POMURSKA - Geography and history
Border region with extensive plains
Pomurska, situated in the extreme north-eastern part of Slovenia, is characterised by its extensive plains, which proportionally cover more area than in any other Slovene region. It is essentially a border region, with Austria to the north, Hungary on the east and Croatia to the south.
The central part of the region consists of a wide plain on both sides of the Mura river. Apart from a belt of floodplain forest rich in biodiversity, the region is densely populated and intensively cultivated. With its abundant arable land, it is a real "bread basket" for Slovenia. The hilly part of north Pomurska, called Goricko, is undeveloped and sparsely populated as a result of its poor quality, acidic soil and border position. There are wine-growing hills along the Hungarian border near Lendava, while the southern and western parts of the region extend into the wine-growing hills around Slovenske gorice.
In a geographical, climatic and cultural sense, Pomurska differs somewhat from other Slovene regions since the area to the east of the Mura river was part of Hungary from the 11th century until the end of World War I. It became part of the Yugoslavian state only in 1920 with the Treaty of Trianon. This long separation from the rest of Slovenia is reflected in the name given to the territory - Prekmurje, meaning "the land beyond the Mura river" or "Trans-Mura". It also explains the presence of Protestants (members of the Evangelical Church) in this part of Slovenia since no Counter Reformation took place in Hungary in the 16th and 17th centuries and Protestants were not driven out as they were in other areas ruled by the Habsburgs.
The eastern part of the region is a bilingual area inhabited by the Slovenes and Hungarians, with the rights of the latter as an indigenous national minority guaranteed by the Slovene constitution.
In terms of traffic, Pomurska has relatively poor connections with the rest of Slovenia and with other countries. This situation is to change radically after year 2004 when a motorway will be constructed as part of a European traffic corridor, connecting the region with Ljubljana and later also with Budapest. Furthermore, a railway connection between Slovenia and Hungary is also under construction.
While some of the region's 26 municipalities are quite large, many consist of only one or two villages.
Slovenia's granary remote from the capital
Its extreme north-east position makes Pomurska highly peripheral in centralised Slovenia, far away from the corridors of economic power and political decision-making. Furthermore, the region's peripheral position is also reflected in its modest participation in key economic activities. A further consequence is the emigration of its educated workforce to other parts of the country, especially to Ljubljana and Maribor.
Pomurska is the most agricultural region in Slovenia. The position of the agricultural sector is even stronger because of its close ties with the food processing industry. The latter is currently facing considerable difficulties since local markets have started to open up to imported goods as part of the process towards free trade within the framework of EU and CEFTA.
Although extensive areas of top-quality agricultural land in the plains are an invaluable natural resource, growth in productivity is hindered by an extremely unfavourable land ownership structure. Most of the land is owned by small part-time farmers, and their farms are further split up into numerous small, widely scattered plots.
The predominance of labour-intensive industries (especially food processing, textile and shoemaking) with a low capital investment rate is also extremely unfavourable.
Currently, the untapped potential is cross-border co-operation, especially with Hungary, where a bilingual population of the Hungarian and Slovene minorities on both sides of the border could be seen as an important advantage. There are also good prospects for the further development of tourism based on natural mineral and thermal waters as well as on farm tourism based on the region's historical, natural and cultural aspects.
Fertile plain along the Mura river
Almost half of the region, which covers 1 337 km2 (6.6% of the national territory), is covered by a 50 km long and up to 20 km wide plain on either side of the Mura river. The floodplain along the river is 2 km wide, mostly covered with lowland river-bank forest, while the rest is a fertile plain on gravel and loam river sediments, which tends to be slightly wetter in its eastern part around Lendava. The rest of the region consists of three areas of low hills rising up to 100 m above the surrounding plain. Firstly, Goricko is an area of acidic soil of poor fertility, built predominately of quartz river sediments situated in the north along the Austrian and Hungarian borders. Then there are wine-growing hills above the town of Lendava along the Hungarian border; and finally the Slovenske gorice hills with wide, gently sloping ridges are in the southern part of the region.
Pomurska's climate is moderately continental with the average annual precipitation ranging from 1 020 to 650 mm, falling mostly in June and July. The average annual temperature is 10.2(C and monthly temperatures are between - 0.4(C in January and 20.5(C in July.
Here towns are all situated on the plain, with the regional centre of Murska Sobota having a population of 12 400 right in the middle of the plain. The other main towns are situated close to the hilly areas: Lendava (population of 3 400), Ljutomer (3 400) and Gornja Radgona (3 300).
The most important natural resources are fertile soil on the plains and in the southern hills, and water. Although the Mura river has a substantial energy potential, a plan proposed in 1984 to construct a chain of five hydroelectric plants was dropped in 1988 because it was strongly opposed by environmentalists and the general public. Rich groundwater supplies, the main source of drinking water, are accumulated in gravel sediments. In several places, large quantities of mineral and thermal water are pumped from great depths, spurring the development of several health resorts. Very small quantities of oil and natural gas have been extracted in the vicinity of Lendava where unexploited lignite deposits are also located.
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