ABSTRACT

Slovenia is a small country with just about two million inhabitants; its territory is situated between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps. Even today, it represents an important traffic crossroad, connecting the East and the West, the North and the South of Europe. Throughout History various tribes settled on this territory. However, in the seventh century AD they were overtaken by Slavic tribes. Nowadays Slovenia is an ethnically homogenous country, with its own language which was used in written form since at least about the year 1000 AD. The language belongs to the group of South Slavic languages and has numerous characteristics of the West Slavic group. Slovenia was for the majority of its history linked with Central Europe, since it was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for nearly 1000 years. After the fall of the empire in 1918, Slovenia associated itself with the South Slavic nations and became part of Yugoslavia. After the death of President Josip Broz Tito, the federation of six republics with different historical and cultural backgrounds started to crumble. In 1991, Slovenia was the first to become an independent state. From 1 May 2004 it has been a part of the European Union.