Brief Introduction Capital: Ljubljana Area: total: 20,273 sq km National Flower: Carnation The important Festival: National day: the Thursday of the second week June Population: 60,094,648 Language: English, English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland). Currency: British pound (GBP)

Slovenia

Geography

Central Europe, eastern Alps bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Austria and Croatia.

Administrative divisions

182 municipalities, 11 urban municipalities*.

Economy – overview

Slovenia, with its historical ties to Western Europe, enjoys a GDP per capita substantially higher than that of the other transitioning economies of Central Europe. In March 2004, Slovenia became the first transition country to graduate from borrower status to donor partner at the World Bank. Privatization of the economy proceeded at an accelerated pace in 2002-04. Despite lackluster performance in Europe in 2001-04, Slovenia maintained moderate growth. Structural reforms to improve the business environment have allowed for greater foreign participation in Slovenia's economy and have helped to lower unemployment. Further measures to curb inflation are still needed. Corruption and the high degree of coordination between government, business, and central bank policy were issues of concern in the run-up to Slovenia's 1 May 2004 accession to the European Union. In mid-2004 Slovenia agreed to adopt the euro by 2007 and, therefore, must keep its debt levels, budget deficits, interest rates, and inflation levels within the EU's Maastrict criteria.

Culture and media

Newspaper:

Delo, Demokracija , Ekipa , Finance , Poslovni Dnevnik, Slovenia Times .

TV Stations:

RTV Slovenija,

The place of interest

Egon Kase

Mestni Trg

Liublgjanski Grad