Slovenia is situated at the crossroads of
central and
southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
, touching the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
and bordering the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
. The Alps—including the
Julian Alps
The Julian Alps ( sl, Julijske Alpe, it, Alpi Giulie, , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large p ...
, the
Kamnik
Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is t ...
-
Savinja Alps and the
Karawank chain, as well as the
Pohorje massif—dominate northern Slovenia along its long border to
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
's
Adriatic coastline stretches approximately from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
to
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
. Its part south of Sava river belongs to Balkan peninsula –
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
The term ''
karst'' originated in southwestern Slovenia's
Karst Plateau
The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy.
It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills su ...
( sl, Kras), a
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
region of underground rivers, gorges, and caves, between
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
and the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
.
On the
Pannonian plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only the ...
to the east and northeast, toward the
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n and
Hungarian borders, the landscape is essentially flat. However, the majority of Slovenian terrain is hilly or mountainous, with around 90% of the surface 200 meters or more above sea level.
Location
Slovenia's location is where southeastern and
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
meet, where the
Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...
border the Adriatic Sea between
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
. The
15th meridian east
The meridian 15° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.
The 15th meridian east forms a grea ...
almost corresponds to the middle line of the country in the direction west–east.
Geographic coordinates
Extreme
geographical points of Slovenia:
* North: ,
Budinci
Budinci (; hu, Bűdfalva, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Büdinci'') is a dispersed village in the Municipality of Šalovci in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia.
The northernmost tip of Slovenia is within the village's territory to the northwest of the mai ...
,
Šalovci
Šalovci (; hu, Sal) is a village in the Prekmurje region in northeastern Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to ...
,
* South: ,
Kot pri Damlju
Kot pri Damlju () is a small village in the Municipality of Črnomelj in southeastern Slovenia. Until 2000, the area was part of the settlement of Damelj. The village is part of the traditional region of White Carniola and is included in the South ...
,
Municipality of Črnomelj
The Municipality of Črnomelj (; sl, Občina Črnomelj) is a Municipalities of Slovenia, municipality in southeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Črnomelj. The municipality is at the heart of the area of White Carniola, ...
,
* East: ,
Pince–Marof,
Municipality of Lendava
The Municipality of Lendava (; sl, Občina Lendava; hu, Lendva község) is a municipality in the traditional region of Prekmurje in northeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Lendava. Lendava became a municipality in 19 ...
,
* West: ,
Robidišče,
Municipality of Kobarid
The Municipality of Kobarid (; sl, Občina Kobarid) is a municipality in the Upper Soča Valley in western Slovenia, near the Italian border. The seat of the municipality is the town of Kobarid.
The municipality was established on 3 October 1994 ...
.
The maximum north–south distance is 1°28' or .
The maximum east–west distance is 3°13' or .
The
geometric centre of Slovenia (GEOSS) is located at .
Since 2016, the geodetic system of Slovenia with the elevation benchmark of 0 m has its origin at the
Koper tide gauge station. Until then, it referred to the Sartorio mole in Trieste (see
metres above the Adriatic
Metres above the Adriatic ( it, Metri sopra l'Adriatico, german: Meter über Adria, Serbo-Croatian: ''Metara iznad Jadrana'') is the vertical datum used in Austria, in the former Yugoslavian states of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia, ...
).
Area
* Total: 20,273 km
2
* Land: 20,151 km
2
* Water: 122 km
2
* Comparison: slightly smaller than
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
Borders
* Land boundaries
** Total: 1,086 km
** Border countries:
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
330 km,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
670 km,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
280 km,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
102 km
* Coastline: 46.6 m (~ 47 km)
* Maritime claims:
The entire Slovenian coastline is located on the
Gulf of Trieste
The Gulf of Trieste ( it, Golfo di Trieste, sl, Tržaški zaliv, hr, Tršćanski zaljev, german: Golf von Triest) is a very shallow bay of the Adriatic Sea, in the extreme northern part of the Adriatic Sea. It is part of the Gulf of Venice an ...
. Towns along the coastline include:
*
Koper
*
Izola
Izola (; it, Isola ) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. It is the seat of the Municipality of Izola. Its name originates from Italian ''Isola'', which means 'island'.
History
An ancient Roman ...
*
Portorož
Portorož (; it, Portorose) is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa town located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In ...
*
Piran
Piran (; it, Pirano ) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The town is known for its medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses. P ...
Regions
Historical regions
The traditional Slovenian
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
s, based on the former division of Slovenia into the four
Habsburg crown lands (
Carniola,
Carinthia,
Styria, and the
Littoral
The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal a ...
) and their parts, are:
*
Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...
(''Gorenjska'') (denoted on the map by U.C.)
*
Styria (''Štajerska'') (S)
*
Prekmurje
Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur R ...
(P)
*
Carinthia (''Koroška'') (C)
*
Inner Carniola
Inner Carniola ( sl, Notranjska; german: Innerkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the ...
(''Notranjska'') (I.C.)
*
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region.
Geography
Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the n ...
(''Dolenjska'') (L.C.)
*
Gorizia
Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...
(''Goriška'') (G)
*
Slovenian Istria
Slovene Istria ( sl, slovenska Istra, it, Istria slovena) is a region in southwest Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula, and it is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovene Littoral. Its l ...
(''Slovenska Istra'') (L)
The last two are usually considered together as the
Littoral Region (''Primorska'').
White Carniola
White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alt ...
(''Bela krajina''), otherwise part of Lower Carniola, is usually considered a separate region, as is the Central Sava Valley (''Zasavje''), which is otherwise a part of Upper and Lower Carniola and Styria.
Slovenian Littoral has no natural island, but there is a plan on building an artificial one.
Climate
![Koppen-Geiger Map SVN present](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Koppen-Geiger_Map_SVN_present.svg)
Humid subtropical climate (Cfa) on the coast, oceanic climate (Cfb) in most of Slovenia, continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters (Dfb) in the plateaus and mountains on the north, subpolar (Dfc) and tundra (ET) climate above the treeline on the highest mountain peaks. Precipitation is high away from the coast, with the spring being particularly prone to rainfall. Slovenia's Alps have frequent snowfalls during the winter.
Terrain
A short coastal strip on the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
, an alpine mountain region adjacent to Italy and Austria, mixed mountain and valleys with numerous rivers to the east.
There is only one natural island in Slovenia: Bled Island in
Lake Bled in the country's northwest. Lake Bled and Bled Island are Slovenia's most popular tourist destination.
Elevation extremes
* Lowest point:
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
0 m (tide gauge station in
Koper)
* Highest point:
Triglav
Natural resources
Lignite
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
,
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, building stone,
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...
, forests
Land use
* Arable land: 8.53%
* Permanent crops: 1.43%
* Other: 90.04% (2005)
* Irrigated land: 100 km
2 (2003)
* Natural hazards: minor
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
ing and
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
s
Environment
Current issues
The
Sava River polluted with domestic and industrial waste; pollution of coastal waters with
heavy metals and toxic chemicals; forest damage near
Koper from air pollution (originating at metallurgical and chemical plants) and resulting
acid rain.
International agreements
* Party to:
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
,
Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
,
Climate Change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes
Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous waste is a type of dangerous goods. They usually have one or more of the following hazardous traits: ignitability, reactivity, cor ...
,
Law of the Sea,
Marine Dumping,
Nuclear Test Ban
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nation ...
,
Ozone Layer Protection
The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and entered into force o ...
, Ship Pollution (
MARPOL 73/78
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. MARPOL 73/78, MARPOL is an amalg ...
),
Wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
s,
Whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
* Signed, but not ratified:
See also
*
List of mountains in Slovenia
Mountains of Slovenia are part of the Alps and of the Dinarides.
Alps
The Alps in Slovenia can be divided into:
*Julian Alps ( sl, Julijske Alpe) in the northwestern part of Slovenia. The highest peak is Mount Triglav - 2,864 metres (9,396 feet ...
*
Online map services of Slovenia
*
Protected areas of Slovenia
*
Slovene Riviera (''Slovenska obala'')
References
External links
– Geodesic Institute of Slovenia – Detailed Topographic and Orthophoto maps of Slovenia
{{Europe topic, Climate of