Total population | |
---|---|
c. 2–2.5 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Slovenia 1,631,363 | |
United States | 164,634–178,415 |
Italy | 83,000 – 100,000 (est.) |
Germany | 50,000 (2003) |
Canada | 37,170 (2011) |
Argentina | 30,000 (est.) |
Austria | 24,855 |
France | 20,000 (est.) |
Australia | 20,000 – 25,000 (2008) |
Croatia | 10,517 (2011) |
Serbia | 4,033 (2012) |
Sweden | 4,000 |
Hungary | 3,025 (2001) |
Switzerland | 2,433 |
Uruguay | 2,000 – 3,000 (est.) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2,100 (1991) |
Belgium | 1,500 (est.) |
Brazil | 1,500 (est.) |
Netherlands | 1,000 – 2,000 (est.) |
Venezuela | 1,000 (est.) |
Spain | 758 (2007) |
Montenegro | 415 |
Macedonia | 403 (1994) |
Norway | 286 (2009) |
Poland | 244 (2011) |
Slovakia | 209 (2013) |
Chile | 200 (est.) |
Ireland | 192 (2011) |
South Africa | 100 (est.) |
New Zealand | 100 (est.) |
Languages | |
Slovene | |
Religion | |
Christianity: Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Slavs, especially other South Slavs Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins are the most related |
The annexed western quarter of Slovene speaking territory, and approximately 327,000 out of the total population of 1.3 million Slovenes, were subjected to forced Fascist Italianization. On the map of present-day Slovenia with its traditional regions' boundaries. |
During WWII, Nazi Germany and Hungary occupied northern areas (brown and dark green areas, respectively), while Fascist Italy occupied the vertically hashed black area, including Gottschee area. (Solid black western part being annexed by Italy already with the Treaty of Rapallo). After 1943, Germany took over the Italian occupational area, as well. |
Slovenes (Slovene: Slovenci [slɔˈʋèːnt͡si]), or Slovenians, are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and the historical Slovene lands, surrounded by fellow South Slavic Croats to the south and southeast, Austrians to the north, Italians to the west and Hungarians to the northeast. They speak the Slovene, a South Slavic language with significant similarities to West Slavic languages. The majority of ethnic Slovenes live in Slovenia, and they are a recognized minority in Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Italy, where they are indigenous. Expatriates live mainly in other European countries, and in Argentina, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Most Slovenes today live within the borders of the independent Slovenia (2,007,711 est. 2008). In the Slovenian national census of 2002, 1,631,363 people ethnically declared themselves as Slovenes, while 1,723,434 people claimed Slovene as their native language.
The autochthonous Slovene minority in Italy is estimated at 83,000 to 100,000, the Slovene minority in southern Austria at 24,855, in Croatia at 13,200, and in Hungary at 3,180. Significant Slovene expatriate communities live in the United States and Canada, in other European countries, in Argentina, and in Australia. The largest population of Slovenes outside of Slovenia is in Cleveland, Ohio.