James Baquet

Slovenia is not Slovakia. To get from one to the other, you would have to pass through either Austria or Hungary.

When I was a kid (and well into my adulthood) there were just two countries of interest here: Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. In 1990, the latter broke up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The post-Soviet history of the former, however, is more complicated.

Yugoslavia was divided into five parts: Serbia and Montenegro; Croatia; Slovenia; Macedonia; and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia and Montenegro subsequently became two countries, with the obvious names. And later still, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, though that is still somewhat disputed.

So the one became six (or seven), and one of those is our focus today: Slovenia.

As you might guess, despite some historical enmities, Slovenia has affinities with the other formerly Yugoslav countries; in fact, taken together, they are sometimes called the “Yugosphere.” Though the new entities strive to differentiate themselves from each other, the languages — though distinct — are similar. There are also strong historical and cultural ties. Another clever coinage is “Yugo-nostalgia”: a yearning for the days before 1991, a phenomenon which will die out as the population ages.

Now, about Slovenia: It lies in the northwest of the former Yugoslavia, with Austria to its north, Italy to its west, Croatia to its south and east, and Hungary to its northeast. Between Italy and Croatia, it has a short (47-kilometer) coast on the Adriatic.

At one time or another, Slovenia has been part of the Roman, Byzantine, Carolingian, and Holy Roman Empires; subject to the Habsburgs, the Republic of Venice, and Napoleon; part of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary; merged with Serbia and Croatia in a precursor to Yugoslavia; and part of the U.S.S.R. Three of Europe’s most determinative cultural and linguistic groups — the Slavic, Germanic, and Romance (Latinate) — have met there.

Today, the population is over four-fifths Slovene, and Slovene is also the name of the only official language.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. wish for former times

2. related to Charlemagne, King of the Franks (742-814)

3. natural attractions

4. creation of a word

5. deep desire

6. predecessor, something that comes before

7. decisive, formative

8. hostilities, animosities

9. observable occurrence

10. make distinct from