Serbs ( sl, Srbi v Sloveniji, sr, Срби у Словенији, Srbi u Sloveniji) are, by large, first or second generation immigrants from other republics of
former Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
. In the 2002 census, 38,964 people of
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 ...
declared
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
ethnicity, corresponding to 2% of the total population, making them the largest ethnic minority in the country.
History
The vast majority of the Serbs in Slovenia are first or second generation settlers from other republics of
former Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
, mostly from
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, but also from
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 ...
and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
employed in the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...
were stationed in the
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...
with their families. In the period of 1971-1981, many ethnic Serbs migrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina to pursue better careers and economic opportunities in Slovenia. Before 1991, many Serbs in Slovenia registered as
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( Bosnian and Croatian: ''Jugoslaveni'', Serbian and Macedonian ''Jugosloveni''/Југословени; sl, Jugoslovani) is an identity that was originally designed to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has ...
, and many still prefer referring to their mother language as
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
, rather than Serbian.
There also exists an indigenous community of Serbs in
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, alth ...
from 16th century (see
Serbs of White Carniola
Apart from the immigrant community that makes up the vast majority of Serbs in Slovenia, there are a few villages in the southern region of White Carniola inhabited by descendants of Serbs (Uskoks) that fled from the Ottoman Empire in the 16th cent ...
).
In 2013, the combined community association of Serbs in Slovenia requested that Serbs be given the status of national minority.
Demographics
Most of Serbs in Slovenia are concentrated in larger urban areas, especially in
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 ar ...
and
Jesenice
Jesenice (, german: Aßling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is a Slovenian town and the seat of the Municipality of Jesenice on the ...
. The table shows the year and number and percentage of Serbs in Slovenia after World War II, according to the official censuses.
It also has to be noted that in the last census in 2002, more than 10% of all Slovenian population decided not to answer the question regarding their ethnic affiliation. All these elements make the estimate of the overall number of Serbs in Slovenia difficult.
Culture
Yugonostalgia is strong among the older generation. The urban former Yugoslav immigrant community in Slovenia have developed a "Balkan culture" in the 1990s.
The
Leskovac
Leskovac (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in Southern Serbia (Geographical Region), southern Serbia. According to the 202 ...
-styled grilled meat, including ''
ćevapčići'', have today become part of everyday-diet in Slovenia.
Language
Most Serbs in Slovenia use Slovene as their language of communication, since only 4,300 people in Slovenia declared that they use only Serbian language at home, while about 15,000 declared they use both languages at home. However more than 31,000 people declared their mother tongue as Serbian (and another 36,000 as Serbo-Croatian).
A mixed Slovenian–Serbian slang, ''srboslovenščina'', became an "unofficial" language in football and construction building, among other traditional domains of post-war immigrants from former Yugoslavia.
Religion
Serbs in Slovenia are predominantly Eastern Orthodox by faith, adhering to the
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches.
The majori ...
.
Notable people
*
Ilija Arnautović
Ilija Arnautović (7 July 192423 January 2009) was a Serbian and Yugoslav architect, known for many projects from the 1960s to 1980s in Serbia and Slovenia. He was born in Niš, Kingdom of Yugoslavia and died in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Arnautovi ...
, architect
*
Katarina Branković
Katarina Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Катарина Бранковић, gr, Καταρίνα Μπράνκοβιτς; 1418/19–1492), also known as Kantakuzina (, ''Kantakouzena'') was the Countess of Celje, through the marriage with Count of Celje U ...
,
Countess of Celje
*
Jovan Hadži
Jovan Hadži (; 22 November 1884 – 11 December 1972) was a Slovenian zoologist of Serbian origin.
Biography
Hadži was born in a Serbian family in Temišvar (today Timișoara, Romania) in what was then Austria-Hungary. He began his career in Za ...
, zoologist
*
Spomenka Hribar
Spomenka Hribar (born 25 January 1941) is a Slovenian author, philosopher, sociologist, politician, columnist, and public intellectual. She was one of the most influential Slovenian intellectuals in the 1980s, and was frequently called "the Firs ...
, sociologist, politician and public intellectual (Serbian father)
*
Zoran Janković, manager and politician, mayor of
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 ar ...
, Serbian-born, Serbian father
*
Dušan Jovanović, theatre director
*
Irena Kazazić
Irena Kazazić (born 1972) is a Serb-Slovenian visual artist, based in and mainly operating from Ljubljana, with many of her works being presented abroad at international events in Croatia, Italy, United States and Austria. In 2017 she founded h ...
, painter and writer
*
Petar Matić, businessman
*
Robert Pešut, a.k.a. "Magnifico", musician and actor (Serbian father)
*
Radko Polič
Radko Polič (18 August 1942 – 15 September 2022) was a Slovenian theatre, television and film actor.
Biography
Born in Črnomelj, Polič's family moved to Belgrade in 1945 and then to West Berlin in 1949 before returning to Slovenia and set ...
, actor
*
Božidar Rašica
Božidar Rašica (28 December 1912 – 13 September 1992) was an architect, scenographer and painter.
Career
Rašica was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to Serbian people, Serbian parents. He studied in Rome, Belgrade, Warsaw and finally Zagreb, ...
, architect, scenographer and painter
*
Simona Škrabec
Simona Škrabec (Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1968) is a Slovene literary critic, essayist and translator who lives and works in Barcelona. She spent her childhood in the small town of Ribnica in the region of Lower Carniola. She has lived in Barcelona ...
, Slovenian-Catalan author and translator (Serbian father)
;Sportspeople
*
Milenko Ačimovič
Milenko "Mile" Ačimovič (; ; born 15 February 1977) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Besides Slovenia, he has played in FR Yugoslavia, England, France, Saudi Arabia, and Austria.
Club career
Born to S ...
, football player, Serbian parents
*
Siniša Anđelković, football player, Serbian parents
*
Dragan Gajić
Dragan Gajić (born 21 July 1984) is a Slovenian handball player who plays for Limoges Hand 87.
Individual awards
* EHF Cup Top Scorer: 2013–14 EHF Cup, 2014 (72 goals)
* World Men's Handball Championship Top Scorer: World Men's Handball Cham ...
, handball player
*
Mladen Dabanovič, football player, Serbian parent
*
Luka Dončić
Luka Dončić ( ; ; born February 28, 1999) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Slovenian national team.
Born in Ljubljana, Dončić shone ...
, basketball player, father of Serbian origin
*
Saša Dončić
Saša Dončić (Anglicized: Sasha Doncic; born June 14, 1974) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player.
He last served as head coach of Ilirija in the Slovenian League. He is the father of Luka Dončić.
As a player, Don ...
, basketball coach and former player
*
Jan Oblak
Jan Oblak (born 7 January 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and captains the Slovenia national team. He is frequently ranked as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Ob ...
, football player (Serbian mother)
*
Sara Isakovič, swimmer (Serbian father)
*
Goran Janus
Goran Janus (born 27 March 1970) is a Yugoslavian and later Slovenian former ski jumper. Since 2011 he was the head coach of the Slovenian national ski jumping team. He was replaced in January 2019 by Gorazd Bertoncelj. He is of Serbian descent ...
, ski jumper and ski jumping coach
*
Darko Karapetrovič, football player
*
Marko Milič, basketball player, Serbian father
*
Rasho Nesterovič, basketball player
*
Aleksej Nikolić
Aleksej Nikolić (born February 21, 1995) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for Germani Brescia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He is a 1.91 m tall point guard.
Professional career
In November 2011 he joined OKK Spars, an ...
, basketball player
*
Mitja Nikolić, basketball player
*
Milivoje Novakovič Milivoje ( sr, Миливоје) is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Milivoje Blaznavac (1824–1873), Serbian soldier and politician
*Milivoje Božović (born 1985), Serbian professional basketball player
* Milivoje M ...
, football player
*
Teja Oblak
Teja Oblak (born December 20, 1990) is a professional Slovenian basketball player for ZVVZ USK Praha and the Slovenian national team. She began her basketball career in her hometown Škofja Loka, playing eight years for her local team Odeja Škof ...
, basketball player (Serbian mother)
*
Damir Pekič
Damir Pekič (born 15 January 1979) is a former Slovenian association football, football player who played as a Forward (association football), forward
Club career
Pekič started his senior career in NK Maribor, Maribor. Before he was given a r ...
, football player
*
Danilo Popivoda
Danilo Popivoda ( sr-cyr, Данило Попивода; 1 May 1947 – 9 September 2021) was a football player and manager.
On the international level he played for the Yugoslavia national team (20 matches and five goals) and was a participa ...
, football player
*
Miroslav Radulovič, football player
*
Aleksandar Rodić
Aleksandar Rodić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Родић, ; born 26 December 1979) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays for Itala San Marco.
Career
At the beginning of his career Rodić played in Serbia. He made 3 appearances f ...
, football player, Serbian parents
*
Marija Šestak
Marija Šestak ( sr-cyrl, Марија Шестак; born ''Martinović'', Мартиновић) is a Serbian-born Slovenian triple jumper.
Marija Martinović was born on 17 April 1979 in Kragujevac (at the time SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia). She ...
, athlete
*
Dalibor Stevanovič, football player
*
Petar Stojanović, football player
*
Slaviša Stojanovič
Slaviša Stojanović (born 6 December 1969) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player. As manager, Stojanović has won the Slovenian PrvaLiga twice, with Domžale, and the Serbian SuperLiga once, with Red Star Belgrade.
Mana ...
, former football player and manager, Serbian-born
*
Dejan Vinčić
Dejan Vinčić (born 15 September 1986) is a Slovenian volleyball player who plays for German club VfB Friedrichshafen and the Slovenia national team. With Slovenia, he was the runner-up of the European Volleyball Championship three times, in 2 ...
, volleyball player
*
Sasha Vujačić
Aleksander "Sasha" Vujačić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Вујачић; sl, Aleksander Saša Vujačič; often rendered in English as without diacritics; born March 8, 1984) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He ...
, basketball player, Serbian father
*
Marko Vukićević
Marko Vukićević ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Вукићевић, ; born 27 October 1992 in Ljubljana, Slovenia) is an alpine skier competing for Serbia. He competed for Serbia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the alpine skiing events. He originally re ...
, alpine skier
*
Zlatko Zahović, former football player (Bosnian descent)
See also
*
Serbia–Slovenia relations
Serbia–Slovenia relations Before 1991, both countries were part of Yugoslavia. Slovenia gained its independence after the Ten-Day War. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 December 2000. Serbia has an embassy in Ljubljana. Slove ...
*
Serb community of White Carniola
*
Serbs in Croatia
The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...
*
Serbs in Italy
Serbs in Italy ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Срби у Италији, Srbi u Italiji; it, Serbi in Italia) or Italian Serbs ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Италијански Срби, Italijanski Srbi) are a community numbering 46,958.
History
According to Graziadio ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbs In Slovenia
Serbian Orthodox Church in Slovenia
Ethnic groups in Slovenia
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...