Slovenia is rich in resources, naturally good looking and persistently peaceful. Slovenia has been doing just fine since its break from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. No longer the undiscovered, bargain gem that it was, Slovenia still remains a wonderful antidote to much of Europe's crowds and high prices.Many of its cities and towns bear the imprint of the Habsburg Empire and the Venetian Republic, while up in the Julian Alps you'd almost think you were in Bavaria. The relative affluence of this country on the 'sunny side of the Alps' is immediately apparent.
Slovenia , Slovene Slovenija, officially Republic of Slovenia, republic (2005 est. pop. 2,011,000), 7,817 sq mi (20,246 sq km). It is bounded in the north by Austria, in the northeast by Hungary, in the southeast by Croatia, and in the west by Italy. It has a small strip of seacoast on the Adriatic. Ljubljana is the capital.This compact and strategically important country is dominated by mountains, rivers and major north–south and east–west transit routes. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast and Croatia to the southeast, with a 47km- (30 mile-) Adriatic Sea coastline, where the main port is Koper.
Settled in four distinct areas (Styria, Carniola, Carinthia and Gorizia) since the fifth century, Slovenia was later variously dominated by the Bavarians, the Frankish Empire of the Carolingians, and the largely Germanic Holy Roman Empire, which lasted in one form or another from the ninth to the 19th century. The Slovenes themselves were a Slavic people, converted to Roman Catholicism. In the 14th century, the Slovene territories became hereditary possessions of the House of Habsburg. After 1867, when the Habsburg realm became the Dual Monarchy of Austria and Hungary, the Slovenes fell under the jurisdiction of the Austrian Crown. Despite considerable socio-economic progress locally thereafter, the ancient threat posed to Slovene survival and cultural identity by Germanization pushed local political sentiment towards supporting the growing south Slav movement of the Croats and Serbs. Thus, following the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Slovenia became a part of the new ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’ in 1918 (renamed ‘Yugoslavia’ in 1929). In 1941, when the Axis powers dismembered Yugoslavia, Slovenia was carved up between Germany, Italy and Hungary.
Local resistance, initially from non-communist nationalists, was hijacked by the Yugoslav Communist Party led by Josip Broz Tito, himself partly of Slovene origin. In 1945, after the communists emerged as victors, Slovenia became a constituent republic of the new Yugoslav federation. The ruling League of Communists of Slovenia (LCS) supported the Croats in the demand for an effectively confederal Yugoslavia during the 1960s and 1970s, although never to the point of provoking Tito into repression, as took place in Croatia in 1971. Among other things, this caution made a relatively liberal political atmosphere in Slovenia possible, culminating in a pluralist ‘Slovene Spring’ after Milan Kucan became LCS leader in 1986. The nationalist Kucan steered Slovenia towards independence following multi-party National Assembly elections in April 1990 which brought to power a six-party center-right coalition, calling itself DEMOS, led by Premier Lozle Peterle.
After 14 months, during which both Slovenia and Croatia became increasingly alienated from Belgrade, Slovenia declared independence. The central Government immediately sent in armoured convoys to take control of federal border posts and key installations in the capital Ljubljana. The army was clearly not expecting the resistance put up by well-prepared Slovene irregulars and after a few weeks of sporadic and largely inconclusive fighting, a ceasefire was reached. By October 1991, all federal military forces had left the republic, and Slovenia proclaimed its independence on 8 October. Full international recognition followed in January 1992, after which the DEMOS Government collapsed, having achieved its sole objective of securing international recognition.
Slovenia was admitted to the United Nations in May 1992. A non-party government of technocrats took over pending new elections. Slovenia is the only one of the ex-Yugoslav republics to have a substantial, as opposed to a merely nominal, multi-party democracy, although it is on the road to permanent coalition politics with three parties (the customary European mix of center-right, center-left and liberal) as the main contestants.
The present government, which took office in October 2000, is typical of this pattern, consisting of a four-party coalition led by the Slovenian Liberal Democratic party, the centrist grouping which has consistently been the largest party in the national assembly. The result was similar to those of 1992 and January 1996. One constant presence, until his recent retirement, was Milan Kucan, who completed his second and final presidential term in 2002. Another has been Janes Drnovsek, who first took over as premier in 1992 and remained at the helm for the next 10 years. In 2002, following the most recent presidential poll, Drnovsek replaced Kucan as president. Anton Rop took over as Prime Minister in 2002. However, Janez Jansa is due to replace him imminently, after 2004 party elections bore witness to him pledge to persevere with widespread privatization in anticipation of joining the Euro currency zone.
Slovenian foreign policy focused on improving links with Western Europe, with the eventual aim of joining both the EU and NATO. The EU began membership negotiations with Slovenia in early 1998. By and large, these proceeded smoothly: the only real obstacle was a series of interrelated disputes with Italy over territory and property acquired by Yugoslavia after the 1947 post-war settlement in the region. With these settled, Slovenia joined the EU, along with nine other countries, in May 2004; it was the first of the former Yugoslav republics to attain membership. Slovenia was also formally invited to join NATO at the organization’s Prague summit in November 2002. Slovenia’s only major outstanding problem in its foreign relations is a long-standing border dispute with Croatia, an aspirant to EU and NATO membership (which Slovenia has tried to veto), which has so far defied solution.
Slovene is a South Slavic language written in the Roman alphabet. It's closely related to Croatian and Serbian, but the languages are not mutually intelligible. Slovene is grammatically complex, with lots of cases, genders and tenses. Fortunately for non-Slovenian speakers, virtually everyone in Slovenia speaks another language: usually Croatian, Serbian, German, English and/or Italian (in that order). English is the preferred language of the young.
Slovenia's most beloved writer is the Romantic poet France Preseren (1800-49), whose lyric poems set new standards for Slovenian literature and helped raise national consciousness. Since WWII, many Slovenian folk traditions have been lost, but compilations by the trio Trutamora Slovenica go back to the roots of Slovenian folk music. Popular music runs the gamut, but it was punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s that grabbed straitlaced Slovenia by the collar and shook it up. Postmodernist painting and sculpture has been dominated since the 1980s by the multimedia group Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) and the five-member anonymous artists' cooperative IRWIN. Many notable buildings and public squares in Slovenia were designed by architect Joze Plecnik (1872-1957), whose image adorns the 500 SIT note.
Slovenian cuisine, which traditionally relies heavily on venison and fish, is heavily influenced by that of its neighbours. From Austria, it's klobasa (sausage), zavitek (strudel) and Dunajski zrezek (Wiener schnitzel). Njoki (potato dumplings), rizota (risotto) and the ravioli-like zlikrofi are Italian. Hungary has contributed golaz (goulash) and paprikas (chicken or beef stew). And then there's an old Balkan standby, burek, a greasy layered cheese, meat or even apple pie served at takeaway places. There are many types of dumplings; cheese ones called struklji are the most popular. Traditional dishes are best tried at an inn (gostilna). Slovenia produces some noticeable red and white wines, a strong brandy called zganje and Union and Zlatorog brand beers, which are very popular.
Slovenia's national cuisine shows an Austro-German influence with sauerkraut, grilled sausage and apple strudel often appearing on menus. The best-known Slovene foods are the breads made for special occasions, which appear in the form of braided loaves or wreathes: the struklji stuffed with sweet fillings, meat or vegetables. Another Slovene specialty is potica, a dessert prepared with a wide variety of fillings.The western and northeastern parts of Slovenia are known for their outstanding white wines (Laski, Renski Rizling and many others). The south is the homeland of the light, russet-colored cvicek wine. The Adriatic Coast and the Karst region have mainly red karstteran wine.
Country Name: Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija)
Area: 20,256 sq km (7898 sq mi)
Population: 2 million
Capital: Ljubljana
People: Slovenian 88%, Serbo-Croatian 7%
Language: Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, German, English, Italian
Religion: Roman Catholic (72%), atheist (4.3%), Eastern Orthodox Christian (2.4%), Muslim (1%), Protestant (1%)
Currency: Sloven tolar (SIT) |
