GORIŠKA - Geography and history
Region forms main border with Italy
By size, Goriška is the fourth largest Slovenian region, while only the seventh by population. Situated in the western parts of Slovenia along the Italian border, it is almost entirely within the catchment area of the Soca (Isonzo in Italian) river, rising deep in the heart of the Julian Alps, flowing southwards and entering the wide Friuli Plain near Gorica.
The entire northern part of the region is part of high Julian Alps - almost all settlements are situated in the deeply carved, glacially reshaped Soca valley. The Soca is one of the last intact Alpine rivers, very popular with holidaymakers and water sports fans. The central part of the region - the Idrija mountains - is heavily dissected and hardly passable. Towards the south it continues into the forested karst plateaus of Banjšice and Trnovski gozd which drop abruptly - with an almost 1000 m high cliff - into the fertile and densely populated Vipava valley, distinctively Mediterranean in terms of climate and culture.
In the Middle Ages, the territory of the region belonged to the once important Oglej (Italian Aquileia) patriarchs and the dukes of Gorica (Italian Gorizia) whose heritage was taken over by the Habsburgs in 1500. The northern part of the present border between Slovenia and Italy also separated Austria and the republic of Venice in the 16th century, while its southern part was delimited by the Treaty of Paris between Italy and Yugoslavia (1947) and finally confirmed by the Treaties of Osimo (1975). The state and ethnical borders do not overlap, leaving Slovene population also on the Italian side of the border.
The famous Isonzo Front, dividing Austrian and Italian armies, ran across the mountains above the Soca river during World War I - along the front, over a million soldiers died on both sides. After disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), the area was granted to Italy with the Treaty of Rapallo (1920), while after World War II it became part of Yugoslavia with the Treaty of Paris (1947). Today, it is divided among 12 municipalities.
The southern part of the region is easily accessible from both the Slovenian side as well as the Italian side; a motorway through the Vipava valley is currently under construction; when constructed, it will connect Slovenian and Italian motorway networks. The northern part of the region is rather marginal in a traffic sense - it is accessible only through the Soca valley from south to north and across high mountain passes.
Between high Alps and the Mediterranean Plain
The position of the region along the Slovene-Italian border is very favourable for its southern plain part, while it increases the peripheral character of its larger mountainous part. Despite being only a little over 100 km away from Ljubljana and relatively close to the densely populated Friuli plain in the neighbouring Italy, the upper part of the Soca valley is not easily accessible due to the mountainous terrain, while the main pass towards Gorenjska, leading across the Julian Alps, is closed throughout the colder part of the year. This part of the region is an area of intensive depopulation. Its natural resources are poor and its weak economy is strongly dependent on tourism. The intact Soca river and picturesque mountainous landscape, especially in the southern part of the Triglav National park, offer numerous tourism development potentials which are largely unexploited. Parts of the region were devastated by strong earthquakes in 1976 and 1998 - the damage reparation has been largely financed from the national budget.
In the central mountainous part of the region, one of the most important mercury mines in the world operated for almost five centuries in Idrija. After 1986 it was gradually shut down, while the town with the surroundings was very successfully reoriented into manufacturing of machine equipment and electrotechnics industry.
The situation in the southern, Mediterranean part of the region is entirely different. After the town of Gorica (Gorizia in Italian) was given to Italy in 1947, the town of Nova Gorica which gradually developed into an important regional centre was established on the Slovene side of the border. On both sides of the border they knew how to take advantage of the border location - intensive over-border co-operation was established especially in trade, transport and tourism sectors, so that Goriška has the lowest unemployment rate in Slovenia (6.1%).
The advantage of this part of the region is also the Mediterranean climate, enabling specialisation of agriculture into wine, fruit and vegetables growing. Although the Vipava Valley is the largest plain in the Mediterranean part of Slovenia, favourable natural conditions for growing more sensible fruits and vegetables are far from being fully exploited compared to the plain on the Italian side of the border.
In the Soca river basin
The Goriška region occupies 2 325 km2 (11.5% of the national territory) and is mostly covered with high mountains and hills in the Soca river basin. In the north there are high Julian Alps with the deeply incised upper Soca valley. The middle part comprises heavily dissected Idrija mountains in the Idrijca river basin (the highest peak is Porezen, 1630 m), towards the south extending into the forested Trnovski gozd karst plateau with altitudes 1 000-1 300 m and into the slightly lower Banjšice plateau.
On their southern side, the plateaus descend steeply - with over a 1 000 m high escarpment -into the fertile Vipava valley along the Vipava river, the Gorica plain along the Soca and the Goriška brda hills along the Italian border.
The southern part of the region has Mediterranean climate with the average annual temperature of 12.5(C in Bilje (monthly temperatures between 3.5(C in January and 22.2(C in July). The average annual precipitation ranges between 1 870 and 1 070 mm (in the mountainous part between
2 000-3 500 mm). The peculiarity of the Vipava valley is bora, a turbulent descending wind which can blow with a speed of over 50 m/s in winter months.
In mountainous parts of the region, the majority of settlements and agricultural land is located in the narrow river valleys - the areas outside the valleys are sparsely settled due to steep slopes. The largest town in the Soca valley is Tolmin (population 3 700); other local centres are Bovec (1 600) and Kobarid (1 200) in the Soca valley and Idrija (5 900) and Cerkno (1 700) in the Idrija mountains. Unlike the mountainous part of the region, its southern part is densely settled. Larger towns are Nova Gorica (population 13 500) by the Italian border and Ajdovšcina (6 400) and Vipava (1 600) in the Vipava valley.
The only ore deposit of the Goriška region was mercury which was extracted in Idrija from 1490 to 1986. The mine is now completely shut down.
The Soca river with its tributaries is an important resource - in its middle course hydroelectric plants are installed, while its upper course is protected as a national heritage due to its exceptional beauty and preserved natural condition. Numerous small hydroelectric plants are installed on smaller tributaries in the mountains. An important natural resource are also broadleaf and mixed forests covering almost two thirds of the region,, while agricultural land covers almost exclusively its southern part.
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