Bordered by Italy, Croatia, Hungary, and Austria, the Republic of Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia for most of the 1900s but is now an independent republic. In the 1890s, more than 30,000 Slovenese immigrated to the United States and became productive on farms and in factories, mines, and small trades. Slovenian settlements were largely found in Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. Despite centuries of foreign imperial rule, its people retained their identity, transplanting their distinctive life-style and craft traditions in agriculture, mining, black-smithing, lace-making, and cooking to America. To maintain social identity and promote economic security, they formed insurance, social, cultural, and athletic organizations.