Slovenia Genealogy

Guide to Slovenia ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Country Information
Slovenia is a country in Central Europe bordered by Italy, Croatia, Hungary, and Austria. The official language is Slovene.

History
Present-day Slovenia has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and there is evidence of human habitation from around 250,000 years ago. Slovene Lands suffered a serious economic and demographic setback because of the Turkish raids and in 1515, a peasant revolt spread across nearly the whole Slovene territory. Such uprisings, which often met with bloody defeats, continued throughout the 17th century. World War I brought heavy casualties to Slovenes, particularly the twelve Battles of the Isonzo, which took place in present-day Slovenia's western border area. On 1 December 1918 the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs merged with Serbia, becoming part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes; in 1929 it was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Slovenia was the only present-day European nation that was trisected and completely annexed into both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II. Axis forces invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941 and defeated the country in a few weeks. The southern part, including Ljubljana, was annexed to Italy, while the Nazis took over the northern and eastern parts of the country. In 1945, Yugoslavia was liberated by the partisan resistance and soon became a socialist federation known as the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Slovenia joined the federation as a constituent republic, led by its own pro-Communist leadership. The late 1950s saw a policy of liberalisation in the cultural sphere, as well, and limited border crossing into neighboring Italy and Austria was allowed again. Until the 1980s, Slovenia enjoyed relatively broad autonomy within the federation. In September 1989, numerous constitutional amendments were passed to introduce parliamentary democracy to Slovenia. The same year Action North united both the opposition and democratized communist establishment in Slovenia this lead to Slovenian independence. On 7 March 1990, the Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the "Republic of Slovenia". The members of the European Union recognised Slovenia as an independent state on 15 January 1992, and the United Nations accepted it as a member on 22 May 1992. 

Regions
Administrative divisions Slovenia is traditionally divided into eight regions. The traditional regions of Slovenia based on the former four Habsburg crown lands (Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, and the Littoral) are (Read more)

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map