Contrary to Gorizia, in which the Friulian and later Venetian language prevailed over Slovene by the end of the 16th century, Solkan has remained an essentially Slovene-speaking village.

In the 18th century, the incorporation of Solkan into the urban area of Gorizia slowly began, as many local noble families built their residences in it.

According to the last Austrian census of 1910, Solkan had 3075 inhabitants, of whom 90.3% were Slovenes; the rest was mostly composed of German speakers (5.2%) and few Italian- and Friulian-speaking families.

Nevertheless, Solkan remained a separate settlement because of the hindered urban expansion of Gorizia after the annexation to Italy.

In 1947, Solkan was annexed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, while Gorizia remained in Italy, thus cutting off the secular connection of the two settlements.

Since then, it has gradually merged with the modern town of Nova Gorica, although it has been since 1988 an autonomous settlement and has a pronounced local identity.

Today, Slovenes represent around 90% of the population, the remaining 10% are mostly Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians, together with smaller numbers of Italians and Albanians.