Slovenia

Officially known as the Republic of Slovenia and Republika Slovenija, SLOVENIA is located in South-Central Europe and borders four countries: Austria located to the north, Croatia to the south, Hungary to the east-northeast, and northern Italy to the west. The relatively small country boasts a southwestern coastline with the Gulf of Trieste (Tržaški Zaliv), which is actually a portion of the slightly larger Gulf of Venice (Beneški Zaliv). Slovenia became a European Union member in 2004 and adopted the Euro currency on January 1st, 2007. Slovenia's previous currency was the Slovenian Tolar, and its ISO 4217 currency code was SIT. According to the European Commission, 1 Euro equated to 239.640 Tolars at currency-exchange time. Slovenia declared independence from the now-defunct Yugoslavia in 1991. Below is a succinct timeline of Slovenia's transformation into sovereignty.

●    Monday, June 24th, 1991 — The coat of arms and flag were designed.

●    Tuesday, June 25th, 1991 — Slovenia's independence and sovereignty were established in a constitutional law, part of which created the Declaration of Independence. Annually, Slovenians celebrate Independence Day on June 25th.

●    Wednesday, June 26th, 1991 — President Milan Kučan declared independence on this date at a ceremony in the capital city's Trg Revolucije (Revolution Square) town square.

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ●  According to the GeoFact of the Day Blog's 2016 estimate, Slovenia's national population is about 2,070,000. Straddling the Ljubljanica river, Ljubljana (Italian: Lubiana) is Slovenia's capital city and the home for about 275,000 residents (2016 estimate). Other cities and communities include Celje, Jesenice, Koper, Kranj, Maribor, Novo Mesto, Trbovlje, and Velenje. For the most part, citizens of Slovenia originate from the Slav people and communicate using Slavic languages. Due to the country's centralized location in Europe, people of neighboring nationalities — Albanians, Austrians, Bosniaks, Croatians, Hungarians, Italians, and Serbians, among others — form a fairly large minority. Regardless, over 83% of residents are part of the Slovene ethnic group.

In recent months and years, Slovenia and fellow European states became vulnerable to the massive Middle Eastern refugee crisis and decided to close their borders. Slovene is Slovenia's official language, and other predominant languages used for communication are as follows: Gheg Albanian, Croatian, German (standard), Hungarian, Italian, Sinte Romani, and the Slovene Sign Language. Over 90% of religious people are Christians, followed by Muslims, Bahá'i believers, and Jews.

● ● ● ● ●  Land and Water Features  ● ● ● ● ●  Slovenia's topography is largely mountainous but also includes the Pannonian Lowlands in the northeast, Kras Plateau in the southwest near Trieste in Italy, and hills and valleys throughout Slovenia. The country's northern border straddles the Karavanke mountain range, while the Julian Alps stretch across northwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. The Julian Alps include the tallest peak — Triglav, standing at an elevation of 9,396 feet and 2,364 meters — and as well as some of Slovenia's largest lakes.

As shown in GeoFact of the Day Blog's Photo of the Day post, Lake Bled (Blejsko Jezero) provides a popular canvas for photographers to snap pictures because the fascinating 17th-century Church of the Assumption sits on an island. Another architectural wonder is Bled Castle, placed on a lakeshore cliff over 400 feet above Lake Bled. Lake Bohinj (Bohinjsko Jezero) has a surface area of 3.18 km² and is the Alpine country's largest permanent lake. Rivers include Drava, Krka, Kupa (Kolpa), Mura, Sava, Savinja, and Soča.

GeoFact of the Day Blog updated this post with more info on October 14th, 2016. The map was added to this post on November 28th, 2016.