Slovenia was the richest sub-republic in Yugoslavia, and clearly has the transition from communism to democracy and capitalism well. Today, the country has the highest standard of living in Eastern and Central Europe.
Key figures and facts
- Capital: Ljubljana
- Ethnic groups: Slovenes 83.1%, Serbs 2%, Croats 1.8%, Bosnian 1.1%, second or unspecified 12% (2002)
- Language: Slovenian (official) 91.1%, Serbo-Croatian 4.5%, other or unspecified 4.4%, Italian and Hungarian are official languages in some municipalities where Italians and Hungarians live (2002)
- Religion: Catholics 57.8%, Muslims 2.4%, Orthodox Christians 2.3%, other Christians 0.9%, no affiliation 3.5%, other or unspecified 23%, none 10.1% (2002)
- Population: 2 081 260 (2018)
- Control Form: Republic
- Area: 20 270 km2
- Currency: euro
- GNP per capita: 32 723 PPP $
- National Day: June 25th
Population of Slovenia
The population of Slovenia is 2,102,678 (2020). The number of inhabitants increased by 0.01 per cent from 2019 to 2020. Life expectancy at birth is 84.4 for women and 78.5 for men (2020). The birth and death rates are 8.7 and 10.3 per 1000 inhabitants respectively. The birth rate is 1.59 children per woman (2020).
The largest city is the capital Ljubljana with 292 988 inhabitants. With suburbs, the population is 537,712 (2019). Maribor is the country’s second largest city with 94 642 inhabitants (2018).
Composition of the population
The population is more uniform than in any of the other republics of former Yugoslavia: 83.1 percent are Slovenes, 2.0 percent are Serbs, 1.8 percent are Croats and 1.1 percent are Bosnians. Otherwise there are minorities of Italians and Hungarians.
Religion
57.8 percent of the population are Roman Catholic Christians, 2.4 percent are Muslims, 2.2 percent are Orthodox Christians, and 0.9 percent are Protestants.
Language
The official language is Slovenian, which is the mother tongue of 91.1 percent of the population. 4.5 percent of the population uses Croatian. Other linguistic minorities are Italian and Hungarian speakers.