Ljubljana, Ger. Laibach, city (1991 pop. 267,008), capital of Slovenia, on the Sava River. An industrial and transportation center, it has industries that manufacture textiles, paper, chemicals, and electronics. It is a Roman Catholic archiepiscopal see and is the seat of the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences and a university (founded 1919). Known as Emona in Roman times, Ljubljana passed in 1277 to the Hapsburgs and became the chief city of the Austrian province of Carniola. The city was held briefly by the French during the Napoleonic Wars; it passed to Yugoslavia in 1919 and was made the capital of Slovenia in 1946. In 1991, Ljubljana continued as the capital of the newly independent republic of Slovenia. Ljubljana was the center of the Slovene national movement in the 19th cent. It has a medieval fortress and several fine palaces and churches. For the international congress held there in 1821, see Laibach, Congress of.

City (pop., 2002 prelim.: 257,338), capital of Slovenia. Located on the Ljubljanica River, it is surrounded by the northern Dinaric Alps. The site of the Roman city of Emona in the 1st century BC, it was destroyed in the 5th century AD and rebuilt by the Slavs as Luvigana. It passed to Carniola in the 12th century and came under Habsburg rule in 1277. Taken by the French in 1809, it was the administrative seat of the Illyrian Provinces until 1813 and the capital of the kingdom of Illyria from 1816 to 1849. It was the centre of Slovene nationalism under Austrian rule, and in 1918 it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). It remained the Slovene capital after Slovenia's independence in 1992. A railroad and commercial centre, it is the site of the University of Ljubljana (founded 1595).

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