The Ljubljana Botanical Garden (Slovene: Ljubljanski botanični vrt), officially the University of Ljubljana Botanical Garden (Botanični vrt Univerze v Ljubljani), is the central Slovenian botanical garden, the oldest botanical garden in Southeastern Europe,^[1] and one of the oldest cultural, scientific, and educational organisations in Slovenia.^[2] Its headquarters are located in the Rudnik District of Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, at Ig Street (Ižanska cesta) along the Gruber Canal to the southeast of Castle Hill.^[2] The garden started operating under the leadership of Franc Hladnik in 1810, when Ljubljana was the capital of the Illyrian Provinces.^[2] It is thus an averagely old European botanical garden.^[2] The institution is a member of the international network Botanic Gardens Conservation International and cooperates with more than 270 botanical gardens all across the world.^[3] Of over 4,500 plant species and subspecies that grow on 2 hectares (4.9 acres), roughly a third is endemic to Slovenia, whereas the rest originate from other European places and other continents.^[2]