The area of present-day Slovenia has been settled since the Palaeolithic Age. Tools made of bone that date back to between 100,000 and 60,000 BC have been found in a cave at Mt Olševa, north of Solčava in Štajerska’s Upper Savinja Valley. During the Bronze Age (around 2000 to 900 BC), marsh dwellers farmed and raised cattle in the area south of present-day Ljubljana – the Ljubljansko Barje – and at Lake Cerknica. They lived in round huts set on stilts and traded with other peoples along the so-called Amber Route linking the Balkans with italy and northern Europe. Around 700 BC the Ljubljana Marsh people were overwhelmed by the Illyrian tribes from the south who brought iron tools and weapons. They settled largely in Dolenjska, built hill-top forts and reached their peak between 650 and 550 BC, during what is called the Hallstatt period. Iron helmets, gold jew-ellery andsitulae(embossed pails) with distinctive Hallstatt geometric motifs have been found in tombs near Stična and at Vače near Litija; you’ll see some excellent examples of these findings at both the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana and the Dolenjska Museumin Novo Mesto.In about 400 BC, Celtic tribes from what are now France, Germany and the Czech lands began pushing southward towards the Balkans. They mixed with the local population and established the Noric kingdom, the first ‘state’ on Slovenian soil.

 Slovenes are a sophisticated and well-educated people. They have a reputation for being sober-minded, hard-  working, dependable and honest – a Germanic bent that is the result of 600-plus years in the orbit of the Habsburgs. But they retain something of their Slavic character, even if their spontaneity is a little more planned and their expressions of passion a little more muted ghan that of their Slavic neighbours to the south. Think quietly conservative,
deeply self-confident, broadminded and tolerant.If you really want to understand Slovenes and Sloventsvo (‘Slovene-ness’), there are two Slovenian words that you should know. The first is the adjective priden, variously defined as ‘diligent’, ‘industrious’, ‘hard-working’ and –
tellingly – ‘well-behaved’. Erica Johnson Debeljak   , in her seminal (though as yet unpublished in English) memoir And the Distance Smells of Apples: A Story of Migration claims that priden ‘comes close to defining the essence of the Slovenian soul’. Doing a spot of DIY, neighbour? How priden of you! Expecting that second child? Aren’t we priden!
The second word is the noun hrepenenje  , which expresses a more com-plicated concept. The dictionary says it means ‘longing’ or ‘yearning’ but that’s only half the story. In truth it’s the desire for something seemingly unattainable and the sorrow that accompanies it. ‘Hrepenenje is the exclusive property of the dispossessed,’ writes Johnson  Debeljak, citing ‘the country’s agonising history of border changes, emigration, alienation and powerlessness within a largerunit.’ The medieval tale   Lepa Vida could be seen as the very embodiment of this ‘melancholy yearning’.Luckily, Slovenes are gifted polyglots, and almost everyone speaks some English, German and/or Italian. The fact that you will rarely have difficulty in making yourself understood and will probably never ‘need’ Slovene – aside from those two words! – shouldn’t stop you from learning a few phrases of this rich and wonderful language (which counts a full 34 dialects). Any effort on your part to speak the local tongue ( p299 ) will be rewarded 100-fold.

The  population of Slovenia is divided almost exactly in half, between those who live in towns and cities and those who dwell in the country. But in Slovenia, where most urban folk still have some connection with the country – whether it’s a village house or a zidanica, 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 supermarket in virtually every village in the land, the city has come to the country in Slovenia.Most Slovenes believe that the essence of their national character lies in nature’s plentiful bounty. For them a life that is not in some way connected to the countryside is inconceivable. At weekends many seek the great outdoors
for some walking in the hills or cross-country skiing. Or at least a spot of gardening, a favourite pastime.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 (8.98 per 1000 population, with a population growth of-0.05%) – and women usually give birth on the late side. Most families tend to have just one child and if they have a second it’s usually a decade later.

A largely heterogeneous and highly adaptable economy, and a very hard-working people have always been central to Slovenia’s prosperity. The country’s accession with nine other nations to the EU in 2004 also opened up a vast market for the country’s goods. Slovenia was the first of these 10 nations to be allowed to adopt the euro as its national currency, when its average annual inflation rate had reached 2.5%. Overall unemployment remains a relatively high 10.4%.The picture is not altogether rosy. Much of the economy remains in state hands and foreign direct investment in Slovenia is one of the lowest in the EU on a per-capita basis. Ljubljana is responsible for as much as 25% of the country’s GDP, primarily thanks to industry (pharmaceuticals, petro-chemicals and food-processing), retailing, transport, communications, and financial and other business services. Agriculture accounts for only 6% of all economic activity.

According to the most recent census figures, about 82% of the  population claims to be ethnic   Slovene, descendants of the South Slavs who settled in what is now Slovenia from the 6th century AD.There are 6243 ethnic Hungarians and 3246 Roma (Gypsies), largely in Prekmurje, as well as 2258 Italians in Primorska. ‘Others’ and ‘unknown ethnic origin’, accounting for about 16% of the population, include ethnic Albanians, Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, those who identify themselves simply as ‘Muslims’ and many citizens of former Yugoslav republics who ‘lost’ their nationality after independence for fear that Slovenia would not grant
them citizenship.The Italians and Hungarians are considered indigenous minorities with rights protected under the constitution, and they have special deputies looking after their interests in parliament. Although some members of the other groups have lived and worked in Slovenia for many years, most are relatively recent arrivals – refugees and economic immigrants from the
fighting in the former Yugoslav republics. Their status as noncitizens in Slovenia is extremely controversial, and many Slovenes have very racist feelings about them.
Ethnic Slovenes living outside the national borders number as many as 400,000, with the vast majority (almost 75%) in the USA and Canada. In addition, 50,000 or more Slovenes live in the Italian regions of Gorizia (Gorica), Udine (Videm) and Trieste (Trst), another 15,000 in Austrian Carinthia (Kärnten in German, Koroška in Slovene) and 5000 in southwest
Hungary.

Although  Protestantism gained a very strong foothold in Slovenia in the 16th century, the majority of Slovenes – just under 58% – identified themselves as  Roman Catholic in the most recent (2002) census. The primate of Slovenia is Cardinal France Rode, based in Ljubljana. There are bishoprics at Maribor and Koper and, from 2006, at Celje, Novo Mesto and Murska Sobota. Other religious communities in Slovenia include Muslims (2.4%), Eastern
Orthodox Christians (2.3%) and Protestants (1%). Most Protestants belong to the Evangelical (Lutheran) church based in Murska Sobota in Prekmurje.  Jews have played a very minor role in Slovenia since they were first banished from the territory in the 15th century. In 2003 the Jewish community of Slovenia (www.jewishcommunity.si; population about 100) received a Torah at a newly equipped temporary synagogue in Ljubljana, the first since before WWII.

‘Lower  Carniola’ is a gentle area of rolling hills, vineyards, forests and the Krka River flowing southeastward into Croatia. Those white hilltop churches with their red-tile roofs you’ll see everywhere once protected the people from the marauding Turks and other invaders; the ones on the flat lands are newer – built in the baroque style and painted the mustard colour (‘Maria  Theresa yellow’) so common in Central Europe. There’s something of a dichotomy in the way the rest of Slovenia views Dolenjci, the natives of the charming Dolenjska province. On the one hand they are portrayed in comic sketches and literature as beingunsophisticated, even dull-witted, country bumpkins. On the other hand, many people say that the ‘purest’ Slovene is spoken in Dolenjska – around the village of Rašica, south of the town of Krka, to be precise. The E6 and E7 European Hiking trails pass through Dolenjska, and there are lots of chances to do some kayaking or canoeing on the Krka. The province is also the cycling centre of Slovenia and famous for its thermal spas.Bela Krajina, the ‘White March’ of southeastern Slovenia, is separated from Dolenjska by the scenic Gorjanci mountain range. The province,which takes its name from the countless stands of birch trees dotting the province, is a treasure trove of Slovenian folklore, and, if you’re lucky, you’ll see more traditional dance and hear more music here than anywhere else in the country, particularly around Črnomelj and Adlešiči.

Ptuj, one of the oldest towns in Slovenia, equals Ljubljana in terms of historical importance. Ptuj’s compact medieval core, with its castle, museums, monasteries and churches,can easily be seen in a day. But there are so many interesting side trips and a host of activities in the area that you may decide to base yourself here for a while.

Central Primorska is a land of steep slopes, deep valleys and innumerable ravines with plenty of good hiking, the magical Idrijca River and a couple of interesting towns. The region is dominated by the Cerkno and Idrija Hills, foothills of the Julian Alps that eventually join the Škofja Loka Hills in Gorenjska to the east. It’s an area often overlooked by travellers heading for the sexier Alps, Karst or beaches – and is all the more attractive for that reason.Nowhere else in Slovenia are fields found on such steep slopes and houses in such remote locations as in the regions around Idrija and Cerkno. The ravines and valleys were very useful to the Partisans during WWII, and the region is dotted with monuments testifying to their presence: the Franja hospital near Cerkno, the Slovenija Partisan printing house at Vojsko, 14km northwest of Idrija, and the Pavl hospital, 20km southeast of Idrija.

The head of the ‘chicken’ that is (almost) the shape of Slovenia, Prekmurje is a region apart.
Neither mountainous nor bordering the sea, it consists largely of a broad plain extending for some 25km beyond the Mura River. Winters can be very cold on the Prekmurje plain, and summers extremely hot.Prekmurje is marked by wide fields – it is the country’s largest agricultural region – and rounded hills, floating watermills, hearty cuisine, a somewhat fiery-tempered people and very distinct dialects, which emerged and thrived due to the region’s isolation. But most tourists are attracted to this forgotten corner of Slovenia by its thermal health resorts, especially the ones at Radenci, Moravske Toplice and Banovci.The province’s isolation is rooted in history – until 1924 not a single bridge spanned thesluggish Mura. As a result, Prekmurje retains much of its traditional folklore and distinctive architecture, which you can’t help noticing as you travel around. The province’s farmhouses are very similar to the kerített házak (fenced-in houses) found in Transdanubia across the border in Hungary; given the history of the area, this is not at all surprising. Until the end of WWI most of Prekmurje was ruled by Austria-Hungary, and a sizeable Magyar minority still lives here. In fact, in some ways Prekmurje looks and feels more like Hungary than Slovenia, emphasised by the abundance of white storks ( p270 ), a relatively large Roma (Gypsy) population and the occasional Hungarian-style čarda (inn).

With its emerald-green lake, picture-postcard island church, cliff-topping medieval castle and its mountain backdrop, Bled is Slovenia’s most popular resort and its biggest tourist money-spinner. Not surprisingly, it can be overpriced and swarming with tourists.But as is the case with many popular destinations around the world, people come in droves – and will continue to do so – because the place is special. On a clear day you can make out Mt Stol (2236m) and Slovenia’s highest peak, Mt Triglav (2864m), in the distance – and then the bells start ringing from the belfry of the little island church. You should visit Bled at least once. It’s quite simply magical.

With a dazzling hilltop castle as her crown and the emerald-green Ljubljanica River at her feet,
 Ljubljana is a princess in size (petite). But her pint size conceals a wealth of culture, sights, activities and good old-fashioned fun that would be the envy of a city twice her extent. And best of all, everything is within such easy reach – a mere stroll or cycle away.The princess, whose name almost means ‘beloved’ (ljubljena) in Slovene, is also a working girl. As the country’s political, economic and cultural capital, this is where virtually everything of national importance begins, ends or is taking place. Of course that might not be immediately apparent in spring and summer, when café tables spill into the narrow streets of the Old Town and street musicians and actors entertain passers-by in Prešernov trg and on the little bridges spanning the Ljubljanica River.Ljubljana’s buzzing student community – there are some 56,650 students attending Ljubljana University’s 20 faculties, three art academies and three university colleges – and alternative-lifestyle centre at Metelkova are added bonuses. Admittedly, the city may lack the grandeur or big-ticket attractions of, say, Prague or Budapest, but the great museums and galleries, atmospheric bars and varied, accessible nightlife make it a wonderful, relaxed place to visit and stay awhile – perhaps longer than you had planned.