Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lifestyle
The population of Slovenia is divided almost exactly in half between those who live in
towns and cities and those who live in the country. But in Slovenia, where most urban
dwellers still have some connection with the countryside - be it a village house or a
zidan-
ica,
a cottage in one of the wine-growing regions - the division is not all that great. And
with the arrival of large malls on the outskirts of the biggest cities and a Mercator super-
market in virtually every village, the city has come to the countryside.
Most Slovenes believe that the essence of their national character lies in nature's
bounty. For them a life that is not in some way connected to the countryside is inconceiv-
able. At weekends many seek the great outdoors for some walking in the hills or cross-
country skiing. Or at least a spot of gardening, which is a favourite pastime.
It's not hard to reach deep countryside here.
Forest, some of it virgin, and woodland covers
58% of the country, the third-most forested
country in the EU after Finland and Sweden.
And the figure jumps to 66% if you include
land reverting to natural vegetation and agri-
cultural plots that have not been used for more
than two decades. Land under agricultural use
is rapidly diminishing and now accounts for
The French novelist Charles Nodier (1780-1844),
who lived and worked in Ljubljana from 1811 to
1813 during the period of the so-called Illyrian
Provinces, described Slovenia as 'an Academy of
Arts and Sciences' because of the people's flair for
speaking foreign languages.
just over a quarter of the total.
With farmhouse stays a popular form of accommodation in Slovenia, it's relatively easy
to take a peek inside a local home. What you'll see generally won't differ too much from
what you'd see elsewhere in Central and Western Europe, though you may be surprised at
the dearth of children. Slovenes don't have many kids - the nation has one of Europe's
lowest rates of natural population increase and women usually give birth on the late side
(the average age is over 28). Most families tend to have just one child and if they have a
second one it's usually almost a decade later. And the names of those kids? Overwhelm-
ingly Franc and Janez for boys and Marija and Ana for girls.
Population & Multiculturalism
According to the most recent national field census figures, just over 83% of Slovenia's
two million people claim to be ethnic Slovene, descendants of the South Slavs who settled
in what is now Slovenia from the 6th century AD.
'Others' and 'unknown ethnic origin', accounting for almost 17% of the population, in-
clude (in descending order) ethnic Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians, those who identify
