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Slovenia at the Junction of Major European Geographical Units

Very few countries, even considerably larger ones, can boast the landscape diversity found in Slovenia since the Alps, the Pannonian Basin, the Dinaric Alps, and the Mediterranean meet and interweave in this small corner of Central Europe. So in spite of its small size, Slovenia is famous for its great natural diversity, variability, and transitional characteristics. Many geographers have observed that Slovenia is a natural geographical laboratory.

The Alps are the largest and highest mountain chain in Europe. Along them runs the divide between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and the dividing line between the Continental and Mediterranean climates. Covering about 200,000 km2, the Alps are more than 1,200 kilometers long and in some place up to 250 kilometers wide. They run from France in the southwest to Austria in the northeast. The southeastern part of the Alps extends into Slovenia.
The Pannonian Basin lies between the Alps to the west, the Carpathians to the north and east, and the Dinaric Alps to the south. Running about 600 kilometers from north to south and 700 kilometers from west to east, it covers almost twice the area as the Alps. The western margin of the Pannonian Basin extends into Slovenia.
The Dinaric Alps are the southeastern continuation of the Alps between the Pannonian Basin and the Adriatic Sea. And form the divide between the Black Sea and the Adriatic. They are 700 kilometers long and almost 200 kilometers wide at the center. They cover less than half the area of the Alps. The northwestern part of the Dinaric Alps extends into Slovenia.
The Mediterranean is the area around the Mediterranean Sea. It runs almost 7,000 kilometers from Gibraltar to the Bosporus Strait, and between Trieste and Durrës on the Adriatic Sea where it runs along the Italian Apennines to the southwest and the Dinaric Alps to the northeast it is almost 700 kilometers long. Covering an area of 132,000 km2, the Adriatic Sea is somewhat larger than the Dinaric Alps. The northern margin of the Mediterranean extends into Slovenia.

Based on the predominant natural features, Slovenia is divided into the Alpine, Pannonian, Dinaric, and Mediterranean landscapes.

Text by Mr. Drago Perko, Ph.D., Head of Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU

Table 1: Some basic characteristics of landscape types in Slovenia.

Landscape types	Surface area (ha)	Proportion of surface area (%)	Mean elevation (m)	Mean inclination (o)	Most frequently occurring rock	Most frequent vegetation	Solar energy received (MJ/m2)

Alpine mountains	306,148	15.1	1,054.5	24.5	limestone 51.5%; carbonate gravel and conglomerate 17.4%	beech 36.9%; high-mountain vegetation 18.7%	3705
Alpine hills	466,008	23.0	582.4	16.9	older volcanic rocks with tuff 20.9%; metamorphic rock 16.9%	beech 31.7%; beech, chestnut, and oak 30.6%	3953
Alpine plains	81,928	4.0	373.3	4.0	carbonate gravel and conglomerate 74.2%; clay and silt 9.3%	red pine 39.3%; beech 25.4%	4080
Alpine landscapes together	854,084	42.1	731.6	18.4	limestone 23.9%; carbonate gravel and conglomerate 17.4%	beech 33.4%; beech, chestnut, and oak 18.9%	3877

Pannonian low hills	299,428	14.8	288.7	8.8	marl 29.7%; clay and silt 27.8%	beech, chestnut, and oak 86.5%; beech 4.6%	4131
Pannonian plains	129,663	6.4	196.0	0.8	silicate gravel 58.4%; clay and silt 31.5%	English oak 27.3%; hornbeam and English oak 25.1%	4178
Pannonian landscapes together	429,091	21.2	260.7	6.4	clay and silt 28.9%; silicate gravel 21.3%	beech, chestnut, and oak 77.1%; red pine 4.7%	4146

Dinaric plateaus	380,918	18.8	667.7	13.7	limestone 58.9%; dolomite 29.4%	beech and fir 40.4%; beech 23.5%	3947
Dinaric valleys or corrosion plains	189,715	9.4	403.3	6.6	limestone 46.3%; clay and silt 23.2%	hornbeam and fir 32.4%; beech 16.5%	4122
Dinaric landscapes together	570,633	28.2	579.8	11.4	limestone 54.8%; dolomite 26.6%	beech and fir 34.9%; beech 21.9%	4005

Mediterranean low hills	106,090	5.2	305.8	11.1	flysch 72.6%; clay and silt 11.9%	sessile oak 31.9%; downy oak 30.7%	4373
Mediterranean plateaus	67,300	3.3	426.0	7.7	limestone 82.1%; flysch 10.9%	beech and hop hornbeam 74.7%; downy oak and hop hornbeam 19.8%	4381
Mediterranean landscapes together	173,390	8.5	352.4	9.8	flysch 48.6%; limestone 38.7%	beech and hop hornbeam 32.7%; sessile oak 22.0%	4376

Slovenia	2,027,198	100	556.8	13.1	limestone 29.5%; dolomite 14.6%	beech 23.9%; beech, chestnut, and oak 23.9%	4012

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