Slovenia is situated in Central Europe and covers an area of 20,273 km2 (half the size of Switzerland).

It has borders with Italy, Austria, Croatia and Hungary, and stretches across the Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Pannonian Plain to the Mediterranean.

In spite of its geographically small size, it is a convergence point for a range of different landscapes, each of which has its own characteristics and unique features. 

The coastline is only 46.6 km long, but there are 26,000 km of rivers and streams and some 7,500 freshwater springs, including several hundred first-class therapeutic mineral springs.

Forests cover half the territory of the country (10,124 km2); Slovenia is the third most forested country in Europe, after Finland and Sweden. Remnants of primeval forests can still be found, the largest in the Kocevje area.

Grassland covers 5,593 km2 of the country and fields and gardens 2,471 km2. There are also 363 km2 of orchards and 216 km2 of vineyards.

Approximately eight per cent of the Slovenian countryside is protected by legislation (i.e. natural parks). A programme of further protection has already been approved by the parliament. Slovenia boasts 7,000 registered Karst caves, 15,000 animal species and 3,200 plant species, some of them are endemic.