Slovenia

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 AD. 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 (Zedinjena Slovenija) 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

Slovenia is traditionally divided into eight 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

Triglav

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)[[Image:Si-4geographic-regions.jpg|thumb|200px|Landscape types in Slovenia.

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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.

Map of the 12 statistical regions of Slovenia.

The Statistical regions are:

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 210 municipalities (občine, singular - občina), of which 11 have urban status.

Geography

Map of Slovenia

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 ) 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