Slovenia

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Slovenia

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Republika Slovenija/Republic of Slovenia Area 20,251 sq km/7,818 sq mi Capital Ljubljana Language Slovene (related to Serbo-Croat; official), Hungarian, Italian Religion Roman Catholic 70%; Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Muslim Time difference GMT +1 Major holidays 1–2 January, 8 February, 27 April, 1–2 May, 25 June, 15 August, 31 October, 1 November, 25–26 December; variable: Good Friday, Easter Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Maribor, Kranj, Celje, Velenje, Koper, Novo Mesto Major ports Koper Physical features mountainous; Sava and Drava rivers Airports three international airports and two domestic airports; total passengers carried: 864,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 1,201 km/746 mi; total passenger journeys: 15.1 million (2003) Roads total road network: 38,400 km/23,861 mi, of which 100% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 490 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Janez Drnovaek from 2002 Head of government Janez Jansa from 2004 Political system emergent democracy Political executive dual executive Administrative divisions 192 municipalities of which 11 are urban municipalities Political parties Slovenian Christian Democrats (SKD), right of centre; Slovenian People's Party (SPP), conservative; Liberal Democratic Party of Slovenia (LDS), centrist; Slovenian Nationalist Party (SNS), right-wing nationalist; Democratic Party of Slovenia (LDP), left of centre; United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD) left of centre, ex-communist Death penalty abolished in 1989 Armed forces 6,600; plus 20,000 reservists and paramilitary forces of 5,000 (2006 est) Conscription military service is compulsory for seven months (conscription to end in 2004) Defence spend (% GDP) 1.7 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 6.1 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 6.7 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency tolar GDP (US$) 34 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 4.2 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 34.7 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 22,160 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2.5% (2006 est) Unemployment 10.5% (2005 est) Labour force 8.8% agriculture, 37.2% industry, 54% services (2005) Foreign debt (US$) 19 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Germany, Italy, Croatia, France, Austria, EU Resources coal, lead, zinc; small reserves/deposits of natural gas, petroleum, salt, uranium Industries metallurgy, furniture making, sports equipment, electrical equipment, food processing, textiles, paper and paper products, chemicals, wood and wood products Exports raw materials, semi-finished goods, machinery, electric motors, transport equipment, food and live animals, clothing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics. Principal market: Germany 19.9% (2005) Imports machinery and transport equipment, raw materials, semi-finished goods, foodstuffs, chemicals, miscellaneous manufactured articles, mineral fuels and lubricants. Principal source: Germany 20% (2005) Arable land 8.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products wheat, maize, sugar beet, potatoes, cabbage, fruits (especially grapes); forest resources (approximately 45% of total land area was forest in 1994)


POPULATION

Population 1,965,900 (2006 est) Population growth rate -0.1% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 97 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 51 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 14%, 15–59 66%, 60+ 20% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 89% of Slovene origin, 3% ethnic Croat, 2% Serb; small Italian, Hungarian, and Albanian communities Life expectancy 74 (men); 81 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 4 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 22 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 5 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) <0.1 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <100 (2005 est)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 41.5 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 89.4 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 405 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 366 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 41.1 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 55.4 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

1st century BC Came under Roman rule. AD 395 In the division of the Roman Empire, stayed in the west, along with Croatia and Bosnia. 6th century Settled by the Slovene South Slavs. 7th century Adopted Christianity as Roman Catholics. 8th–9th centuries Under successive rule of Franks and dukes of Bavaria. 907–55 Came under Hungarian domination. 1335 Absorbed in Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire, as part of Austrian crownlands of Carniola, Styria, and Carinthia. 1848 Slovene struggle for independence began. 1918 On collapse of Habsburg Empire, Slovenia united with Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro to form the ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’, under Serbian Karageorgevic dynasty. 1929 Kingdom became known as Yugoslavia. 1941–45 Occupied by Nazi Germany and Italy during World War II; anti-Nazi Slovene Liberation Front formed and became allies of Marshal Tito's communist-led Partisans. 1945 Became constitutent republic within Yugoslav Socialist Federation under Tito's leadership. mid-1980s Slovenian Communist Party liberalized and agreed to free elections. 1989 Constitution changed to allow secession from Yugoslav federation. 1990 Nationalist Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (DEMOS) won first multiparty parliamentary elections. Sovereignty declared. Independence overwhelmingly approved in referendum. 1991 Slovenia seceded from Yugoslav federation, along with Croatia; violent intervention by Yugoslav federal army before ceasefire and withdrawal brokered by European Community (EC). 1992 Liberal Democrat Janez Drnovaek appointed prime minister; independence recognized by EC and USA. Slovenia admitted to United Nations (UN). 2000 Centre-right government briefly in office before Drnovaek returned to power leading centre-left coalition. 2002 Drnovaek elected president replacing Milan Kucan. 2003 Accession to European Union (EU) and NATO endorsed in referendums. 2004 Joined NATO and EU. New centre-right coalition government under Janez Janaa formed after elections. 2007 Slovenia became first former communist state to adopt single European currency (euro).


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