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Slovak Republic
Slovenská republika
Anthem: Nad Tatrou sa blýska
"Lightning Over the Tatras"

Location of  Slovakia  (dark green)

– on the European continent  (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union  (green)  —  [Legend]

and largest city
Official languagesSlovak
Recognized languages
Ethnic groups
85.8% Slovaks,
9.7% Hungarians,
1.7% Roma,
2.8% others and unspecified[1]
GovernmentParliamentary republic
• President
Zuzana Čaputová
Eduard Heger
28 October 1918
1 January 19931
• Total
49,035 km2 (18,933 sq mi) (129th)
• Water (%)
• 2010 estimate
5,440,078[2] (111th)
• 2001 census
• Density
111/km2 (287.5/sq mi) (88th)
GDP (PPP)2017 estimate
• Total
$179.527 billion[3]
• Per capita
$33,054[3] (39th)
GDP (nominal)2017 estimate
• Total
$89.134 billion[3]
• Per capita
$16,412[3] (40th)
Gini (2005)26
HDI (2011)Decrease 0.834[4]
very high · 35th
CurrencyEuro ()2 (EUR2)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)
Driving sideright
Calling code+4214
ISO 3166 codeSK
Internet TLD.sk3
2 Before 2009: Slovak Koruna
4 Shared code 42 with Czech Republic until 1997.

Slovakia (Slovak: Slovensko) (Official name The Slovak Republic, Slovenská republika) is a country with no access to the ocean in Central Europe. It is bordered by Austria in the southwest, Hungary in the south, Ukraine in the east, Poland in the north and Czech Republic in the northwest. Its capital city is Bratislava, the only capital of the world that borders with other two countries. Other main cities are Košice, Prešov, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Trenčín, Nitra and Trnava. Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and its official currency is the Euro.

History[change | change source]


Great Moravia was at first in constant quarrels with the Eastern Francia, and at the beginning of the 10th century, with the Magyars who arrived from Asia. The Magyars conquered Great Moravia in 906, and established the Hungarian Principality, resulting later in the creation of the Kingdom of Hungary in year 1000. Slovaks continued to live in the north, while most Hungarians were in the south.


In the 16th century the Ottoman Empire occupied the southern part of the kingdom including the two most important towns, Buda (capital) and Székesfehérvár (coronation capital). Many Hungarian nobles moved to Slovakia and the king moved to Bratislava (Pressburg, Pozsony at that time). The wars against the Ottomans and an uprising against the Habsburgs caused much destruction. After the Ottomans started to retreat back from Hungary, Bratislava continued to be capital until 1848, when it was moved back to Budapest.

The creation of a dual monarchy, Austria-Hungary, enabled the Hungarian government to initiate a policy of suppressing the teaching of languages other than the Hungarian language in state schools. The official use of other languages than Hungarian was also discouraged. During this time, a nationalist movement arose among Slovakians. A part of this movement joined forces with a part of the Czech nationalist movement. During World War I, this movement convinced the future victorious powers to recognise a new state of Czechoslovakia after the war.

The territory of today's Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1938 and again from 1945 until 1989. Czechoslovakia was one of the states which came into existence after the breakup of Austria-Hungary at end of World War I in 1918. Czechoslovakia split up in 1939, when Slovakia, under Hitler's influence and pressure, declared independence and became a client state. The state existed during World War II. It was a totalitarian one-party state and ally of Nazi Germany. Under the regime, the state fought in the war on the side of Nazi Germany and deported about 70,000 of its Jewish citizens to Nazi extermination camps as part of the Holocaust.

The territory of Czechoslovakia was liberated by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II in 1945. After the liberation, Czechoslovakia was reunified and briefly existed as a democratic country. The Communist Party successfully performed a state coup in 1948 and ruled Czechoslovakia as a totalitarian one-party state which was a satellite of the Soviet Union. In 1989, the one-party rule of the Communist Party was overthrown during the Velvet Revolution, which was a series of large and peaceful demonstrations by the citizens in the streets.

Czechoslovakia again became a democratic country. However, it split up into two independent countries (Slovakia and Czech Republic) on January 1, 1993 in what became known as the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

Geography[change | change source]

Relief of Slovaia

Slovakia is landlocked. It is noted primarily for its mountainous nature, with the Carpathian Mountains being in the north and various lowlands mostly in the south. The highest mountain range are the Tatra mountains with the highest peak, the Gerlachov Peak (Slovak: Gerlachovský štít; 2,654 m). Major Slovak rivers besides the Danube are the Váh and Hron.


Demographics[change | change source]

Hlavná ulica (Main street) in Košice



Transport[change | change source]


Administrative division[change | change source]

Regions of Slovakia

There are currently 8 regions of Slovakia:

  1. Bratislava Region (Bratislavský kraj) (capital Bratislava)
  2. Trnava Region (Trnavský kraj) (capital Trnava)
  3. Trenčín Region (Trenčiansky kraj) (capital Trenčín)
  4. Nitra Region (Nitriansky kraj) (capital Nitra)
  5. Žilina Region (Žilinský kraj) (capital Žilina)
  7. Prešov Region (Prešovský kraj) (capital Prešov)
  8. Košice Region (Košický kraj) (capital Košice)


Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  2. Statistics Slovakia Archived 2011-11-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30-06-2011.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Slovakia". International Monetary Fund.
  5. "Slovakia". The World Factbook. CIA. 2007. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  6. Slovakia Population clock

Other websites[change | change source]