Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and also the largest city in the country. In 2008 it had 270,828 people spread across a 275 km ² area.

The History of The City

Established as a Roman military Legio XV Apollinaris camp in the mid-first century C., the city character was consolidated with the founding of the Colonia Iulia Emona years later. After successive destruction, in the sixth century settled the ancestors of the Slovenes, and in the eleventh century came under Frankish rule. Since 1278, after its conquest by Habsburgs Rudolf I, the city passed to the Habsburgs until 1797.

During the Napoleonic period, Ljubljana was the Illyrian capital between 1816 and 1849 and it was the Illyrian Kingdom. In 1918, after the First World War, he joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and after World War II became the center the Socialist Republic, as part of Yugoslavia. In 1991, after a small war, Slovenia became independent, being the capital city of the country since then.

As the state capital city, Ljubljana houses the Government headquarters (National Assembly and National Council), ministries, institutions and partner agencies as well as the official residence of Slovenias President. The city is a UCLG member, UCUE memeber, Eurocities, URBACT, Civitas Forum, Les Rencontres, European Cities Marketing and Global Cities Dialogue. In economic terms, the city maintains a leading position nationally, countries main stock market home, the Bank of Slovenia and many domestic firms.

Place names

Some think the name comes from an ancient Slavic town called Laburus. Others believe the name derives from the Latin word Aluviana, referring to flooding in the city. It is also likely to be derived from Laubach name meaning “marsh. ” Finally, some believe the name derives from the Luba Slavic word meaning “beloved. ”

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Economy

The statistical region Ljubljana (Osrednjeslovenska) produces approximately 25% GDP. In 2003, the level the workforce was 62%. 64% of workers did in the private sector and 36% in the public sector. In September 2008, the unemployment rate was 4.9% (5.7% a year earlier), while the national average was 6.3%. GDP per capita in the region – Ljubljana statistics in 2007 stood at 24,600 euros while the national average was 17,123 euros.

The industry remains the most important economic sector the city, especially in the pharmaceutical, petrochemical and food industries. Other areas are banking, finance, transport, construction, trade and tourism. Public sector provides jobs in education, culture, health and administration.

Ljubljana Stock Exchange (Ljubljanska borsa), purchased in 2008 by the Vienna Stock Exchange, hosts large Slovenian companies. Several have their head offices in the center region. This is the case the supermarket chain Mercator, Petrol and oil company telco Telekom Slovenije. The city has more than 15,000 companies, centered mostly in the tertiary sector. Thank you for visiting Capital of Slovenia.