General information

Official language: Slovenian and, in ethnically mixed areas, Hungarian and Italian.

Currency:  euro (EUR).

Capital City: Ljubljana (June 2008: 263,149 inhabitants).

Other major towns: Maribor, Celje, Kranj, Velenje, Koper, Novo mesto, Ptuj, Nova Gorica, Jesenice, Trbovlje, Murska Sobota.

Location: Slovenia is a central European country with an area of 20,273km². It has borders with Austria (318km), Italy (280km), Hungary (102km) and Croatia (670km) for a total of 1,382km.

Slovenia has eight geographically complex regions that are also historically founded and generally established: Primorska, Notranjska, Gorenjska, Dolenjska, Bela krajina, Koroška, Štajerska and Prekmurje.

Highest peak: Triglav, 2,864m. Forests cover more than half of the area of Slovenia – 1,163,812ha (in Europe, only Finland and Sweden have more forests). The diverse geological structure and relief forms (from sea level to 2,864m altitude) and the fact that Slovenia stretches across four biogeographical areas have led to richness of flora and fauna. Endemic flora and fauna species are also numerous.

Length of coastline: 46.6km. Slovenia is a country with lots of water. The total length of streams, rivers, constant and torrent tributaries is 26,600km. Concerning the total amount of river water per inhabitant, Slovenia ranks among the richest European countries, exceeding the European average by almost four times.

Climate: Alpine, Continental, Mediterranean.

Number of inhabitants: 2,032,362 (31/12/2008).

Most inhabitants are Slovenian (83.1% – census from 2002).

The Italian community in the coastal area and the Hungarian community in the northeast are autochthonous minorities; their rights are protected by the Constitution.

Other ethnic minorities: Croatians, Serbs, Bosnians, Macedonians, Montenegrins and Albanians. There is also a Roma community in Slovenia; its status and special rights are regulated by the law.

Religion: The majority of the population is Roman Catholic. There are also more than thirty other religious communities in Slovenia that have officially registered their activities.