Everything about Slovakia totally explained
Slovakia (long form:
Slovak Republic;
Slovak:, long form ) is a
landlocked country in
Central Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000
square kilometres (almost 19,000
square miles). The Slovak Republic borders the
Czech Republic and
Austria to the west,
Poland to the north,
Ukraine to the east and
Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital,
Bratislava. Slovakia is a member state of the
European Union,
NATO,
OECD,
WTO, and other international organizations.
The Slavic people arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia between the 5th and 6th century
AD during the
Migration Period (Migration of Nations). Various parts of Slovakia belonged to
Samo's Empire, the first known political unit of Slavs,
Great Moravia, the
Kingdom of Hungary,
Habsburg (Austrian) monarchy,
Austria-Hungary,
Czechoslovakia throughout history. Slovakia became independent on
January 1,
1993 with the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia in the
Velvet Divorce.
History
Before the 5th century
From around 450 BC, the territory of modern-day Slovakia was settled by
Celts, who built powerful
oppida on the sites of modern-day
Bratislava and
Havránok.
Biatecs, silver coins with the names of Celtic kings, represent the first known use of writing in Slovakia. From 2
AD, the expanding
Roman Empire established and maintained a chain of outposts around and just north of the
Danube, the largest of which were known as
Vindobona,
Carnuntum and
Brigetio. Near the northernmost line of the Roman hinterlands,
Limes Romanus there existed the winter camp of
Laugaricio (modern-day
Trenčín) where the Auxiliary of Legion II fought and prevailed in a decisive battle over the Germanic
Quadi tribe in 179 AD during the
Marcomannic Wars. The Kingdom of
Vannius, a
barbarian kingdom founded by the
Germanic Suebian tribes of
Quadi and
Marcomanni, as well as several small Germanic and Celtic tribes, including the
Osi and
Cotini, existed in Western and Central Slovakia from 8-6 BC to 179 AD.
Slavic states
The
Slavic tribes settled in the territory of Slovakia in the 5th century. Western Slovakia was the centre of
Samo's Empire in the 7th century. A Slavic state, known as the
Principality of Nitra, arose in the 8th century and its ruler
Pribina had the first known
Christian church in Slovakia consecrated by 828. Together with neighboring
Moravia, the principality formed the core of the
Great Moravian Empire from 833. The high point of this Slavonic empire came with the arrival of
Saints Cyril and Methodius in 863, during the reign of Prince
Rastislav, and the territorial expansion under King
Svatopluk I.
Kingdom of Hungary
After the disintegration of the Great Moravian Empire in the early 10th century, the
Hungarians gradually annexed the territory of the present-day Slovakia. In the late 10th century, south-western Slovakia became part of the arising Hungarian principality, which transformed to the
Kingdom of Hungary after 1000. Most of Slovakia was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary by c. 1100, north-eastern parts by c. 1300. For almost two centuries, it was ruled autonomously as the
Principality of Nitra within the Kingdom of Hungary. Slovak settlements extended to northern and south-eastern present-day Hungary. The ethnic composition became more diverse with the arrival of the
Carpathian Germans in the 13th century,
Vlachs in the 14th century and
Jews.
A huge population loss resulted from the
invasion of the Mongols in 1241 and the subsequent
famine. However medieval Slovakia was characterized rather by burgeoning towns, construction of numerous stone castles, and the development of art. In 1465, King
Matthias Corvinus founded the first university in Bratislava, but it was closed in 1490 after his death.
After the
Ottoman Empire started its expansion into Hungary and the occupation of
Buda in the early 16th century, the centre of the Kingdom of Hungary (under the name of
Royal Hungary) shifted towards Pressburg (now Bratislava) became the capital city of the
Royal Hungary in 1536. But the
Ottoman wars and frequent insurrections against the
Habsburg Monarchy also inflicted a great deal of destruction, especially in rural areas. As the Turks retreated from Hungary in the 18th century, Slovakia's importance within the kingdom decreased, although Bratislava retained its position of the capital city of Hungary until 1848, when the capital moved to
Budapest.
During the
revolution in 1848-49 the Slovaks supported the
Austrian Emperor with the ambition to secede from the Hungarian part of the Austrian monarchy, but they failed to achieve this aim. During the period of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 1867 to 1918, the Slovaks experienced severe oppression in the form of
Magyarization, promoted by the Hungarian government.
Twentieth century
In 1918, Slovakia and the regions of
Bohemia and
Moravia formed a common state,
Czechoslovakia, with the borders confirmed by the
Treaty of Saint Germain and
Treaty of Trianon. In 1919, during the chaos following the breakup of Austria-Hungary, Slovakia was attacked by the provisional
Hungarian Soviet Republic and one-third of Slovakia temporarily became the
Slovak Soviet Republic.
During the inter-war period, democratic and prosperous Czechoslovakia was under continuous pressure from the
revisionist governments of Germany and Hungary, until it was finally broken up in 1939, as a result of the
Munich Agreement concluded a year before. Southern Slovakia was lost to Hungary due to the
First Vienna Award.
Under pressure from
Nazi Germany, the
First Slovak Republic, led by the
clerical fascist leader
Jozef Tiso, declared its independence from Czechoslovakia in 1939. However, the government was strongly influenced by Germany and gradually became a
puppet regime. An anti-Nazi resistance movement launched a fierce armed insurrection, known as the
Slovak National Uprising, in 1944. A bloody German occupation and a guerilla war followed. Most
Jews were deported from the country and taken to German concentration camps during
the Holocaust.
After
World War II, Czechoslovakia was reconstituted and Jozef Tiso was hanged in 1947 for collaboration with the Nazis. More than
76,000 Hungarians and 32,000 Germans were forced to leave Slovakia, in a series of
population transfers initiated by the Allies at the
Potsdam Conference. This expulsion is still a source of tension between Slovakia and Hungary.
Czechoslovakia came under the influence of the
Soviet Union and its
Warsaw Pact after a coup in 1948. The country was
occupied by the Warsaw Pact forces in 1968, ending a
period of liberalization under the leadership of
Alexander Dubček. In 1969, Czechoslovakia became a
federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and the
Slovak Socialist Republic.
The end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989, during the peaceful
Velvet Revolution, was followed once again by the country's dissolution, this time into two
successor states. In July 1992 Slovakia, led by Prime Minister
Vladimír Mečiar, declared itself a sovereign state, meaning that its laws took precedence over those of the federal government. Throughout the Autumn of 1992, Mečiar and Czech Prime Minister
Václav Klaus negotiated the details for disbanding the federation. In November the federal parliament voted to dissolve the country officially on December 31, 1992. Slovakia and the Czech Republic went their separate ways after January 1, 1993, an event sometimes called the
Velvet Divorce. Slovakia has remained a close partner with the Czech Republic and other countries within the
Visegrad Group. Slovakia became a member of the
European Union on May 1, 2004 and of
NATO on March 29, 2004.
Geography
Carpathian Mountains extending across most of the northern half of the country. Amongst these mountain ranges are the high peaks of the
Tatra mountains.
Climate of lowlands with dominance of continental influences
The average annual temperature is about 8–9°C. The average temperature of the hottest month is about 19°C and the average temperature of the coldest month is less than −3°C. This kind of climate can be found at
Košická kotlina and
Východoslovenská nížina. It is the typical climate of the city of Košice.
Climate of basins
The average annual temperature is between 5°C and 8.5°C. The average temperature of the hottest month is between 15°C and 18.5°C and the average temperature of the coldest month is between −3°C and −6°C. This climate can be found in almost all basins in Slovakia. For example
Podtatranská kotlina,
Žilinská kotlina,
Turčianska kotlina,
Zvolenská kotlina. It is the typical climate for the towns of
Poprad and
Sliač.
Mountain climate
The average annual temperature is less than 5°C. The average temperature of the hottest month is less than 15°C and the average temperature of the coldest month is less than −5°C. This kind of climate occurs in mountains and in some villages in the valleys of
Orava and
Spiš.
Demographics
The majority of the inhabitants of Slovakia are ethnically
Slovak (85.8%).
Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority (9.7%). Other ethnic groups, as of the 2001 census, include
Roma with 1.7%,
Ruthenians or
Ukrainians with 1%, and other or unspecified, 1.8%.
The official state language is
Slovak, a member of the
Slavic Language Family, but
Hungarian is also widely spoken in the south of the country and enjoys a co-official status in some municipalities, and many people also speak
Czech.
The
Slovak constitution guarantees
freedom of religion. The majority of Slovak citizens (68.9 %) identify themselves with
Roman Catholicism (although church attendance is lower); the second-largest group are people without confession (13%). About 6.93% belong to
Lutheranism, 4.1% are
Greek Catholic, affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church,
Calvinism has 2.0%, other and non-registered churches 1.1% and some (0.9%) are
Eastern Orthodox. About 2,300
Jews remain of the large estimated pre-WWII population of 90,000.
In 2007 Slovakia was estimated to have a
fertility rate of 1.33.
Unemployment, peaking at 19.2% at the end of 2001, decreased to 7.84% in February 2008 according to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. In addition to the economic growth, migration of workers to other EU countries also contributed to this reduction. According to
Eurostat, which uses calculation method different from that of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, the unemployment rate is still the highest in the EU at 9.9%.
Inflation dropped from an average annual rate of 12.0% in 2000 to just 3.3% in the election year 2002, but it rose again in 2003-2004 because of increases in taxes and regulated prices. It reached 3.7 % in 2005.
Slovakia plans to adopt the
Euro currency on
1 January 2009 and has already entered the
ERM II for this purpose (
see Slovak euro coins). On may 7, 2008 the European commission approved the Euro in Slovakia.
Slovakia is an attractive country for foreign investors mainly because of its lower labour cost, low tax rates and well educated labour force. In recent years, Slovakia has been pursuing a policy of encouraging foreign investment.
FDI inflow grew more than 600% from 2000 and cumulatively reached an all-time high of $17.3 billion USD in 2006, or around $18,000 per capita by the end of 2006.
Despite a sufficient number of researchers and a solid secondary educational system, Slovakia, along with other post-communist countries, still faces many challenges in the field of modern
knowledge economy. The business and public
research and development expenditures are well below the EU average. The
Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the
OECD, currently ranks the Slovak secondary education as the 30th in the world (placing it just below the United States and just above Spain).
In March 2008, the Ministry of Finance announced that Slovakia's economy is developed enough to stop being an aid receiver from the
World Bank. Slovakia will become an aid provider by the end of 2008.
Tourism
Slovakia features natural landscapes, mountains,
caves, medieval
castles and towns, folk architecture, spas and
ski resorts.
International rankings
Human Development Index 2006: Rank 42nd out of 177 countries
Index of Economic Freedom 2006: Rank 34th out of 157 countries
Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2007: Rank 3rd (along with Estonia) out of 169 countries
Global Competitiveness Report ranking 2006-2007: Rank 37th out of 125 countries.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2007: Rank 49th out of 180 countries.
PISA 2006: Rank 27Further Information
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