Slovenia

F

Transport

Slovenia has an excellent transport network. It included 38,451 km (23,892 mi) of roads in 2004, 100 per cent of which are paved, and 1,228 km (763 mi) of railways which link its largest cities. There is a port at Koper on the Adriatic Sea and three major airports, including Brnik International Airport at Ljubljana; the national carrier is Adria Airways.

G

Communications

In 2005 Slovenia had around 408 telephones for every 1,000 people, and a total number of 730,000 television sets in 2000. Television broadcasts are made by both public and private networks. The state-run broadcasting corporation is Radiotelevizija Slovenija. In 2004 there were 5 national daily newspapers.

V

Government

The republic of Slovenia and its government has been reconstituted since 1991 as a full democracy. On December 23, 1991, the government adopted a new constitution. It guarantees universal suffrage for all Slovenians of at least 18 years of age (Slovenians of at least 16 years of age may vote if they are employed), freedom of religion, and freedom of the press, among other civil rights. The republic has a multi-party system.

A

Executive and Legislature

The Slovenian parliament (Skupšcina Slovenije) consists of the 90-member National Assembly (Državni Zbor), which makes the republic’s laws, and the 40-member State Council (Državni Svet), which may only propose laws or request reconsideration of a vote in the assembly. Assembly members are elected for four-year terms by proportional representation and Council members for five-year terms by functional groups (employers, labour groups, professional bodies, and so on). The prime minister, the true head of government, is elected to a four-year term by the assembly, while the president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote.

B

Political Parties

The leading Slovenian political parties are: Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS; Liberalna Demokracija Slovenije), the dominant party of the previous governing coalition; the United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD; Združena Lista Socialnih Demokratov), which formed in 1992 as a coalition and changed into a formal party the following year; the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS; slovenska Demokratska Stranka Slovenije); the conservative SLS and SKD Slovenian People’s Party (SLS + SKD Slovenska Ljudska Stranka); the Christian-democratic New Slovenia Christian People’s Party (NSi; Nova Slovenija Kršèanski Ljudska Stranka); the nationalist Slovenian National Party (SNS; Slovenska Nacionalna Stranka); and the United Greens of Slovenia (ZZ; Zdruèeni Zeleni—Zeleni Slovenije in Zelena Alternativa).