Southern Europe · SVN

Slovenia

The story · 10 chapters

How it was drawn

Pile dwellers, Roman towns and the Slavic principality of Carantania, then a thousand years divided among Habsburg provinces, Italian and German occupation, Yugoslavia, and independence in 1991.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Slovenia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Avar Khaganate568 to 796
The Avars dominated the Slavs who settled the eastern Alps. Around 745 Carantania called in Bavarian help against them, at the cost of its independence, and Charlemagne's campaigns of the 790s destroyed the Avar khaganate.
Bavarians and Franks745 to 828
After 745 Bavarian and then Frankish lords ruled Carantania, sending missionaries from Salzburg and Aquileia. Native princes were replaced by Frankish counts around 828, and German nobles came to own much of the land.
Magyars899 to 955
Hungarian horsemen raided through the Slovene lands into Italy from 899. After their defeat at Lechfeld in 955, the Empire organised the region into marches such as Carniola, while Prekmurje in the east stayed Hungarian until 1919.
Ottoman Empire1408 to 1593
Ottoman raiders struck the Slovene lands repeatedly from 1408, burning villages and seizing captives. The threat faded after a Habsburg army with many Carniolan troops defeated the Ottomans at Sisak in 1593.
Republic of Venice1420 to 1617
Venice ruled the Istrian coast with Koper and Piran, and in 1420 took Friuli from the Patriarch of Aquileia. Its rivalry with the Habsburgs over the hinterland led to wars, the last the War of Gradisca of 1615 to 1617.
First French Empire1797 to 1813
French armies crossed the Slovene lands in 1797, 1805 and 1809. After defeating Austria in 1809, Napoleon took Carniola and the coast into his Illyrian Provinces, held until Austria reconquered them in 1813.
Kingdom of Italy1915 to 1947
Italy fought Austria-Hungary on the Soca from 1915, then annexed the Littoral in 1920, where the fascist regime suppressed Slovene schools and names. Italy annexed the Ljubljana province in 1941; most of the Littoral passed to Yugoslavia in 1947.
Republic of Austria1918 to 1920
After the empire's fall, Slovenes and German Austrians fought for Styria and Carinthia. General Rudolf Maister secured Maribor in November 1918, but the Carinthian plebiscite of October 1920 left Klagenfurt and southern Carinthia in Austria.
Nazi Germany1941 to 1945
Germany annexed northern Slovenia, including Maribor and Gorenjska, in 1941 and deported many Slovenes to make room for German settlers. The Liberation Front and the Partisans resisted until May 1945.
Yugoslav People's Army1991
When Slovenia declared independence on 25 June 1991, the Yugoslav army moved to seize border posts. Slovene forces resisted in the Ten-Day War, and under the Brioni Agreement the army withdrew completely by October 1991.
Republic of CroatiaSince 1991Still open
Slovenia and Croatia have disputed their sea and land border, above all the Bay of Piran, since 1991. An arbitration tribunal awarded most of the bay to Slovenia in 2017, but Croatia rejects the ruling.

Today

Slovenia now

The Slovene lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the latter's dissolution at the end of World War I. In 1918, Slovenia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, Slovenia joined Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia as one of the constituent republics in the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

Capital: Ljubljana
Government: parliamentary republic
Head of government: Janez Janša
Head of state: Nataša Pirc Musar
Languages: Slovene
Area: 20,480 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population2.1 million2023 · 1.4 million in 1950
Life expectancy81.6 years2023 · 61.8 years in 1950
GDP per person$32,6732022
Living in cities56%2025 · 20% in 1950
Literacy100%1991
Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending1.5% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

Croatia
Czechia
Austria
United States
France

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Slovenia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Avar Khaganate568 to 796

The Avars dominated the Slavs who settled the eastern Alps. Around 745 Carantania called in Bavarian help against them, at the cost of its independence, and Charlemagne's campaigns of the 790s destroyed the Avar khaganate.

Bavarians and Franks745 to 828

After 745 Bavarian and then Frankish lords ruled Carantania, sending missionaries from Salzburg and Aquileia. Native princes were replaced by Frankish counts around 828, and German nobles came to own much of the land.

Magyars899 to 955

Hungarian horsemen raided through the Slovene lands into Italy from 899. After their defeat at Lechfeld in 955, the Empire organised the region into marches such as Carniola, while Prekmurje in the east stayed Hungarian until 1919.

Ottoman Empire1408 to 1593

Ottoman raiders struck the Slovene lands repeatedly from 1408, burning villages and seizing captives. The threat faded after a Habsburg army with many Carniolan troops defeated the Ottomans at Sisak in 1593.

Republic of Venice1420 to 1617

Venice ruled the Istrian coast with Koper and Piran, and in 1420 took Friuli from the Patriarch of Aquileia. Its rivalry with the Habsburgs over the hinterland led to wars, the last the War of Gradisca of 1615 to 1617.

First French Empire1797 to 1813

French armies crossed the Slovene lands in 1797, 1805 and 1809. After defeating Austria in 1809, Napoleon took Carniola and the coast into his Illyrian Provinces, held until Austria reconquered them in 1813.

Kingdom of Italy1915 to 1947

Italy fought Austria-Hungary on the Soca from 1915, then annexed the Littoral in 1920, where the fascist regime suppressed Slovene schools and names. Italy annexed the Ljubljana province in 1941; most of the Littoral passed to Yugoslavia in 1947.

Republic of Austria1918 to 1920

After the empire's fall, Slovenes and German Austrians fought for Styria and Carinthia. General Rudolf Maister secured Maribor in November 1918, but the Carinthian plebiscite of October 1920 left Klagenfurt and southern Carinthia in Austria.

Nazi Germany1941 to 1945

Germany annexed northern Slovenia, including Maribor and Gorenjska, in 1941 and deported many Slovenes to make room for German settlers. The Liberation Front and the Partisans resisted until May 1945.

Yugoslav People's Army1991

When Slovenia declared independence on 25 June 1991, the Yugoslav army moved to seize border posts. Slovene forces resisted in the Ten-Day War, and under the Brioni Agreement the army withdrew completely by October 1991.

Republic of CroatiaSince 1991Still open

Slovenia and Croatia have disputed their sea and land border, above all the Bay of Piran, since 1991. An arbitration tribunal awarded most of the bay to Slovenia in 2017, but Croatia rejects the ruling.

Slovenia now

Capital

Ljubljana

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of government

Janez Janša

Head of state

Nataša Pirc Musar

Languages

Slovene

Area

20,480 km²

Then and now

Population2.1 million2023 · 1.4 million in 1950

Life expectancy81.6 years2023 · 61.8 years in 1950

GDP per person$32,6732022

Living in cities56%2025 · 20% in 1950

Literacy100%1991

Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending1.5% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025