021 was 2064.12 euros,
the average net salary (after taxes and insurance premiums) was 1336.82
euros. The minimum wage in 2022 was 1,074.43 euros.
In June 2005,
the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Slovenian
Development Strategy, which includes:
exceeding the average level
of economic development of the EU, as well as increasing employment in
line with the goals of the Lisbon Strategy in the next ten years;
improving the quality of life and well-being of every person, as
measured by indicators of human development, health, social risks and
social cohesion;
ensuring the principle of sustainability as the main
criterion of quality in all areas of development, including the goal of
sustainable population growth;
development of the image of the
country in the world through the development of its characteristic
pattern, cultural identity and active participation in international
processes.
The large oil company Petrol is completely state-owned
and, in accordance with a special government decision, cannot be
privatized.
In the energy sector of Slovenia there is one nuclear
power plant - NPP "Krsko".
The Bank of Slovenia is the central
issuing and control body. There is the Association of Banks, which
includes about 30 commercial banks in Slovenia.
As of January 1, 2013, 2,058,821 inhabitants are registered in
Slovenia. Slovenia ranks 145th in the world in terms of population. The
average age of the population is 41.7 years (men - 40, women - 43).
The total fertility rate is 1.60 births per woman.
Total life
expectancy: men - 78.4 years; women - 83.9 years (2018).
Ethnic
composition of the total population according to the 2002 census
(1,964,036 people):
Slovenians - 1,631,363 (83.1%)
Serbs - 38,964
(2.0%)
Croats - 35,642 (1.8%)
Bosniaks - 21,542 (1.1%)
Hungarians - 6,243 (0.3%)
Albanians - 6,186 (0.3%)
Macedonians -
3,972 (0.2%)
Montenegrins - 2,667 (0.1%)
Italians - 2,258 (0.1%)
Nationality unknown - 174,913 (8.9%)
The average population
density is 101.66 people per km². Approximately half of the inhabitants
live in cities, the rest in rural areas.
The official language is
Slovenian. Italian has the status of an official language in some
localities of the municipalities of Isola, Koper and Piran, Hungarian in
five communities of Prekmurje (Dobrovnik, Lendava, Moravske Toplice,
Hodos and Šalovci). Also official, although of a lower status, is the
gypsy language.
According to the 2002 census, Catholics make up 57.8% of the population, Muslims - 2.4%, Orthodox - 2.3%, Protestants - 0.8% (Union of Baptist Churches of Slovenia, Union of Pentecostal Churches of Slovenia, Adventists).
Slovene is a South Slavic language written in the Latin alphabet. It
has common roots with the Croatian and Serbian languages, but differs
significantly from them. Slovene is one of the few Slavic languages
that has retained the dual number and supine. Currently, 49 dialects
of the Slovenian language have been preserved.
In royal
Yugoslavia, Slovenia was distinguished by almost universal literacy of
the population. According to the 1921 census, in the Slovenian Drava
Banovina of Yugoslavia, only 8.9% of the population was illiterate. In
the same 1921, in Belgrade, the proportion of illiterates was 14.1% of
the population, and in Yugoslavia as a whole - 51.5%.
Slovenia's
most famous poet is Franz Prešern (1800–1849), whose lyrical poems set
new standards for Slovenian literature and helped to awaken national
consciousness. Since the Second World War, many Slovenian folklore
traditions have been lost, but there are attempts to revive the national
culture, for example, the Trutamor Slovenika trio performs Slovenian
folk music in the early 90s. The international bayan competition was won
by Alessandra Minaccia, who performed Slovenian tunes. In the 1970s
industrial musical style came to the country, which by the beginning of
the 1980s. covered the whole of Slovenia (a vivid example is the Laibach
group from Ljubljana, Laibach is the German version of the name of the
Slovenian capital). Postmodernism in painting and sculpture has been
promoted since the 1980s. the Neue Slowenische Kunst group and five
unknown artists working under the pseudonym IRWIN. Many significant
buildings and squares in Slovenia were designed by the architect Jože
Plečnik (1872–1957).
In 1919, the first university, Ljubljana,
was opened. After the universities were founded in Maribor (1978), Koper
(2001) and Nova Gorica (2006).
According to data published by MSN, the best Slovenian dish is Kranjska sausage. At the official level, it is recognized as a "masterpiece of national importance." Traditionally, the use of fish is widespread. Many dishes are borrowed from neighboring countries: From Austria - curl (strudel) and Danube zrezek (Viennese schnitzel). Gnocchi (potato dumplings), rijota and ravioli-like gircroft are local Italian dishes. Golash and paprikash (stewed chicken or beef) were borrowed from Hungarian cuisine. Layered pie with meat or cheese "burek" (a word of Turkish origin), meat and apple pie are also common. There are many types of dumplings, of which struukli (cheese dumplings) are the most popular. It is better to try traditional dishes in gostilna - local restaurants. An example of a traditional Slovenian dish is "goveja juha" (goveja juha, a soup made from rich beef broth with long noodles (rezanci - rezanci), sometimes with the addition of parmesan cheese, as well as "gobova juha" (gobova juha, soup with porcini mushrooms). Slovenia produces good white and red wine, as well as strong drinks such as šnops, brandy called zhganje (žganje), and popular beer brands in Slovenia - "Laško" (Lashko), "Union" .
The Law on Public Holidays and Holidays in the Republic of Slovenia
provides for the following holidays and public holidays:
January 1
and 2 - New Year
February 8 - Prešeren Day, a cultural holiday in
Slovenia
April 1 and 2 - Sunday and Monday of Easter (dates for 2018)
April 27 - Day of the uprising against the occupation
May 1 and 2 -
Labor Day
June 25 - National Day
August 15 - Assumption of the
Virgin
October 31 - Reformation Day
November 1 - All Souls' Day
December 25 - Christmas
December 26 - Independence Day