Background: The Slovene lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the latter's dissolution at the end of World War I. In 1918 the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new multinational state which was named 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 by 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.

Geographic coordinates: 46 07 N 14 49 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 20,273 km²
Land: 20,151 km²
Water: 122 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries
Total: 1,086 km
Border countries: (4) Austria 330 km; , Croatia 455 km; , Hungary 102 km; , Italy 199 km

Coastline: 46.6 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: Mediterranean climate on the coast continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east

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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Triglav 2,864 m

Natural resources: lignite coal lead zinc building stone hydropower forests

Land use
Arable land: 8.53%
Permanent crops: 1.43%
Other: 90.04% (2005)

Irrigated land: 30 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 32.1 km³ (2005)

Natural hazards: flooding and earthquakes

Geography
Note: despite its small size this eastern Alpine country controls some of Europe's major transit routes

Population: 2,007,711 (July 2008 est.)
Growth rate: -0.088% (2008 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Slovene
Adjective: Slovenian

Ethnic groups: Slovene 83.1% Serb 2% Croat 1.8% Bosniak 1.1% other or unspecified 12% (2002 census)

Languages: Slovenian 91.1% Serbo-Croatian 4.5% other or unspecified 4.4% (2002 census)

Religions: Catholic 57.8% Muslim 2.4% Orthodox 2.3% other Christian 0.9% unaffiliated 3.5% other or unspecified 23% none 10.1% (2002 census)

Age structure
0-14 years: 13.6% (male 140,686/female 132,778)
15-64 years: 70.1% (male 709,689/female 697,862)
65 years and over: 16.3% (male 127,313/female 199,383) (2008 est.)

Median age
Total: 41.4 years
Male: 39.8 years
Female: 42.9 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.088% (2008 est.)

Birth rate: 8.99 births/1000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 10.51 deaths/1000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.64 migrant(s)/1000 population (2008 est.)

Environment
Current issues: Sava River polluted with domestic and industrial waste; pollution of coastal waters with heavy metals and toxic chemicals; forest damage near Koper from air pollution (originating at metallurgical and chemical plants) and resulting acid rain
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.07 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male/female
65 years and over: 0.64 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 4.3 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 4.87 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 3.69 deaths/1000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.73 years
Male: 73.04 years
Female: 80.66 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 280 (2001 est.)
Deaths: fewer than 100 (2003 est.)

Education expenditures: 6% of GDP (2005)

Literacy
Definition: NA
Total population: 99.7%
Male: 99.7%
Female: 99.6%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 17 years
Male: 16 years
Female: 17 years (2006)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Slovenia
Conventional short form: Slovenia
Local long form: Republika Slovenija
Local short form: Slovenija
Former: People's Republic of Slovenia, Socialist Republic of Slovenia

Government type: parliamentary republic

Capital
Name: Ljubljana
Geographic coordinates: 46 03 N, 14 31 E
Time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions
Note: the Government of Slovenia has reported 210 municipalities

Independence: 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)

National holiday: Independence Day/Statehood Day 25 June (1991)

Constitution: adopted 23 December 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age if employed)

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Danilo TURK (since 22 December 2007)
Head of government: Prime Minister Borut PAHOR (since 7 November 2008)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 21 October and 11 November 2007 (next to be held in the fall of 2012); following National Assembly elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually nominated to become prime minister by the president and elected by the National Assembly; election last held on 9 November 2004 (next National Assembly elections to be held in October 2008)
Election results: Danilo TURK elected president; percent of vote - Danilo TURK 68.2%, Alojze PETERLE 31.8%; Janez JANSA elected prime minister by National Assembly vote - 57 to 27 in 2004

Legislative branch
Elections: National Assembly - last held 21 September 2008 (next to be held 8 October 2012)
Election results: percent of vote by party - SD 30.5%, SDS 29.3%, ZARES 9.4%, DeSUS 7.5%, SNS 5.5%, SLS+SMS 5.2%, LDS 5.2%, other 7.4%; seats by party - SD 29, SDS 28, ZARES 9, DeSUS 7, SNS 5, SLS+SMS 5, LDS 5, Hungarian minority 1, Italian minority 1

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the Judicial Council); Constitutional Court (judges elected for nine-year terms by the National Assembly and nominated by the president)

Political parties and leaders: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia or LDS [Katarina KRESAL]; New Slovenia or NSi [Andrej BAJUK]; Slovenian Democratic Party or SDS [Janez JANSA]; Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia or DeSUS [Karl ERJAVEC]; Slovene National Party or SNS [Zmago JELINCIC]; Slovene People's Party or SLS [Bojan SROT]; Slovene Youth Party or SMS [Darko KRANJC]; Social Democrats or SD [Borut PAHOR] (formerly ZLSD); ZARES [Gregor Golobic]

International organization participation: Australia Group BIS CE CEI EAPC EBRD EIB EMU EU FAO IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICCt ICRM IDA IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITU MIGA NAM (guest) NATO NSG OAS (observer) OIF (observer) OPCW OSCE PCA Schengen Convention SECI UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNIFIL UNTSO UNWTO UPU WCO WEU (associate partner) WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Mariam MOZGAN
In the us chancery: 2,410 California Street N.W., Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 386-6,601
In the us fax: [1] (202) 386-6,633
In the us consulates general: Cleveland, New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Yousif B. GHAFARI
From the us embassy: Presernova 31, 1000 Ljubljana
From the us mailing address: American Embassy Ljubljana, US Department of State, 7,140 Ljubljana Place, Washington, DC 20,521-7,140
From the us telephone: [386] (1) 200-5,500
From the us fax: [386] (1) 200-5,555

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top) blue and red with the Slovenian seal (a shield with the image of Triglav Slovenia's highest peak in white against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines depicting seas and rivers and above it are three six-pointed stars arranged in an inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries); the seal is in the upper hoist side of the flag centered on the white and blue bands

Economy overview: Slovenia which on 1 January 2007 became the first 2004 European Union entrant to adopt the euro is a model of economic success and stability for the region. With the highest per capita GDP in Central Europe Slovenia has excellent infrastructure a well-educated work force and a strategic location between the Balkans and Western Europe. Privatization has lagged since 2002 and the economy has one of highest levels of state control in the EU. Structural reforms to improve the business environment have allowed for somewhat greater foreign participation in Slovenia's economy and have helped to lower unemployment. In March 2004 Slovenia became the first transition country to graduate from borrower status to donor partner at the World Bank. In December 2007 Slovenia was invited to begin the accession process for joining the OECD. Despite its economic success foreign direct investment (FDI) in Slovenia has lagged behind the region average and taxes remain relatively high. Furthermore the labor market is often seen as inflexible and legacy industries are losing sales to more competitive firms in China India and elsewhere.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $56.19 billion (2007 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 6.1% (2007 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $28,000 (2007 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.1%
Industry: 34.4%
Services: 63.5% (2007 est.)

Agriculture products: potatoes hops wheat sugar beets corn grapes; cattle sheep poultry

Industries: ferrous metallurgy and aluminum products lead and zinc smelting; electronics (including military electronics) trucks automobiles electric power equipment wood products textiles chemicals machine tools

Industrial production growth rate: 9.5% (2007 est.)

Labor force: 925,000 (2007 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 2.5%
By occupation industry: 36%
By occupation services: 61.5% (2007)

Unemployment rate: 7.7% (2007 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.6%
Highest 10: 21.4% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 24 (2005)

Budget
Revenues: $19.17 billion
Expenditures: $19.04 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 23.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.6% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate: NA (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 6.82% (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit: NA (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $15.18 billion (2006)

Current account balance: -$2.181 billion (2007 est.)

Exports: $27.06 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods machinery and transport equipment chemicals food
Partners: Germany 18.7% Italy 12.5% Croatia 8% Austria 7.5% France 5.9% Russia 4.4% (2007)

Imports: $29.39 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment manufactured goods chemicals fuels and lubricants food
Partners: Germany 18.1% Italy 17.1% Austria 11.7% France 5% Croatia 4.6% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.682 billion (30 September 2007 est.)

Debt external: $40.42 billion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $10.41 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $6.127 billion (2007 est.)

Exchange rates
Note: Slovenia adopted the euro as its currency on 1 January 2007

Electricity
Production: 14.13 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption: 13.4 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Exports: 5.894 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Imports: 6.14 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 4 million m³ (2006 est.)
Consumption: 1.105 billion m³ (2006 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Imports: 1.073 billion m³ (2005)
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 857,100 (2007)
Mobile cellular: 1.928 million (2007)

Telephone system
General assessment: well-developed telecommunications infrastructure
Domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 140 telephones per 100 persons
International: country code - 386

Internet
Country code: .si
Hosts: 75,984 (2008)
Users: 1.3 million (2007)

Military expenditures: 1.7% of GDP (2005 est.)

Military service age and obligation: 17 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished in 2003 (2007)

Airports: 14 (2007)
With paved runways total: 6
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 8
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 4 (2007)

Pipelines: gas 840 km; oil 11 km (2007)

Railways
Total: 1,229 km
Standard gauge: 1,229 km 1.435-m gauge (504 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways
Total: 38,562 km
Paved: 38,562 km (includes 579 km of expressways) (2006)

Merchant marine
Registered in other countries: 29 (Antigua and Barbuda 6, Bahamas 1, Cyprus 4, Liberia 3, Malta 4, Marshall Islands 4, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5, Singapore 1, Slovakia 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals: Koper

Disputes international: the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement which would have ceded most of Piran Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia remains unratified and in dispute; Slovenia also protests Croatia's 2003 claim to an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border Slovenia has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to curb illegal migration and commerce through southeastern Europe while encouraging close cross-border ties with Croatia

Illicit drugs: minor transit point for cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe and for precursor chemicals