Slovenia officially the Republic of Slovenia is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short coastline within the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, which is part of the Mediterranean sea. Slovenia is mostly mountainous and forested, covers 20,271 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi), and has a population of approximately 2.1 million. Slovene is the official language. Slovenia has a predominantly temperate continental climate, with the exception of the Slovene Littoral and the Julian Alps. Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia, is geographically situated near the centre of the country. Other larger urban centers are Maribor, Kranj, Celje and Koper.
The economy of Slovenia is a developed mixed economy. The country enjoys a high level of prosperity and stability as well as above-average GDP per capita by purchasing power parity at 91% of the EU average in 2023. The nominal GDP in 2023 is 68.108 billion USD, nominal GDP per capita (GDP/pc) in 2023 is USD 32,350. The highest GDP/pc is in central Slovenia, where the capital city Ljubljana is located. It is part of the Western Slovenia statistical region, which has a higher GDP/pc than eastern Slovenia.
Since Slovenia declared independence in 1991, its Governments have underscored their commitment to improving cooperation with neighbouring countries and actively contributing to international efforts aimed at bringing stability to Southeast Europe. Resource limitations have nevertheless been a problem hindering the efficiency of the Slovenian diplomacy. In the 1990s, foreign relations, especially with Italy, Austria and Croatia, triggered internal political controversies. In the last eight years, however, a wide consensus has been reached among the vast majority of Slovenian political parties to jointly work in the improvement of the country's diplomatic infrastructure and to avoid politicizing the foreign relations by turning them into an issue of internal political debates.
Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia, located along a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region, north of the country's largest marsh, inhabited since prehistoric times. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center and the seat of Urban Municipality of Ljubljana.
The Social Democrats is a centre-left and pro-European social-democratic political party in Slovenia led by Matjaž Han. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats. It is the successor of the League of Communists of Slovenia. As of 2022, the party is a member of a three-party coalition government with Robert Golob's Freedom Movement alongside The Left, as well as a full member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance.
The Slovenia national football team represents Slovenia in men's international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia, the governing body for football in Slovenia. The national squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA. It competes in the three major professional tournaments available to European nations: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and the UEFA European Championship. Slovenia played its first official match in 1992, one year after the country gained independence from Yugoslavia. The majority of Slovenia's home matches are played at Stožice Stadium in Ljubljana.
The National Assembly is the general representative body of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia and the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, it is the major part of the distinctively incompletely bicameral Slovenian Parliament, the legislative branch of the Republic of Slovenia. It has 90 members, elected for a four-year term. 88 members are elected using the party-list proportional representation system and the remaining two, using the Borda count, by the Hungarian and Italian-speaking ethnic minorities, who have an absolute veto in matters concerning their ethnic groups.
Sunita Lyn "Suni" Williams is an American astronaut, retired U.S. Navy officer, and former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman. Williams was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15. In 2012, she served as a flight engineer on Expedition 32 and then commander of Expedition 33. In 2024, she returned to the ISS on the Boeing Crew Flight Test, the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner; her return to Earth has been delayed until February 2025. As such, from August 2024 until February 2025, Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore are pivoting ahead to undertake various scientific experiments and maintenance tasks aboard the International Space Station.
Nogometni klub Celje, commonly referred to as NK Celje or simply Celje, is a professional football club from Celje, Slovenia. They play in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian football. Together with Maribor, they are the only club that have participated in every season of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its formation in 1991. Celje won their first league title in the 2019–20 season. They have also won the 2004–05 edition of the Slovenian Cup.
Nogometni klub Olimpija Ljubljana, commonly referred to as Olimpija Ljubljana or simply Olimpija, is a Slovenian professional football club based in Ljubljana that competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top division of the Slovenian football league system. They have won three Slovenian PrvaLiga titles and four Slovenian Cups.
Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in Koper that competes in the Slovenian First League, the top flight of Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. They won the Slovenian First League once, in the 2009–10 season, and the Slovenian Cup four times, most recently in 2021–22.
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia, commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one of the six federal republics forming Yugoslavia and the nation state of the Slovenes. It existed under various names from its creation on 29 November 1945 until 25 June 1991.
Slovenian passports are issued to citizens of Slovenia to facilitate international travel. Every Slovenian citizen is also a citizen of the European Union. The passport, along with the national identity card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland, as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.
Russia–Slovenia relations are foreign relations between Russia and Slovenia. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 May 1992. Russia has an embassy in Ljubljana. Slovenia has an embassy in Moscow and two honorary consulates. Until 2022, Russia had five honorary consuls in Slovenia, but Slovenia withdrew its consent to the appointments due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The statistical regions of Slovenia are 12 administrative entities created in 2000 for legal and statistical purposes.
Nogometni klub Bravo, commonly referred simply as Bravo, is a Slovenian professional football club from Ljubljana, which plays in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top level of the football league system in the country. The club was founded in 2006.
