Slovenia [antikvár]

Introduction It's a tiny place - there's no disputing that fact - with a surface area of just over 20,000 sq km and less than two million people. But 'good things come in small packages', and never was that old chestnut more appropriate than in describing Slovenia (Slovenija), an independent republic bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Slovenia has been dubbed a lot of different things by its promoters - 'Europe in Miniature', 'The Sunny Side of the Alps', 'The Green Piece of Europe' - and they're all true. Slovenia has everything, from beaches, snowcapped mountains, hills awash in grape vines and wide plains blanketed in sunflowers to Gothic churches, baroque palaces and Art Nouveau civic buildings. Its incredible mixture of climates brings warm Mediterranean breezes up to the foothills of the Alps, where it can snow in summer. And with more than half of its total area covered in forest, Slovenia really is one of the 'greenest' countries in the world. But there are several important things to know about Slovenia, points that are often misunderstood or overlooked. First, this is Slovenia not Slovakia. The latter declared itself independent from its erstwhile sibling, the Czech Republic, in January 1993 and has stagnated ever since under the strong-arm government of a former boxer. Second, Slovenia is not part of the Balkans - geographically (the Kolpa River is the border), historically or psychologically -and no more resembles ?le nations of that traditionally volatile region than do Austria, Hungary or Italy. Throughout their history, the Slovenian people have had very close cultural and economic ties with Europe and have been influenced much more from the west than the east or south. This may seem odd when you take a close look at a map of the country. If you imagine the city of Murska Sobota to be an 'eye', the JuUan Alps and the north-west to be a clump of 'tail Pv ;; I, ) I it ¦ .1 I. : ¦