Geography of Slovenia

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Slovenia is situated at the crossroads of central and southeast Europe, touching the Alps and bordering the Adriatic Sea. The Alps—including the Julian Alps, the Kamnik–Savinja Alps and the Karawank chain, as well as the Pohorje massif—dominate northern Slovenia along its long border to Austria. Slovenia's Adriatic coastline stretches approximately 47 km (29 mi) from Italy to Croatia. Its part south of Sava river belongs to Balkan peninsula – Balkans.

The term karst originated in southwestern Slovenia's Karst Plateau (Slovene: Kras), a limestone region of underground rivers, gorges, and caves, between Ljubljana and the Mediterranean.

On the Pannonian plain to the east and northeast, toward the Croatian and Hungarian borders, the landscape is essentially flat. However, the majority of Slovenian terrain is hilly or mountainous, with around 90% of the surface 200 meters or more above sea level.

Slovenia's location is where southeastern and Central Europe meet, where the Eastern Alps border the Adriatic Sea between Austria and Croatia. The 15th meridian east almost corresponds to the middle line of the country in the direction west–east.^[1]

Extreme geographical points of Slovenia:

• North: 46°52′36″N 16°13′59″E / 46.87667°N 16.23306°E / 46.87667; 16.23306, Budinci, Šalovci,
• South: 45°25′19″N 15°10′0″E / 45.42194°N 15.16667°E / 45.42194; 15.16667, Kot pri Damlju, Municipality of Črnomelj,
• East: 46°28′11″N 16°36′38″E / 46.46972°N 16.61056°E / 46.46972; 16.61056, Pince–Marof, Municipality of Lendava,
• West: 46°17′53″N 13°22′32″E / 46.29806°N 13.37556°E / 46.29806; 13.37556, Robidišče, Municipality of Kobarid.

The maximum north–south distance is 1°28' or 163 km (101 mi).
The maximum east–west distance is 3°13' or 248 km (154 mi).

The geometric centre of Slovenia (GEOSS) is located at 46°07′11.8″N 14°48′55.2″E / 46.119944°N 14.815333°E / 46.119944; 14.815333.

Since 2016, the geodetic system of Slovenia with the elevation benchmark of 0 m has its origin at the Koper tide gauge station. Until then, it referred to the Sartorio mole in Trieste (see metres above the Adriatic).^[2]

• Total: 20,271 km^2[3]
• Land: 20,149 km²
• Water: 122 km²
• Comparison: slightly smaller than New Jersey

• Land boundaries
  • Total: 1,086 km
  • Border countries: Croatia 670 km, Austria 330 km, Italy 280 km, Hungary 102 km
• Coastline: 47 km
• Maritime claims:

The entire Slovenian coastline is located on the Gulf of Trieste. Towns along the coastline include:

• Koper
• Izola
• Portorož
• Piran

The traditional Slovenian regions, based on the former division of Slovenia into the four Habsburg crown lands (Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, and the Littoral) and their parts, are:

• Upper Carniola (Gorenjska) (denoted on the map by U.C.)
• Styria (Štajerska) (S)
• Prekmurje (P)
• Carinthia (Koroška) (C)
• Inner Carniola (Notranjska) (I.C.)
• Lower Carniola (Dolenjska) (L.C.)
• Gorizia (Goriška) (G)
• Slovenian Istria (Slovenska Istra) (L)

The last two are usually considered together as the Littoral Region (Primorska). White Carniola (Bela krajina), otherwise part of Lower Carniola, is usually considered a separate region, as is the Central Sava Valley (Zasavje), which is otherwise a part of Upper and Lower Carniola and Styria.

Slovenian Littoral has no natural island, but there is a plan on building an artificial one.

Humid subtropical climate (Cfa) on the coast, oceanic climate (Cfb) in most of Slovenia, continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters (Dfb) in the plateaus and mountains on the north, subpolar (Dfc) and tundra (ET) climate above the treeline on the highest mountain peaks. Precipitation is high away from the coast, with the spring being particularly prone to rainfall. Slovenia's Alps have frequent snowfalls during the winter.^[4][5]

The northern part of the country is mountainous and consists of the Julian Alps, Karawanks, Kamnik–Savinja Alps and the Pohorje massif.

Further east lies the Pannonian plain, which dominates the region of Prekmurje.

Central Slovenia is largely hilly and forested, with the exception of the Ljubljana Basin and the encompassed Ljubljana Marsh, a large wetlands region which was largely drained in the time of the Habsburg monarchy, but still remains a flood zone.

To the southeast of the Ljubljana Basin lies the Karst plateau, a hilly region containing various caves, sinkholes, intermittent lakes and other features of Karst topography.

Southern Slovenia is home to the Javornik Hills, the beginning of the Dinaric Alps. In the southeast is a short coastal strip on the Adriatic Sea.

There is only one natural island in Slovenia: Bled Island in Lake Bled in the country's northwest. Lake Bled and Bled Island are Slovenia's most popular tourist destination.^[10]

• Lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m (tide gauge station in Koper)^[2]
• Highest point: Triglav 2,864 m (9,396 ft), located in the Julian Alps

More than half of Slovenia, which is 11,823 km² or 4,565 sq mi, is forested;^[11] ranking it third in Europe, by percentage of area forested, after Finland and Sweden. The areas are covered mostly by beech, fir-beech and beech-oak forests and have a relatively high production capacity.^[12] Remnants of primeval forests are still to be found, the largest in the Kočevje area. Grassland covers 5,593 km² (2,159 sq mi) and fields and gardens (954 km² or 368 sq mi). There are 363 km² (140 sq mi) of orchards and 216 km² (83 sq mi) of vineyards.

Slovenia's terrain and abundance of rivers makes it ideal for hydropower, which is responsible for around a third of the country's electricity production.

Various building stones, most notably marble and limestone have been quarried in the country for centuries. The Podpeč quarry has been used to extract marble since the Roman times.^[13]

Slovenia is not known for large mining operations, but still has some notable deposits:

Lignite coal is found primarily in the northeastern part of the country. The country has been extracting this resource for power generation, most notably for use in the Šoštanj Power Plant, however it does not produce enough lignite to be self-sufficient and still largely relies on imports.^[14] In 2022, Slovenia produced 2.4 million tonnes of lignite.^[15]

The country has deposits of heavy metals, primarily Mercury, Lead and Zinc. Mercury was historically mined in the town of Idrija, which is one of the rare regions in the world where it appears both in its elemental form and as cinnabar ore. Lead and Zinc were mined in the Mežica mine. Both have since closed and have been converted into tourist attractions.

Uranium was also discovered near Žirovski Vrh in the 1960s and a mine operated for a short time, but falling Uranium prices made the mine close in 1990 after only 8 years of operation.^[16]

• Arable land: 8.53%
• Permanent crops: 1.43%
• Other: 90.04% (2005)
• Irrigated land: 100 km² (2003)
• Natural hazards: minor flooding and earthquakes

The Sava River polluted with domestic and industrial waste; pollution of coastal waters with heavy metals and toxic chemicals; forest damage near Koper from air pollution (originating at metallurgical and chemical plants) and resulting acid rain.

• Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution (MARPOL 73/78), Wetlands, Whaling
• Signed, but not ratified:

• List of mountains in Slovenia
• Online map services of Slovenia
• Protected areas of Slovenia
• Slovene Riviera (Slovenska obala)

• – Geodesic Institute of Slovenia – Detailed Topographic and Orthophoto maps of Slovenia