SLOVENIA. – It is the northernmost of the historical regions of the Yugoslav State, occupying a place apart on account of the originality of its population, whose traditions and language distinguish it from the neighboring Southern Slavs.
The territory consists, in its northern part, of a series of uplands (the Karawanks, Kamnik Alps, and Slovenske Gorice) which continue our Carnic Alps: the landscape is rugged and wooded in the higher zones, well-cultivated and reduced in the zones descending toward the valleys of the Sava and Drava rivers; and a southern zone of distinctly karstic type, where barren plateaus alternate with wooded hills, the broad valley floors of the major rivers, and more or less extensive basins of subsidence (Ljubljana). Slovenia is a country with a rather varied economy owing to the diversity of its resources. The forests (43% of the territory) support, among other industries, more than one branch (cellulose, paper, chemical products); agriculture, besides cereals, is characterized by the widespread cultivation of plums; meadows and pastures support a rational livestock industry (cattle, with a notable production of dairy goods); mineral resources (lead, zinc, antimony, and especially mercury) support a complex of other industries, among which metallurgical (lead and zinc foundries), mechanical, and textile industries stand out. The hydroelectric resources (Drava and Sava) are also very significant.
Slovenia, which was one of the three units from which the Yugoslav State was composed at its creation, is today one of the six federated Republics of the Yugoslav Federation (F.N.R.J.); its territory measures 20,445 sq. km. and has (1950) 1.5 million inhabitants (density 68 per sq. km.; in northern Slovenia it exceeds 100 per sq. km. in various areas). Of all the regions of Yugoslavia, Slovenia is the one most akin, in appearance and customs, to Western Europe. The Slovenes, who once extended their settlements into Hungary, Venetian Slovenia, and Friuli, suffered continual territorial losses during the long German domination; in compensation, they absorbed qualities and traits into their culture and customs. Despite the considerable industrial development of Slovenia, urban centers are relatively few; after Ljubljana, the capital (121,000 inhabitants), Maribor (86,000 inhabitants) and Celje (22,000 inhabitants) should be noted for their industries.