The Slovenian Language

Slovenian is spoken by over 2 million people worldwide, the vast majority of which live in Slovenia, where it is the official language. A significant number of Slovenian speakers can also be found in Italy and Austria¹.

Slovenian is a close relative of Serbo-Croatian. The two languages began to take on their current unique forms when they split around the 7th Century². Slovenian has great dialectal variation considering its small number of speakers relative to other world languages. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, some Linguists have identified up to 46 different Slovenian dialects³.

Below are some brief but important facts about Slovenia and its people.

• Capital: Ljubljana
• Currency: Tolar (SIT)
• Government Type: Parliamentary democratic republic
• Population: 62,011,473 (July 2004 est.)
• Internet Country Code: .si
• Internet Hosts: 45,491 (2004)
• Internet Users: 750,000 (2002)

For additional demographic information on Slovenia and its people, please see the following link: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/si.html

¹ "SLOVENIAN: a language of Slovenia" Ethnologue.com
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=SLV
[Accessed December 10, 2004]

² "Slovene language" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9068230
[Accessed December 10, 2004]

³ "Slovene language" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9068230
[Accessed December 10, 2004]