Slovenia

C

Natural Resources

Two national symbols, the linden, or lime tree, and the chamois, thrive throughout the republic. Brown coal, or lignite, is the most abundant natural resource in Slovenia (production 2003; 4.85 million tonnes); other resources include lead, zinc, mercury, uranium, and silver, as well as natural gas and oil.

D

Environmental Concerns

In 1995, 53 per cent of Slovenia's total land area was forested. Air pollution from central European industry and acid rain have caused damage to the forests, however, with a quarter of the country's trees suffering moderate to severe defoliation. Factories in Slovenia have contributed to high levels of sulphur dioxide and dust in the air in the country's larger cities, and much of the ground and surface water is contaminated. The Sava River, for example, is polluted with domestic and industrial waste, and Slovenia's short stretch of coastal waters is polluted with heavy metals and toxic chemicals. Slovenia has a long history of wildlife conservation, however.

Triglav National Park, in north-western Slovenia, was established in 1924 to preserve the alpine wilderness around Mount Triglav. The park is home to diverse populations of birds and small mammals, and several mammal species that vanished from the ecosystem, such as ibex and marmots, have been successfully reintroduced. In all, 5.7 per cent (1997) of the country's total land area has been designated protected. The government has ratified international environmental agreements on air pollution, biodiversity, climate change, hazardous wastes, law of the sea, marine dumping, nuclear test ban, ozone layer protection, ship pollution, and wetlands.

III

Population

Slovenia has a population of about 2,007,711 (2008 estimate), giving an average population density of about 100 people per sq km (258 per sq mi).

A

Population Characteristics

Slovenes, a Slavic ethnic group, constitute about 83 per cent of the republic’s population. Ethnic Serbs (about 2 per cent), Croats (about 2 per cent), Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims; about 1 per cent), and various other ethnic groups (about 12 per cent) constitute the remainder of Slovenia’s population.

Some 60,000 refugees from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were living in Slovenia during the early 1990s. However, by 2004 only some 304 remained and the government planned eventually to repatriate them all.

Slovenia’s population in 2005 was 51 per cent urban. Life expectancy in 2008 was 73 years for men and 80.7 years for women.

B

Principal Cities

The cities of Ljubljana (population, 2005 estimate, 266,845), Maribor (111,673, 2005 estimate), Kranj (52,689, 2005 estimate), and Celje (48,616, 2005 estimate) are the republic’s four largest cities. The remainder of the population lives in rural areas throughout the republic.