NOTRANJSKO - KRAŠKA - Economy
An economically weak region with forests the main resource
Sparsely settled and second smallest in terms of population, Notranjsko-kraška contributes only 2.0% to the national gross value added, a figure which is lower only in the mining region of Zasavje. Industry is hardly noticeable in the region's well preserved natural environment, and yet the secondary sector contributes 43.6% to the region's gross value added. The service sector is more important even though its share (49.7%) is below the national average, while the share of agriculture and forestry (6.7%) is more than twice the national average.
Due to the very small area of agricultural land in the region, the agricultural sector is weak and distinctly oriented towards dairy and beef cattle farming. In this region the poultry production is important as well. There is also some fruit production (apples) but it is not very important.
The region's vast forests are an important resource, on which a well developed wood processing industry is based. Although parts of this industry went bankrupt during the severe crisis following the transition to a market economy, the remaining companies have established themselves successfully despite the difficulties. The manufacture of furniture (Pivka, Cerknica) and semi-finished wooden products, such as plywood, panels (Pivka), and fibreboards (Ilirska Bistrica) prevails. Other industrial sectors worth mentioning are metal manufacturing, especially in Loz (fittings) and Postojna and the chemical industry in Podgrad (polyurethanes).
Postojna is one of the smallest regional centres in Slovenia with only a few central services (high-school centre, trade). Tourism, based around the famous Postojna cave, is also important. This is the most visited tourist attraction in Slovenia, relying on tourists stopping on their way towards the Adriatic coast or on their way back from vacation. Since the end of the war in Croatia, the number of tourists has been increasing, however it is still far below past figures. The contribution from tourism to the region's gross value added is among the lowest in Slovenia, and other service activities such as road transportation and forwarding services in Postojna and Ilirska Bistrica are now more important.
While industry in the region has adapted to new market conditions, it depends almost entirely on labour-intensive branches, producing mostly semi-finished goods with a low rate of value added.
Major transit route between Central Europe and the Mediterranean
Strategically, the Postojna pass (612 m above sea level) is one of the most important passes in all of Slovenia. For a distance of almost 1 500 km, between the Rhône Valley (France) in the west and the Morava Valley (Yugoslavia) in the south-east, it is the easiest and the lowest passage from Central Europe to the Mediterranean basin. Alongside the centuries-old main road connecting Vienna with the port of Trieste, the Southern railway was constructed between 1847 and 1857 through this pass, while from 1970 to 1972 the first Slovenian motorway connecting Vrhnika and Postojna was also built here. Today, the 5th European corridor, Venice-Ljubljana-Budapest-Kiev, also follows this route. Near Postojna a major road branches off from the Kozina-Ljubljana motorway (E70), connecting it with the port town of Rijeka in Croatia.
In the relatively sparsely settled Notranjsko-kraška, all settlements are accessible by local roads, while forested areas are covered with a network of unpaved forest roads. With 23 400 cars in the region or 461 cars per 1 000 persons, this is slightly above the national average for car ownership.
A single-track electrified railway towards Rijeka (Croatia) branches off in Pivka from the double-track electrified Vienna-Trieste railway.
There are no airports in Notranjska, and the Ljubljana international airport is 81 km from Postojna. Due to the prevailing karst terrain, there are also no rivers suitable for navigation.
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