Slovenia

Slovenia is located in central Europe. Slovenia is slightly larger than the state of New Jersey with a total area of 20,273 sq km (7,827 sq mi). Slovenia shares boundaries with Austria (north), Hungary (east), Croatia (south), and the Adriatic Sea and Italy (west), and has a total land boundary of 1,334 km (829 mi) and a coastline of 46.6 km (29 mi). Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana, is located near the center of the country.

Slovenia's coastal climate is influenced by the Mediterranean Sea. Its interior climate ranges from mild to hot summers, with cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east. In Ljubljana, July's mean temperature is 20° C (68° F ). The mean temperature in January is–1° C (30° F ). Rainfall in the capital averages 139 cm (59 in) a year.

Today, Slovenia exhibits one of the highest per capita GDPs of the transition economies of the region, fairly moderate inflation, and a comfortable level of international reserves. Slovenia received an invitation in 1997 to begin accession negotiations with the EU—a reflection of its sound economic footing. Slovenia must press on with privatization, enterprise restructuring, institution reform, and liberalization of financial markets, thereby creating conditions conducive to foreign investment and the maintenance of a stable tolar. Critical to the future success of the economy is the development of export sales in increasingly competitive international markets. Major industries are ferrous metallurgy and rolling mill products, aluminum reduction and rolled products, lead and zinc smelting, electronics (including military electronics), trucks, electric power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools. Agriculture—products: potatoes, hops, wheat, sugar beets, corn, grapes; cattle, sheep, poultry. Exports and imports partners are Germany, Italy, Croatia, France, Austria, US and Hungary.   

The Slovene capital is the starting point for a wide range of excursions. Situated in the heart of Slovenia, along the banks of the Ljubljanca River, the capital is within a two-hour drive of all the state borders. The Castle, situated on a hill, overlooks the river. The Castle is currently undergoing repairs and only part of it is open to the public. The tower offers a splendid view of the city. On the eastern bank of the river is the Town Museum with an extensive collection of Roman artifacts. Maribor, in the east of the country, is Slovenia’s second-largest city (population: approximately 100,000). It lies only 16km (10 miles) from the Austrian border and is a three-hour journey by car from Trieste or Vienna. Maribor is a lively cultural, scientific and commercial center with a University and numerous art galleries, museums and theaters. The city is a good starting point for visiting the nearby Alpine region of Pohorje, one of Slovenia’s main skiing resorts, which hosts major international competitions. Also worth visiting are the nearby wine-growing hills of Slovenske Gorice, where a number of Slovenia’s excellent white wines are produced. The Julian Alps are a popular skiing area in the winter, particularly the resorts of Kranjska Gora and Bovec. Triglav National Park encompasses the splendor of these mountains, as well as the grassy slopes of the surrounding valleys. It is a great place for keen trekkers and visitors are attracted by the unusual tower on Mount Triglav. Podkoren is situated in the mountains near the Austrian border. The fashionable mountain resort of Bled, near the Austrian and Italian borders, is set on the idyllic Lake Bled, where skating and curling take place in winter, and swimming and rowing in summer. Portoroz is Slovenia’s most popular seaside resort, with numerous hotels and pavement cafes. The spectacular 20km cave of Postojna, only one hour’s drive from the coast, has been deemed one of the greatest sights of natural beauty, and features gigantic stalagmites and a cavernous hall which can hold over 10,000 people. Slovenia’s natural spas are scattered throughout the country and include the Radenci Health Resort (close to the Austrian border) and the Rogaska Health Resort, where legend claims that the winged horse Pegasus created curative mineral waters with a magic blow of his hooves. Kranj is a “University City” as it is home to the University of Maribor’s School of Organizational Sciences.

Languages is Slovene, which is closely related to Croat and Czech. Most Slovenes speak German, Hungarian or Italian, with English as a second language. Most of the population is Roman Catholic, with small communities of other Christians.

The impressive National Museum of Slovenia is housed in a lovely neo-Renaissance style palace, the most interesting and popular of Ljubljana's many museums.

Slovenia sports are extremely enjoyed by the people of the country. Writings and other sources of history shows that Slovenia has a long history of sporting activities, beginning from the middle Ages. Shooting, hunting, boating, fishing and a host of other activities were the common sports in Slovenia during the middle Ages. Slovenia sports are skiing, volleyball, dance sport, ski jumping, handball, rowing, paragliding and basketball.