Ljubljana

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Ljubljana (lyoob-LYAH-nah, SAMPA /ljUb"ljVna/), German Laibach (LI-bahkh, /"lAIbah/), Italian Lubiana (loo-BYAH-nah, /lUb"jA:na/) is the capital of Slovenia, situated on the outfall of the Ljubljanica river to the Sava river. Population: 310,000.

Although the Roman settlement Emona (Colonia Emona (Aemona) Iulia tribu Claudia) was erected in 15 AD, the first records mentioning Ljubljana by its modern name date to 1144 (by its German name Laibach) and 1146 (by name Luwigana).

After receiving its town rights in 1220, Ljubljana came under Habsburg rule in 1335, became the seat of the diocese in 1461, and developed into a Slovenian cultural center during the late Middle Ages. The Habsburg rule was only interrupted by the Napoleonic wars, and between 1809 and 1813 Ljubljana was the capital of the French Illyrian provinces. In 1821 the city hosted Congress of Laibach.

With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Ljubljana became the seat of the Dravska banovina (the Drava ban's domain), and after World War II, the capital of the Yugoslav socialist republic of Slovenia. Ljubljana remained the capital city when Slovenia became independent in 1991.

Ljubljana was several times devastated by earthquakes. After the earthquake in 1511, Ljubljana was rebuilt in the Renaissance style, and after the earthquake 1895 severely damaged the city, in Neo-Classicist and Secession (Art Nouveau) styles. The city's architecture is thus a mixture of styles (with large areas of city built between the two world wars featuring the work of native architect Jože Plečnik).

In 1693, a scholarly society Academia operosorum Labacensis was established in Ljubljana, in 1701 the Philharmonic Society (Academia philharmonicorum). In 1919 Ljubljana got a university, in 1937 the National Academy of Sciences and Arts.