Slovenia Guide
Slovenia is a small but beautiful country, located in central Europe between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. Smaller than Switzerland, it nevertheless contains a wealth of unique and fascinating destinations waiting to be discovered.
This website aims to provide a complete visitor's guide to Slovenia as well as an overview of business, government, and other resources relating to the country.
Location & Geography
Slovenia is a relatively young country that lies on the southern border of Austria and the eastern border of Italy. It also shares borders with the norther end of Croatia and the western corner of Hungary.
The largest portion of Slovenia's territory is dominated by the Alps, with Mount Triglav (2,864 meters) being the highest point above sea level. Slovenia is the third most forested country in Europe, with 54 per cent of its area covered by forests.
Slovenia also boasts a 46 km coastline along the northern end of the Adriatic sea, which contributes significantly to its geographical and climactic diversity. More than a thousand caves and chasms can be found in the region nearby the coastline, and a unique limestone landscape phenomena known as karst sinkholes have even led to the development of a special branch of science known as 'karstology'.
Tourism
It is often presented as a tourist's paradise by the local travel
industry, and in fact it does have a lot to offer for such a small
territory (roughly the size of the US state of Connecticut). The Alps
have always been a popular destination for mountaineers, hikers,
skiers and winter sports enthusiasts. The Soca valley, located at the
northwestern corner of the country, has breathtaking scenery and and is
a developing as one of Slovenia's prime tourist destinations. Numerous outdoor
adventure companies can be found throughout the area offering activities such as rafting, kayaking, and
canyoning.
In addition, farm tourism is taking off in many parts of the country, and Slovenia's cities and towns are also starting to attract large numbers of tourists in their own right. Slovenia's capital city Ljubljana has benefited greatly from low-cost budget airlines such as easyJet, who have been offering cheap flights to and from London in recent years.
We hope to add plenty of tourism-related tips and resources to this guide in the near future, but for now you might find the following introduction to Slovenia to be a good place to start.
Recent History
Slovenia tends to stays out of the news, and as a former Yugoslav
republic, that's a generally a good thing. The two biggest events in
recent years to make international news headlines were US President
Clinton's visit in 1999 and the Bush-Putin Summit in 2001.
Slovenia was always the most western of the former Yugoslav republics, both literally and figuratively. Society here has traditionally been more open open and progressive than in other parts of Yugoslavia, or of Eastern Europe as a whole for that matter.
The nation's path to independence started in 1989, when the Slovene parliament confirmed the country's right to secede from the Yugoslav federation. Following the country's first multi-party elections in 1990, in which an overwhelming majority of Slovenes voted for independence in a referendum, Milan Kucan became the nation's first president.
Both Slovenia and neighboring Croatia declared independence from the Yugoslav republic in 1991, which triggered a quick response by the Yugoslav federal army. During a brief 10-day way, Slovene forces successfully defended their homeland, during which the new nation suffered about 100 casualties. Following an EU brokered ceasefire, the Yugoslav army agreed to withdraw all forces.
In 1992 the EU, the US, and many other countries recognized Slovenia's independence, and the country was accepted into the United Nations. During the first parliamentary and presidential elections in the newly independent nation, Milan Kucan was re-elected president and Janez Drnovsek was chosen to be prime minister.
In 1996 the country signed an association agreement with the EU, and the following year began full membership talks that ultimately led to full membership status in the EU in May 2004 (along with 9 other new EU member states). In March of the same year Slovenia was also formally admitted as a member of Nato.
On January first 2007, Slovenia became the first of the new EU entrants to adopt the euro and thus joined the select group of countries that share the single European currency. The changeover process was conducted flawlessly, and most Slovenes appear to have had favorable reactions to the new currency.
