Slovenia tourist information

Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a coastal Alpine country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north.

Places to go in Slovenia ...

Bled Bohinjsko Jezero Ljubljana Maribor Podcetrtek Portoroz Postojna Radovljica Ribcev Laz Spodnja Idrija Strunjan

Throughout Slovenia's history, the country has been part of: the Roman Empire, the Duchy of Carantania (only Slovenia's modern northern part), the Holy Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929) between the World Wars, and the SFR of Yugoslavia from 1945 until gaining independence in 1991. Slovenia became a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004. It is also a member of the Council of Europe and NATO, and has observer status in La Francophonie.

Four major European geographic regions meet in Slovenia: the Alps, the Dinarides, the Pannonian plain, and the Mediterranean. Slovenia's highest peak is Triglav (2,864 m; 9,396 ft); the country's average height above the sea level is 557 metres (1,827 ft). Around one half of the country (10,124 km²; 3,909 sq mi) is covered by forests; this makes Slovenia the third most forested country in Europe, after Finland and Sweden. Remnants of primeval forests are still to be found, the largest in the Kocevje area. Grassland covers 5,593 square kilometres (2,159 sq mi) of the country and fields and gardens 2,471 square kilometres (838 sq mi). There are also 363 square kilometres (140 sq mi) of orchards and 216 square kilometres (83 sq mi)of vineyards.

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Culture ^*

Slovenia's first book was printed by the protestant reformer Primož Trubar (1508-1586). It was actually two books, Catechismus (a catechism) and Abecedarium, which was published in 1550 in Tübingen, Germany.

The central part of the country, namely Carniola (which existed as a part of Austria-Hungary until the early 20th century) was ethnographically and historically well described in the book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (German Die Ehre deß Herzogthums Crain, Slovenian Slava vojvodine Kranjske), published in 1689 by baron Janez Vajkard Valvasor (1641-1693).

Slovenia's two greatest writers were the poet France Prešeren (1800-1849) and writer Ivan Cankar (1876-1918). The most important Slovenian painters are Ivana Kobilca and impressionist Rihard Jakopic. The most famed Slovenian architect is Jože Plecnikwho worked in Poland as well as the Czech Republic.

Slovenia is a homeland of numerous musicians and composers, including Renaissance composer Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591), who greatly influenced Central European classical music. In the 20th century, Bojan Adamic was a renowned film music composer.

Contemporary popular musicians have been Slavko Avsenik, Laibach, Vlado Kreslin, Zoran Predin, Pero Lovšin, New Swing Quartet, DJ Umek, Siddharta, Magnifico, recently also Atomik Harmonik and others.

Slovenian cinema has a century-long tradition with Karol Grossmann, Janko Ravnik, Ferdo Delak, France Štiglic, Mirko Grobler, Igor Pretnar, France Kosmac, Jože Pogacnik, Matjaž Klopcic, Jane Kavcic, Jože Gale, Boštjan Hladnik and Karpo Godina as its most established filmmakers. Notable contemporary film directors are Janez Burger, Jan Cvitkovic, Damjan Kozole, Janez Lapajne and Maja Weiss.

Slovenia's learned men include chemist and Nobel prize laureate Friderik Pregl, physicist Jožef Stefan, philosopher Slavoj Žižek, linguist Franc Miklošic, physician Anton Marko Plencic, mathematician Jurij Vega.

Cuisine ^*Below are some National dishes from Slovenia.

Kranjska klobasa - it contains at least 68% pork (aside from the bacon), 12% beef and at most 20% bacon. It may contain as much as 5% water, table salt, garlic and pepper. No other ingredients are permitted. Meat must be cut in pieces 10 to 13 mm and bacon 8 to 10 mm. The filling is stuffed into pork intestine with a diameter of 32 to 36 mm. They are formed in pairs of 12-16 cms lengths and weight of 180 to 220 gramms. Pairs are linked together with a wooden skewer. The sausages are hot smoked and heat-cured at about 70 degrees Celsius.
Matevz - is made of beans and potatoes. It is mostly served as a side dish. It is usually eaten with sauerkraut or turnip.
Mavzelj - is a soup, in which the pork head was cooked, and of the remnants of the meat and the brains of the same pork head. Today's variants are diverse by the sort of the meat used, there can be pork meat, cow meat, turkey meat or chicken meat used. In the new vegetarian variant it can be used with soya which are roasted on the vegetable fat.
Obara - is a soup. It is served as an independent meal, which is cooked from various kinds of meat and intestines. It used to be served on the table on various ceremonies, and it is a part of the traditional Slovenian cuisine. Specially good are Obaras served together with Ajdovi zganci. Today Obaras contain more vegetables.
Prekmurska gibanica - is a layered pastry, originating in the region of Prekmurje, Slovenia. It variously contains poppy seeds, walnuts, apples, raisins, and cottage cheese fillings. Although native to Prekmurje, it has achieved the status of a national speciality of Slovenia. The unique sweetmeat shows the variety of agriculture in this region. Other pastries simply known as gibanica are traditional in Serbia. A Croatian variant is made in the region of Medimurje, hence known as Medimurska gibanica. It was the sweet chosen to represent Slovenia in the Cafe Europe initiative of the Austrian presidency of the European Union, on Europe Day 2006.
Ricet is a thick soup. It contains pot barley, beans, potatoes, carrots, parsley, celery, leek, tomatoes, onion and garlic. There must be sufficient amount of dried pork meat in it.

History The Slovene lands were part of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria until 1918 when the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new multinational state, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, Slovenia became a republic of the renewed Yugoslavia, which though Communist, distanced itself from Moscow's rule. Dissatisfied with the exercise of power of the majority Serbs, the Slovenes succeeded in establishing their independence in 1991 after a short 10-day war. Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy have assisted in Slovenia's transformation to a modern state. Slovenia acceded to both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Transportation

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Terrain A short coastal strip on the Adriatic, an alpine mountain region adjacent to Italy and Austria, mixed mountains and valleys with numerous rivers to the east.

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Languages Slovenian 92%, Serbo-Croatian 6.2%, other 1.8%

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Weather Mediterranean climate on the coast, continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east.

Ethnic Groups Slovene 92%, Croat 1%, Serb 0.5%, Hungarian 0.4%, Bosniak 0.3%, other 5.8% (1991)

Religion Roman Catholic (Uniate 2%) 70.8%, Lutheran 1%, Muslim 1%, atheist 4.3%, other 22.9%

Currency Tolar (SIT)

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