General information about Slovenia
The official name is the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija). It is located in the southern part of Central Europe, in the northeast of the Mediterranean. The area is 20,273 km2, the population is 1.96 million people. (census 2002). The official language is Slovenian. The capital is the city of Ljubljana (240 thousand people). Public holiday – Statehood Day June 25 (1991). The monetary unit is the tolar.
Member of the UN (since 1992), OSCE, WTO, EU (since 2004).
Geography of Slovenia
According to bridgat, Slovenia extends between 45°25′ (Damel) and 46°53′ (Budnica) north latitude, 13°23′ (Bregin) and 16°36′ (Benitsa) east longitude. The distance between the extreme points along the width of the territory is 163 km, and along the length – 248 km. The territory of the country is located at the junction of the Alpine, Mediterranean, Pannonian and Danube regions. Slovenia is washed by the Adriatic Sea, the length of the coast is 46.6 km.
It borders with Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. The borders follow the internationally recognized dividing lines between the former Yugoslavia and the respective countries. The border with Croatia runs along the demarcation line between the two former Yugoslav republics. The length of the borders: with Italy – 232 km, with Austria – 330 km, with Hungary – 102 km, with Croatia – 670 km.
The landscape of the Slovenian territory is mountainous, rising gradually from south to north. The lowlands are located along the Sava, Drava and Mura rivers. The highest point is Mount Triglav (2864 m above sea level). The largest lakes are Bled and Bohinj. 55% of the territory is covered with forests (only Sweden and Finland have a large share of forests in Europe).
Population of Slovenia
According to the 2002 census, the total number of inhabitants increased by more than 50 thousand people compared to the previous 1991 census. Population growth was not facilitated by the natural increase of inhabitants, because in the decade between two censuses 3,500 more Slovenes died than were born, but by the immigration of inhabitants mainly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as from Kosovo and Macedonia (persons of Albanian nationality).
85% of the inhabitants called themselves Slovenes by nationality, which is 4% less than in 1991, and 11% less than in 1953. Among other nationalities, Serbs (31 thousand) and Croats (28 thousand people) predominate. The number of Muslims (only by nationality) decreased significantly – from 23 thousand to 6 thousand people. 90% of the inhabitants consider Slovene as their mother tongue, in areas with a predominantly Italian and Hungarian population, Italian and Hungarian are also spoken.
By religion, Catholics account for 58% of the population – 1/6 less than in 1991. The number of people professing Islam and attending evangelical churches has increased. The number of atheists also increased – by 100 thousand people. 367 thousand inhabitants, or 22%, refused to indicate their religion.
The average age of residents has increased by 3.6 years compared to 1991 and is now 40 years. The share of the male population increased to 49%. The educational structure of the population has improved significantly: among the adult population, persons with incomplete secondary education make up 6%, those with completed secondary education, 54%, and those with higher education, 13%.
There are 685,000 families in Slovenia (8% more than in 1991), with an average of 2.8 family members each. The number of dwellings has increased by 14% since 1991 and reached 777,772, of which 59% are private houses, and 92% of the inhabitants live in their own apartments and houses against 70% in 1991. The useful area of dwellings has also increased from 67 to 75 m2.
