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Slovenia is a country in the south east corner of Europe.

Slovenia borders the Adriatic Sea.

The land is mountainous with a coastal strip in the west of the country, bordering Italy. The mountain range known as the Alps run through Slovenia.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Slovenia, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 46 07N
Longitude - 14 49E

The capital of Slovenia is Ljubljana.

Slovenia is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote. People over 16 can vote if they are employed.

The currency in Slovenia is the euro. Slovenia is a member of the European Union, having joined in 2004.

Slovene is the official language.

Check the weather in Ljubljana now.

This is the time in Ljubljana now

The Slovenian flag is 3 horizontal stripes of white, blue and red. The Slovenian seal is a shield placed in the top left hand corner of the flag, centering on the white and blue stripes. It shows the country's highest peak, Mount Triglev, in white on a blue background. Two wavy blue lines depict the sea and rivers while the 3 six-pointed stars are taking from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, who were powerful rulers of what is now Slovenia until 1456.

Hear the National Anthem



These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Slovenian National Anthem called A Toast. The words were written, as part of a poem, by France Preseren in 1844. The whole poem was to put to music in 1905 but only the seventh verse, as translated here, is used for the anthem.

If anthem fails to play click here

God’s blessing on all nations,
Who long and work for that bright day,
When o’er earth’s habitations
No war, no strife shall hold its sway;
Who long to see
That all men free
No more shall foes, but neighbours be!

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The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The total land area of Slovenia is 20,151 sq kms which is the 35th largest in Europe.

Slovenia has lakes, rivers and canals which total 122 sq kms.

Slovenia has boundaries with 4 countries

• Croatia 600 kms
• Austria 299 kms
• Italy 218 kms
• Hungary 94 kms

Slovenia has a coastline of 46 kms which is the 27th longest in Europe.

The highest point in Slovenia is Mount Triglav at 2,864 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Slovenia is 1.98 million people, making it the 32nd largest country in Europe by population.

Of this number 1.02 million are females and 0.96 million are males.

A person from Slovenia is usually called a Slovenian.

To be a citizen of Slovenia, one of your parents must be a citizen of Slovenia. It is not sufficient to be born in Slovenia. You have to live in Slovenia for 10 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship. The last 5 years have to have been continuous.

The largest five cities in Slovenia, by population are:-

• Ljubliana 272,220 people
• Maribor 95,171
• Celje 37,520
• Kranj 36,874
• Velenje 25,456

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



49.6% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Slovenia is 8.3 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Slovenia is 11.5 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 3.4 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 4.5 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 45.9 and for males is 42.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 28.8.

The elderly dependency ratio is 26.8. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 3.7. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Slovenia spends 9.2% of its total income on health care.

There are 2.54 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 4.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

20.2% of the population are estimated as obese.

99.7% of the urban population and 99.4% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

99.1% of the urban population and 99.1% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Slovenia releases 13.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 30th highest in Europe.

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Slovenia spends 5.5% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Slovenia. Compulsory primary education is for nine years until age 15. Upper secondary education is not compulsory and can ;ast between 2 and 5 years. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year starts in the first week of September and finishes at the end of June. There is usually a 1 week in October, a 1 week break at Christmas, 1 week in February and 1 week at the end of April.

99.7% of females and 99.7% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

15.2% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 14.7% are unemployed while with males 15.6% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Slovenia is 947,400.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

12.3% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 7 paved airports in Slovenia, which is the 33rd highest number in Europe.


There are 1,229 kilometres of railways in Slovenia, which is the 29th longest in Europe.


There are 38,985 kilometres of roads in Slovenia, which means Slovenia is in 25th place for the most kilometres of roads in Europe.

There are 4 major national newspapers in Slovenia.

There are 2.35 million mobile phone users.

36% of the people have a fixed landline.



1.45 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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