*** Welcome to piglix ***

Slovene people

Slovenes
Slovenci
Total population
c. 2–2.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Slovenia 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.


...
Wikipedia

...