Slovenia
Updated: Sep 15, 2022
Home> Countries> Europe> Slovenia
Country Name
Slovenia, or officially the Republic of Slovenia.
Location
Slovenia is a country located in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and the Adriatic Sea to the southwest.
Capital
Ljubljana.
Reason for Naming
Slovenia's name means the "Land of the Slavs" in Slovene and other South Slavic languages.
It is thus a cognate of the words Slavonia, Slovakia, and Slavia. The etymology of Slav itself remains uncertain.
Flag
The first use of the flag was in 1848. The current Flag of Slovenia was adopted on June 25, 1991.
The flag of Slovenia consists of three equal horizontal stripes of traditional Pan-Slavic colors white, blue, and red.
The Slovenia coat of arms is placed on the hoist side of the flag, the coat of arms is made up of a blue shield outlined in red and a white mountain with two wavy lines underneath and three six-pointed stars situated above the stylized peaks.
The Red color represents the blood that had been shed during battles
for their freedom, the white color represents purity and peace
while the blue represents honor, and the mountain represents Mount Triglav which is the country’s highest peak, The wavy lines near the bottom of the mountain refer to the Adriatic Sea as well as the various rivers which run through Slovenia.
The three six-pointed stars are representative of the 14th-century coat of arms of the house of the Counts of Celje (a powerful dynasty that ruled Slovenia in the 14th to 15th centuries).
*Flag Facts:
-The flags of Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the flag of Serbia are almost identical to one another, these flags comprise three horizontal stripes of red, blue, and white, but the difference is in the coat of arms also Russian flag didn't contain any symbols while the color of Serbian flag is upside down.
- The flags of Slovenia & Slovakia most closely resemble the Russian flag, which differs mainly in being longer than the Russian flag and incorporating their respective country's coat of arms into the flag design.
Language
The official language in Slovenia is Slovene, which is a member of the South Slavic language group.
Hungarian and Italian, are recognized as the first language of the protected Italian and Hungarian minorities, It is also a co-official language in Slovenia
The most taught foreign languages are English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish.
Religion
Christianity is the religion of the majority in Slovenia. About half of the population adheres to Roman Catholicism as it is the most popular Christian denomination in the country.
Adherents of Orthodox Christianity and other Christian denominations comprise 2.3% and 0.9% of the population, respectively.
2.4% of the population is represented by Muslims. Followers of other religions and those who have not specified any religion account for 23% of the country’s population.
A significant section of Slovenia’s population does not believe in any religion (10.1%) or is not affiliated with any specific religion (3.5%).
Although the number of Protestants in Slovenia’s population is quite small today, Protestantism played an important role in the development of Slovene literature including its standard language.
Besides Christianity, Judaism is another religion that has a long history in Slovenia. A Jewish community inhabited the region before the 6th century. However, the number of Jews in Slovenia sharply dropped during the Holocaust and today only around 400 to 600 Jews live in Slovenia. Most of them are found in the capital city of the country, Ljubljana.
Currency
Euro (€) (EUR).
Time Zone
+02:00 GMT. (Summer Time)
+01:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic.
Climate
Slovenia is located in temperate latitudes. The climate is also influenced by the variety of relief, and the influence of the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. In the northeast, the continental climate type with the greatest difference between winter and summer temperatures prevails. In the coastal region, there is a sub-Mediterranean climate. The effect of the sea on the temperature rates is visible also up the Soča valley, while a severe Alpine climate is present in the high mountain regions. There is a strong interaction between these three climatic systems across most of the country. The short coastline of Slovenia is good for a beach holiday in summer, especially in July and August, even though there can be some cool and rainy days or some afternoon thunderstorms. The best time to visit Slovenia is from June to September.