Posted
June 25, 2013
When
I was a kid, there was a nation called Yugoslavia on our maps and
globes.
The
Kingdom of Yugoslavia was created out of the old Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats and Slovenes. It existed most of the twentieth century (the
1900s), although it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany and
Mussolini's Italy during World War II. After the Nazi's (and the
other Axis powers) lost the war, Yugoslavia was reinstated as a
Communist nation, under the names the Federal People's Republic of
Yugoslavia and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
But
modern globes and maps have no trace of Yugoslavia. Instead, where
that nation used to be are Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro,
Kosovo, Macedonia, and Slovenia. Seven small countries arising from
just one country that was smaller than the U.S. state of Colorado!
Learn
about Slovenia
Slovenia
(which is a bit smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey) has a bit
of the Alps in the northern part of the country and a bit of
shoreline along the Adriatic Sea. More than half of the country is
forested, making the nation one of the most forested in Europe. Like
Croatia, Slovenia has some of that awesome “Karst topography,”
which means that an ancient bed of limestone has eroded into an area
with underground rivers, gorges, and caves.
One
of my favorite-looking cities in the world is Slovenia's capital,
Ljubljana.
I don't mean I like how the buildings and bridges of the city
look—although they're perfectly wonderful, I'm sure!—but rather
that I love the look of the name! If you want to hear how this city
name is pronounced, listen to this.
 |
| Alpine ibex |
Even
though it is pretty tiny, Slovenia has a lot of diversity of animals,
due mostly to all the different sorts of landforms and the various
altitudes. The wildlife in the country include everything from
marmots, Alpine ibex, and chamois in the high mountains, to deer, roe
deer, boar, edible dormouse, and hares, in the hills; from the
strange olm in the caves to the bottlenose dolphin in the nearby
Adriatic; from the Eurasian lynx to the red fox and European jackal
—and my favorite, the adorable hedgehog!
 |
| Hedgehog |
Not
just the animals are varied: the Slovene people have absorbed
influences from all over, and the culture is a bit of a mash-up of
various traditions. Here
is a New York Times slide show about Slovenia.
And
this tourism video is
titled Slovenia: Diversity to Discover.
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on June
holidays, historical
anniversaries in June,
and June
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July,
and July
birthdays.
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