Slovenia

• a short southwestern coastal strip of Karst topography on the Adriatic;
• an alpine mountain region lies adjacent to Italy and Austria in the north;
• mixed mountains and valleys with numerous rivers to the east

agricultural land:

22.8%;

• arable land 8.4%;
• permanent crops 1.3%;
• permanent pasture 13.1%

forest:

62.3%

other:

14.9% (2011 est.)

• a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations;
• pockets in the mountainous northwest exhibit less density than elsewhere

• Sava River polluted with domestic and industrial waste;
• pollution of coastal waters with heavy metals and toxic chemicals;
• forest damage from urban air pollution and resulting acid rain

noun:

Slovene(s)

adjective:

Slovenian

• a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations;
• pockets in the mountainous northwest exhibit less density than elsewhere

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.68 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

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

etymology:

related to the Slavic autonym (self-designation) "Slovenin," a derivation from "slovo" (word), denoting "people who speak (the same language)" (i.e., people who understand each other)

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

• previous 1974 (preindependence);
• latest passed by legislature 23 December 1991;
• amended several times, last in 2015 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Slovenia; both parents if the child is born outside of Slovenia

dual citizenship recognized:

yes, for select cases

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years, the last 5 of which have been continuous

chief of state:

President Borut PAHOR (since 22 December 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Miro CERAR (since 18 September 2014)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, elected by the National Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 11 November 2012 with a runoff on 2 December 2012 (next to be held in 2017);
• following National Assembly elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually nominated prime minister by the president and elected by the National Assembly

election results:

• Borut PAHOR elected president;
• percent of vote in second round - Borut PAHOR (SD) 67.4%, Danilo TURK (independent) 32.6%;
• note - a snap election was held in July 2014 following the resignation of Prime Minister Alenka BRATUSEK in May 2014, Miro CERAR (SMC) elected prime minister;
• National Assembly vote - 57 to 11

description:

bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council or Drzavni Svet (40 seats; members indirectly elected by an electoral college to serve 5-year terms) and the National Assembly or Drzavni Zbor (90 seats; 88 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 2 directly elected in special constituencies for Italian and Hungarian minorities by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms); note - the National Council is primarily an advisory body with limited legislative powers

elections:

National Assembly - last held on 13 July 2014 (next to be held in 2018)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - SMC 34.6%, SDS 20.7%, DeSUS 10.2%, ZL 6%, SD 6%, NSi 5.6%, ZaAB 4.3%, other 12.6%;
• seats by party - SMC 36, SDS 21, DeSUS 10, ZL 6, SD 6, NSi, 5, ZaAB 4, Hungarian minority 1, Italian minority 1

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (consists of the court president and 37 judges organized into civil, criminal, commercial, labor and social security, administrative, and registry departments);
• Constitutional Court (consists of the court president, vice president, and 7 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court president and vice president appointed by the National Assembly upon the proposal of the Minister of Justice based on the opinions of the Judicial Council, an 11-member independent body elected by the National Assembly from proposals submitted by the president, attorneys, law universities, and sitting judges;
• other Supreme Court judges elected by the National Assembly from candidates proposed by the Judicial Council;
• Supreme Court judges appointed for life;
• Constitutional Court judges appointed by the National Assembly from nominations by the president of the republic;
• Constitutional Court president selected from among their own for a 3-year term;
• other judges elected for single 9-year terms

subordinate courts:

• county, district, regional, and high courts;
• specialized labor-related and social courts;
• Court of Audit;
• Administrative Court

• Alliance of Alenka Bratusek or ZaAB [Alenka BRATUSEK]
• Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia or DeSUS [Karl ERJAVEC]
• Modern Center Party or SMC [Miro CERAR]
• New Slovenia or NSi [Ljudmila NOVAK]
• Slovenian Democratic Party or SDS [Janez JANSA]
• Social Democrats or SD [Dejan ZIDAN]
• United Left or ZL (collective leadership)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Bozo CERAR (since 6 September 2013)

chancery:

2410 California Street N.W., Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 386-6601

FAX:

[1] (202) 386-6633

consulate(s) general:

Cleveland (OH)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Brent Robert HARTLEY (since 12 February 2015)

embassy:

Presernova 31, 1000 Ljubljana

mailing address:

American Embassy Ljubljana, US Department of State, 7140 Ljubljana Place, Washington, DC 20521-7140

telephone:

[386] (1) 200-5500

FAX:

[386] (1) 200-5555

three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, derive from the medieval coat of arms of the Duchy of Carniola; 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) appears in the upper hoist side of the flag centered on the white and blue bands

name:

"Zdravljica" (A Toast)

lyrics/music:

France PRESEREN/Stanko PREMRL

note: adopted 1989; originally written in 1848; the full poem, whose seventh verse is used as the anthem, speaks of pan-Slavic nationalism

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

agriculture:

8.3%

industry:

30.8%

services:

60.9% (2012 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.7%

highest 10%:

21.1% (2012)

general assessment:

well-developed telecommunications infrastructure

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 155 telephones per 100 persons

international:

country code - 386 (2015)

• public TV broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV), operates a system of national and regional TV stations;
• 35 domestic commercial TV stations operating nationally, regionally, and locally;
• about 60% of households are connected to multi-channel cable TV;
• public radio broadcaster operates 3 national and 4 regional stations;
• more than 75 regional and local commercial and non-commercial radio stations (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 35

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

1,130,637

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

1,349,442 mt-km (2015)

total:

1,229 km

standard gauge:

1,229 km 1.435-m gauge (503 km electrified) (2014)

country comparison to the world: 84

total:

38,985 km

paved:

38,985 km (includes 769 km of expressways) (2012)

country comparison to the world: 91

• since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Croatia and Slovenia have each claimed sovereignty over Pirin Bay and four villages, and Slovenia has objected to Croatia's claim of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea;
• in 2009, however Croatia and Slovenia signed a binding international arbitration agreement to define their disputed land and maritime borders, which led to Slovenia lifting its objections to Croatia joining the EU;
• 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;
• Slovenia continues to impose a hard border Schengen regime with Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013 but has not yet fulfilled Schengen requirements