Country Facts - Slovenia

The People

Ethnic Composition

Slovene	88%
Croat	3%
Serb	2%
Bosniak	1%
Yugoslav	6%
Hungarian	4%
Other	4%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	70.8%
Lutheran	1.0%
Muslim	1.0%
Nonaffiliated and other	27.2%

Languages Spoken

Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 6%, other 3%

Education and Literacy

Currently 99 percent of the population over the age of 15 is considered to be literate. Slovenia has an extensive state-funded education system.

Labor Force

Total: 857,400

By occupation: N/A

Geography

Land Mass Total

7,827 sq mi (20,273 sq km)

Land

7,780 sq mi (

20,151 sq km)

Water

47 sq mi (122 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 828 mi (1,334 km)
Border countries: Austria 205 mi (330 km), Croatia 416 mi (670 km), Italy 144 mi (232 km), Hungary 63 mi (102 km)

Coastline

28 mi (46.6 km)

Maritime claim

None

Climate/Weather

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: Adriatic Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Triglav 9,396 ft (2,864 m)

Natural Resources

Lignite coal, lead, zinc, mercury, uranium, silver, hydropower, forests

Land use

Arable land	11%
Permanent crops	3%
Other	86%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Flooding, earthquakes

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.

Geography Note

Despite its small size, this eastern Alpine country controls some of Europe's major transit routes.

Demographics

Population

1,932,917 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	15.7%	Male: 155,989	Female: 147,707
15-64 years:	69.8%	Male: 684,354	Female: 663,884
65 years and over:	14.5%	Male: 103,790	Female: 177,193

Growth Rate

0.14% (2002)

Life Expectancy

75.29 years (2002)
Female: 79.37 years
Male: 71.42 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$16,000 (2001)

Infant Mortality

4.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.59 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.96 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

2.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Although Slovenia enjoys a GDP per capita substantially higher than that of the other transitioning economies of Central Europe, it needs to speed up the privatization process and the dismantling of restrictions on foreign investment. About 45 percent of the economy remains in state hands, and the level of foreign direct investment inflows as a percent of GDP is the lowest in the region. Despite the global slowdown in 2001, the economy turned in an excellent record on exports, which grew 5 percent, while GDP growth hovered in the 3-percent range throughout 2001 to 2003. Inflation began dropping slightly, but in 2001 to 8.4 percent, but the current range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent remains a matter of concern.

Unemployment

11.5% (2001)

Inflation Rate

8.4% (2001)

Industries

Ferrous metallurgy and rolling mill products, aluminum reduction and rolled products, lead and zinc smelting, electronics (including military electronics), trucks, electric power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools

Exports

US$9.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$9.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$31 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Germany 27.2%, Italy 13.6%, Croatia 7.9%, Austria 7.5%, France 7.1% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Germany 19.0%, Italy 17.4%, France 10.3%, Austria 8.2%, Croatia 4.4%, Hungary, Russia (2000)

Top Exports

Manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food

Top Imports

Machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, food

Debt - external

US$6.6 billion (2001)

Economic aid

ODA, $5 million (1993)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7:30a.m. to 5p.m. Closed for lunch.	Closed
Retail	7a.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 7a.m. to 1p.m.
Banks	8a.m. to 5p.m. Closed for lunch.	Closed
Government	7a.m. to 5p.m. Post offices are open until 8p.m.	Saturdays until 1p.m.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Culture Day	February 8	February 8	February 8
Pust (Beginning of Lent)	February 29 to March 4	February 21 to 24	February 5 to 8
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 20	April 12	March 28
National Resistance Day	April 27	April 27	April 27
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Pentecost²	June 8	May 30	May 15
National Day	June 25	June 25	June 25
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
Reformation Day	October 31	October 31	October 31
Remembrance Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Christmas Day³	December 25	December 25	December 25
Independence Day	December 26	December 26	December 26

¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
²	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press