Slovenia is a young central European country with a parliamentary democracy which was established in 1991. On December 31, 1995 it had a population of 1,983,012 at 125 people/km2. The population is relatively homogenous and 87.84% are Slovenes while the most numerous foreign nationalities are the Croats (2.76%), Serbs (2.44%), Muslims (1.36%) and Hungarians (0.43%). The majority of the population are Roman Catholic (84%). The size of families is generally small; 37% of families have one child, 34% two children, 6% three children and 23% more than three children.

Expenditure on health care was 7.8% of the GDP in 1995. Individuals pay obligatory National Insurance contributions but they can choose private insurance schemes for non-standard facilities. The health insurance system covers 100% of the population. Planning and supervision of health services is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Over many years Slovenia has developed a widespread net of health services at primary, secondary and tertiary levels which is available to all the population. There are 57 hospital beds and 11.5 physicians per 10,000 people. In recent years there has been a tendency to put more emphasis on primary care at the expense of the secondary and tertiary levels. Most medical care is provided by government employees although private practice was legalized in 1993 and based on contracts and accreditations with the National Insurance Institution, 8.12% of GPs and paediatricians and 11.3% of other specialists were in private practice included in the national health service in 1995.

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