Slovakia

Slovak Republic
Slovenská republika (Slovak)
Anthem: Nad Tatrou sa blýska (Slovak)
(English: "Lightning over the Tatras")
National seal
Location of Slovakia (dark green)

– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)  –  [Legend]

Capital
and largest city
Bratislava
48°09′N 17°07′E / 48.150°N 17.117°E / 48.150; 17.117
Official languagesSlovak
Ethnic groups
(2021)[1]
Religion
(2021)[2]
  • 23.8% no religion
  • 0.9% other
  • 6.5% unspecified
Demonym(s)Slovak
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
• President
Zuzana Čaputová
Robert Fico
Peter Pellegrini
LegislatureNational Council
Establishment history
28 October 1918
30 September 1938
• Autonomous Land of Slovakia (within Second Czechoslovak Republic)
23 November 1938
14 March 1939
24 October 1945
1948
11 July 1960
• Slovak Socialist Republic (within Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, change of unitary Czechoslovak state into a federation)
1 January 1969
• Slovak Republic (change of name within established Czech and Slovak Federative Republic)
1 March 1990
1 January 1993
Area
• Total
49,035 km2 (18,933 sq mi) (127th)
• Water (%)
0.72 (2015)[3]
Population
• 2022 census
Neutral increase 5,460,185[4] (117th)
• Density
111/km2 (287.5/sq mi) (88th)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $229.584 billion[5] (70th)
• Per capita
Increase $42,228[5] (46th)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $133.044 billion[5] (62nd)
• Per capita
Increase $24,471[5] (43rd)
Gini (2022)Positive decrease 21.2[6]
low (1st)
HDI (2022)Increase 0.855[7]
very high (45th)
CurrencyEuro () (EUR)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+2 (CEST)
Date formatd. m. yyyy
Driving sideright
Calling code+421
ISO 3166 codeSK
Internet TLD.sk and .eu

Slovakia (/slˈvækiə, -ˈvɑːk-/ ;[8][9] Slovak: Slovensko [ˈslɔʋenskɔ] ), officially the Slovak Republic (Slovak: Slovenská republika [ˈslɔʋenskaː ˈrepublika] ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), hosting a population exceeding 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, while the second largest city is Košice.

The Slavs arrived in the territory of the present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries. From the late 6th century, parts of modern Slovakia were incorporated in the Avar Khaghanate. In the 7th century, the Slavs played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire. In the 9th century, the Avar Khaghanate dissolved, and the Slavs established the Principality of Nitra, which was later conquered by the Principality of Moravia, leading to the formation of Great Moravia. In the 10th century, after the dissolution of Great Moravia, the territory was integrated into the Principality of Hungary, which then became the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000.[10] In 1241 and 1242, after the Mongol invasion of Europe, much of the territory was destroyed, but was recovered largely thanks to Béla IV.

After World War I and the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire, the state of Czechoslovakia was established, incorporating Slovakia. In the lead up to World War II, local fascist parties gradually came to power in the Slovak lands, and the first Slovak Republic was established as a puppet state under the control of Nazi Germany.[11] The local Jewish population was heavily persecuted, with almost 70,000 Jews being murdered or deported. Internal opposition to the fascist government's policies culminated in the Slovak National Uprising, itself triggered by the Nazi German occupation of the country. Although the uprising was eventually suppressed, partisan resistance continued, and Czechoslovak independence was re-established after the country's liberation at the end of the war.

Following the Soviet-backed coup of 1948, Czechoslovakia became a communist state within the Eastern Bloc and a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Attempts to liberalise communism culminated in the Prague Spring, which was suppressed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution peacefully ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce.

Slovakia is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy. The country maintains a combination of a market economy with a comprehensive social security system, providing citizens with universal health care, free education, and one of the longest paid parental leaves in the OECD.[12] Slovakia is a member of the European Union, the Eurozone, the Schengen Area, the United Nations, NATO, CERN, the OECD, the WTO, the Council of Europe, the Visegrád Group, and the OSCE. Slovakia is also home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The world's largest per-capita car producer, Slovakia manufactured a total of 1.1 million cars in 2019, representing 43% of its total industrial output.[13]

  1. ^ "SODB2021 - Population - Basic results".
  2. ^ "SODB2021 - K rímskokatolíckemu vyznaniu sa prihlásilo 56 % obyvateľov". Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Surface water and surface water change". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Slovakia Population 2022 (Live)". World Population Review. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Slovakia)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  8. ^ Wells, John C. (2008), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.), Longman, ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0
  9. ^ Roach, Peter (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-15253-2
  10. ^ Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic myth and legend. ABC-CLIO. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-57607-130-4. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Slovaks condemn WWII deportations of Jews to Nazi death camps". PBS NewsHour. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Which countries are most generous to new parents?". The Economist. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Slovakia beats record in car production, again". 13 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.