Art and culture hold a special place in Slovenian history, as they helped the Slovenes to compensate in many ways for the lack of national political and government institutions in the past. Therefore, the development of certain areas of culture conveying national and political ambitions – especially literature, vocal music and theatre – was more rapid, involving many people.

Slovenia boasts a rather well developed network of cultural institutions, organisations and cultural associations comparable to the most developed European countries. There is a rich cultural life not only in the country’s major towns, but in virtually every corner of Slovenia.

The government finances in full the national network of institutions, i.e. most of professional cultural institutions in the field of music and theatre; institutions for the protection of cultural heritage, the National Library, and Ljubljana’s Cankarjev dom, the main national cultural and congress centre.

This list also includes programmes and projects in the field of international cultural cooperation, an important part of the publishing industry, the cultural activities of the Italian and Hungarian ethnic minorities and also of Slovenes living abroad (roughly one quarter of Slovenes live outside the country’s borders). Local communities are responsible for libraries and certain other cultural institutions (local museums, art galleries and cultural centres), and cultural associations.