The Eurasia Center
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Email: President@eurasiacenter.org
Slovenia is a European country located on the western edge of the Balkan region. It shares borders with Austria, Croatia, Hungary, and Italy, and has coastal access to the Gulf of
Venice. It is a fairly young nation-state, having achieved its independence in 1991 from the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Slovenia joined both NATO and the European Union in 2004, officially adopted the euro in 2007, and joined the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development in 2010. The country has seen extraordinary development and modernization over the past two decades, but in recent years has been hit particularly hard by the ongoing global economic crisis, and now experiences anemic growth and high unemployment.
Population: 1,996,617
1
Population Growth: Negative; -0.185%
2
Ethnicity: Slovene 83.1%, Serb 2%, Croat 1.8%, Bosniak 1.6%, Hungarian 0.3%, Italian 0.1% other 2.2%, unknown or unspecified 8.9%
3
Religion: Catholic 57.8%, Muslim 2.4%, Orthodox 2.3%, other Christian 0.9%, unaffiliated
3.5%, other or unspecified 23%, no religion 10.1%
4
Age: 0-14 years 13.4%, 15-64 years 69.8%, 65 years and over 16.8%
5
1 Slovenia.si Informational site, People section, http://www.slovenia.si/en/slovenia/country/people/
2 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html
3 Slovenia.si Informational and Tourism site, People section, http://www.slovenia.si/en/slovenia/country/people/
4 Ibid.

Capital: Ljubljana
6
-The real GDP of Slovenia in 2011 was $58.56 billion USD, ranking it 89 th in the world in purchasing power parity.
7
-The GDP per capita in 2011 was $29,100, the highest of any country in the Central Europe region.
8
-In 2011 the unemployment rate in Slovenia was 10.8%. This ranks them 117 th
in unemployment worldwide and is an increase of 0.1% from the previous year.
9
-Slovenia’s budget revenues amounted to $21.53 billion in 2011, and their expenditures amounted to $24.2 billion. Their budget deficit amounted 5.1% of GDP.
10
-Current public debt is 45.5% of GDP. This ranks 61 st
among all countries and is an increase from their debt in the previous year, which was 38.8% of GDP in 2010.
11
-From 2010 to 2011, Slovenian imports increased from $25.99 billion to $31.09 billion, putting their world ranking at 63. During the same period, Slovenian exports increased from $24.39 billion to $28.96 billion, putting their world ranking at 63 for exports also. Slovenia’s primary trading partners were Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Croatia, Hungary, and China.
12
-Slovenia’s economy is based primarily on services, which accounted for 66.2% of their total
GDP in 2011. Industry and manufacturing accounted for 31.4% of total GDP in the same year, and agriculture accounted for another 2.4%
13
-Primary industries include: metallurgy and aluminum products, smelting, electronics, trucks, automobiles, power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, and machine tools.
14
5 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/si.html
11 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/si.html
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.

Primary agricultural produce consists of: hops, potatoes, wheat, corn, grapes, sugar beets, sheep, cattle, and poultry.
15
-Slovenia has a rating of 28.4 on the GINI Index measuring economic inequality in a country as of 2008, ranking it at 122 out of 140 countries analyzed.
16
-Slovenia controls several of Europe’s major transit routes, which has been a boon to commerce in the country.
17
-The inflation rate in Slovenia was 1.9% in 2011, an increase of 0.1% from the previous year.
They rank 18 th
-lowest inflation rate worldwide.
-Slovenia is a parliamentary republic. All citizens over the age of 18, and those between the ages of 16 and 18 who are employed, are eligible to vote in parliamentary elections, which are held every four years. Seats in the National Assembly are allocated proportionally by party. There are 90 National Assembly seats total.
18
-The Prime Minister is the official head of government, gaining that position by leading the majority party or coalition in the National Assembly. A Cabinet of Ministers is chosen by the
Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister is Janez Jansa of the center-right Slovenian
Democratic Party (SDS), who has held the position since January 28 2012.
19
-The President is the Chief of State and is elected by popular vote every five years. The current
President is Danilo Turk, who has served since December 22 2007.
20
-Slovenia has been rated “Free” by the Freedom House Freedom in the World Report as of 2011.
It received a score of 1 (the best possible score) in each of the three categories of ‘Freedom
Rating’, ‘Civil Liberties’, and ‘Political Rights’. Their press is also rated “Free” 21
-Some problems with corruption persist in the country, particularly concerning private-public conflicts of interest among government officials. Slovenia is rated 27 th out of 178 countries surveyed in the 2010 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, with a score of
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Freedom House Freedom in the World Report 2011, http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedomworld/2011/slovenia
19 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/si.html
20 Ibid.
21 Freedom House Freedom in the World Report, http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedomworld/2011/slovenia

5.9.
22
Out of 80,000 public servants nationwide, only about 5,000 are subject to financial disclosure laws. Prime Minister Jansa was indicted for corruption in 2010, but has retained his position in the National Assembly.
23
-Border disputes between Slovenia and Croatia remain unresolved; no binding treaties on the areas in question have been ratified. The dispute centers on the ownership of and maritime access to Piran Bay, as well as conflicting claims to several border village. Slovenia also disputes Slovenia’s claim to an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea.
24
-The Sava River has become heavily polluted with domestic and industrial waste, and their coastal waters have become polluted with heavy metals and toxic chemicals.
25
-Metallurgical and chemical plants in the city of Koper have caused serious air pollution and acid rain in the area. This has been particularly damaging to nearby forests.
26
-Slovenia occasionally has to deal with the threat of natural disasters, most notably earthquakes and flooding, which can cause serious infrastructure damage along with the possible loss of life.
27
-Natural resources of Slovenia include lead, zinc, ignite coal, building stone, forests, and hydropower.
-1.43% of Slovenian land is devoted to permanent crop use, while another 8.53% of Slovenia is arable land. In total Slovenia has approximately 100 square kilometers of irrigated land.
28
-The climate in Slovenia is typical of continental Europe, with mild to hot summers and cold winters. The coastal areas and those around the city of Koper are significantly warmer.
Research and Data Development Provided by: Kyle Corkins, Research Assistant, under the
Supervision and Coordination of: Dr. Gerard J. Janco, President, Eurasia Center/EBC
22 Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International, http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/
23 Freedom House Freedom in the World Report, http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedomworld/2011/slovenia
24 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/si.html
25 CIA World Factbook, Slovenia section, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/si.html
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid.