The Republic of Slovenia - the Newest Country to Adopt the Euro Currency

Slovenia is a small country located in southeastern Europe with a mere population of approximately two million people, with approximately 250,000 of those people living in the capital and largest city of Ljubljana. The country is officially known as the Republic of Slovenia, and has been referred to as such since declaring its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Though the Slovene people initiated the independence movement in early 1991, the Republic of Slovenia was not officially recognized by the international community as being independent until 1992. Slovenia is located in a geographic area that is known for conflict, and before it was annexed into the Yugoslavian kingdom in 1946, it had been part of the Austrian empire in the early 19^th century, and later was possessed by the coalition kingdom composed of the Croats, Slovenes, and Serbs. The region in recent years, has also been scarred by conflict, as there have been tensions among ethnic tribes in neighboring nations. Slovenia is bordered by Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Italy, and also has a small portion of coastline that runs along the Adriatic Sea and is known for its resort communities.

Though the Republic of Slovenia is a small nation in both population and area with approximately 7,817 miles, contains a wide array of geographic terrain. Slovenia is situated in the Julian Alps, a mountain range renowned for its Alpine skiing and resorts, the Karst plateau, as well as numerous forested areas that are dispersed throughout the country. The region around Slovenia is divided in such a way that ethnic groups are sectored off, and following the fall of the Yugoslavian Republic, ethnic tribes were given different territory to inhabit. As such, the country of Slovenia is largely composed of ethnic Slovenes, though there are some smaller minority communities of Italians and Hungarians. Following Slovenia's secession from the Yugoslavian Republic, the nation's borders were attacked by Yugoslavian troops who attempted to regain control over the country, though were ultimately unsuccessful.

Surprisingly, the Slovenia economy has been quite successful following its secession from Yugoslavia, and now boasts a GDP per-capita on par with other developed European nations, at approximately $23,843 per person. Such a statistic, makes Slovenia rank 31^st in the highest global GDP per-capita, with the 68^th largest economy in the world. As such, most Slovenes enjoy a comfortable standard of living similar to other developed nations. The Slovenian economy attributes much of its success towards the country's wide-array of sound industries, including: tourism, iron, steel, aluminum, tools, automobiles, chemicals, and textiles, as well as the mining of mineral resources, particularly oil and coal. Slovenia's stable and developed economy, accompanied with their general lack of government corruption, has allowed them to be accepted into the coveted European Union. Slovenia has been a member of the European Union since 2004, and recently, at the beginning of 2007, has adopted the euro-currency as its national currency.

The national government of Slovenia is much aligned with their ideals and economy, and is a parliamentary democratic republic. The administration consists of a president, prime minister, cabinet members and advisors, and two legislative bodies: the 130 member Slovenian Assembly and the 40 member State Council. The current president of Slovenia is President Janez Drnovsek since 2002, while the current Prime Minister of Slovenia is Janez Jansa, who was appointed in November of 2004.