Slovakia is a Central European country. It covers an area of 48 845 km2 and borders the Czech Republic to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south and Austria to the southwest. The most important cities are Bratislava, the capital, with 428,800 residents (2004), Kosice (232,300 residents) and Presov (92,100 residents). The territory is predominantly mountainous.
The climate is moderate continental, with hot and rainy summers in the lowlands and cold winters, especially in mountainous areas.
Economy
Agriculture represents very little in the national economy. The dominant crops are wheat, barley, oats, maize, rye, beets and potatoes, flax, tobacco, fruits and vegetables. Mining is the most developed sector in the country and includes iron, copper, magnesite, lead and zinc. The industry produces steel, plastics, building materials, fertilizers, food products, beverages and fabrics. Slovakia’s main trading partners are the Czech Republic, Russia, Germany and Austria.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita, (metric tons, 1999) is 7.2.
Population
The population is 5,439,448 residents (2006), which corresponds to a population density of 111.2 residents/km2. The birth and death rates are respectively 10.65% and 9.45%. Average life expectancy is 74.73 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.836 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.834 (2001). The main ethnic groups are Slovak, with 86%, and Hungarian, with 11%. The most important religions are Catholic, with 60%, and Protestant, with 8%. The official language is Slovak.
History
In the 11th century, Slovakia became the territory of the Hungarian Crown. Four centuries later, Czech Hussites settled in the region. In the 16th century, Lutheranism and Calvinism were adopted by most Slovaks. In 1526, the Habsburgs of Austria ascended the Hungarian throne and ruled Slovakia until 1918. Roman Catholicism was immediately introduced into the territory. In the 18th century, a nationalist sentiment began to grow among the population, but in 1867, the Hungarian Government came to directly control Slovakia and followed a Magyar policy. For Slovakia democracy and rights, please check intershippingrates.
At the end of the First World War, the Slovaks left Hungary and joined the Czech lands, Bohemia, Moravia and a part of Silesia, to form the new state of Czechoslovakia. In 1938, when Adolf Hitler began to threaten to dismember Czechoslovakia, the Slovaks declared an autonomous unit within a Czech-Slovak federal state. After the Germans occupied Prague, Slovakia became independent, under German protection. In 1945, as the Soviet Red Army had occupied the country, the Slovaks agreed to reinstate Czechoslovakia. After the communists gained power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, and with the help of the Soviet Union, Slovakia came under a centralist Czech government that nationalized industry and collectivized agriculture.
With the fall of the Czechoslovak communist government in 1989-1990, a feeling of independence began to emerge among the Slovak population. After talks between Czech and Slovak leaders in 1991, the two federal republics separated and became independent nations in 1993. Slovakia formally joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 in a ceremony held in Dublin and made became the sixteenth country to adopt the single European currency, on January 1, 2009.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Slovakia, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Slovakia. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Slovakia
Browse a collection of country, political and shaded relief maps of this former Soviet Republic.
