Briefly about Slovenia
Location and general
The country of Slovenia is situated in Central and South-eastern Europe, neighbouring Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy. The country covers about 20 273 km² and has a population of about 2 million. Its capital is Ljubljana. It declared independence in 1991 and is a member of the EU and NATO. The currency is Euro.
More about Slovenia on Wikipedia.
Geography
Although small in land size (20,273 km2 / 7,827 sq. mi) it captures very different geographical landscapes - from the Alps in the northwest to the Mediterranean coast in the southwest, from the Pannonia plains in the northeast to the Dinaric plateaus in the southeast and the Karst Plateau in the southeast.
History
There is evidence of human presence from around 250.000 years ago.
Before the Romans conquered the area it was home to Illyrian and Celtic tribes and after the collapse of the Roman Empire the Slavic tribes migrated to the wider area. Those ancestors of present-day Slovenes established its own kingdom that was taken over by Bavarians who also brought Christianity to the land.
Later most of the territory was taken by Austrian Habsburgs who ruled to the end World War I.
After W.W.I the people decided to join Slavic countries in the common state of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes that later became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
During W.W. II people of Slovenia were occupied by Germany, Italy and Hungary. Resistance led by Communists caused internal conflicts with an anti-communist part of the population deciding to ally with Italy and later Germany and counter revolutionary violence of the partisans.
Partisan resistance prevailed and liberated the country which again became part of Yugoslavia, but in a new, socialistic state form, led by the communist party leader Josip Broz Tito.
Tito died in 1980 and 7 years after his death political disputes arose inside Yugoslavia, so the Slovenian intellectuals demanded independence and the idea was widely supported by the people. Soon after, in the first democratic elections, the people voted to become a sovereign state. This led to the Ten-Day War with the Yugoslav People’s Army which ended with a truce and the Slovenes finally got their own, independent, Republic of Slovenia.
Slovenia became a member of the EU and NATO in 2004, and in 2007 it joined the Eurozone (with the currency Euro).
Culture
Main cultural activities are music, dance, literature, visual arts, film and theatre, accompanied by a number of festivals and exhibitions showcasing music and literature.
The earliest Slovenian documents are the Freising manuscripts (Brižinski spomeniki), dated between 972 and 1022, found in 1803 in Freising, Germany.
Primož Trubar and other Protestant Reformers started printing Slovenian literature in the 16th century - the first Slovenian book was printed in 1550, and the first Bible translation was published by Jurij Dalmatin in 1583.
The Slovene language became known to other European languages first with the multilingual dictionary in the second half of the 16th century, published by Hieronymus Megiser.
The word "Slovenia" first appeared in 1816 - in an unpublished poem - and in 1844 it first appeared in printed text.
The Slovenian romantic period in literature began in 1830 with greatest Slovene classical author - poet France Prešeren - who also wrote first Slovene ballad and the first Slovene epic.
Spring of Nations in 1848 did not only abolish feudalism, but it also established the basic cultural and political principles upon which the independent Slovene state was born in 1991.
Most known author today is Boris Pahor.
More about the culture of Slovenia on Wikipedia.