Forgotten World (209): Slovenia
Slovenia – not to be confused with Slovakia – was formerly part of Yugoslavia and has a mere 2 million citizens. Unlike Croatia or Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovenia’s independence from Yugoslavia was relatively bloodless. The move was undoubtedly aided by Western European recognition of the Slovenes’ aspirations and the low proportion of other ethnic groups in the country.
Slovenia has always been the most prosperous region of the former Yugoslavia and has found the transition from a socialist economy to the capitalist free market easier than most. On 1 January 2007, it became the first of the new EU member states to join the eurozone. A year later, it became the first former communist state to take on the EU presidency.