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Ljubljana; German: Laibach, Italian: Lubiana, Latin: Labacum or Aemona) is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants. Throughout its history, it has been influenced by its geographic position at the crossroads of the Slavic world with the Germanic and Latin cultures.

For centuries, Ljubljana was the capital of the historical region of Carniola, and in the 20th century it became the cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative centre of Slovenia, independent since 1991.Its transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and cultural tradition are contributing factors to its leading position.

In the 15th century, Ljubljana became recognised for its art. After an earthquake in 1511, it was rebuilt in Renaissance style and a new wall was built around it.In the 16th century, the population numbered 5,000, 70% of whom spoke Slovene as their first language, with most of the rest using German.Soon after the first book written in Slovene was published in Germany (Primož Trubar's Catechism, Tübingen 1550) the pedagogue Adam Bohorič had his three Slovene-language books, "Elementale Labacense oder Abecedarium der lateinischen, deutschen und slowenischen Sprache", his "Nomenclatura trium linguarum" and his "Otroshia tabla", printed in the Carniolan capital by Hans Mannel (Slovene: Janž Mandelc). By that time, the Protestant Reformation had gained ground in the town. Several important Lutheran preachers lived and worked in Ljubljana, including Primož Trubar, Adam Bohorič and Jurij Dalmatin, whose Slovene bible, however, was printed in German Wittenberg. Around the same time, the first secondary school, public library and printing house opened in Ljubljana.In 1597, the Jesuits arrived in the city and established a new secondary school that later became a college. Baroque architecture appeared at the end of the 17th century as foreign architects and sculptors came in.

The Napoleonic interlude saw Ljubljana as "Laybach" become, from 1809 to 1813, the capital of the Illyrian Provinces.In 1815, the city became Austrian again and from 1816 to 1849 was the administrative centre of the Kingdom of Illyria in the Austrian Empire. In 1821 it hosted the Congress of Laibach, which fixed European political borders for years to come. The first train arrived in 1849 from Vienna and in 1857 the line was extended to Trieste.

In 1895, Ljubljana, then a city of 31,000, suffered a serious earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. Some 10% of its 1,400 buildings were destroyed, although casualties were light. During the reconstruction that followed, a number of quarters were rebuilt in Vienna Secession style.^[23] Public electric lighting appeared in the city in 1898. The rebuilding and subsequent quick modernization of the city were led by the mayor Ivan Hribar.

In 1918, following the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the region joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.In 1929, Ljubljana became the capital of Drava Banovina, a Yugoslav province.In 1941, during World War II, Fascist Italy occupied the city, and on 3 May 1941 made "Lubiana" the capital of an Italian "Provincia di Lubiana" with the former Yugoslav general Leon Rupnik as mayor. After the Italian capitulation, Nazi Germany with SS-general Erwin Rösener and Friedrich Rainer took control in 1943^[25] but formally the city remained the capital of an Italian province until 9 May 1945. In Ljubljana, the occupying forces established strongholds and command centres of Quisling organisations, the Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia under Italy and the Home Guard under German occupation. The city was surrounded by over 30 kilometres (19 mi) of barbed wire to prevent co-operation between the underground resistance movement (Liberation Front of the Slovenian People) within the city and the Yugoslav Partisans (Partizani) who operated outside the fence. Since 1985, a commemorative path has ringed the city where this iron fence once stood.

After World War II, Ljubljana became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, part of Communist Yugoslavia, a status it retained until 1991, when Slovenia became independent. Ljubljana remained the capital of Slovenia, which entered the European Union in 2004.

Ljubljana has been struck through its history not only by earthquakes but also by floods, the latest taking place in 2010.Southern and western parts of the city are more flood-endangered than northern parts.

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