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Slovakia

Country in Central Europe / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Slovakia (/slˈvækiə, -ˈvɑːk-/ (Loudspeaker.svglisten);[8][9] Slovak: Slovensko [ˈslɔʋenskɔ] (Loudspeaker.svglisten)), officially the Slovak Republic (Slovak: Slovenská republika [ˈslɔʋenskaː ˈrepublika] (Loudspeaker.svglisten)), 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 southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), with a population of over 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, while the second largest city is Košice.

Quick facts: Slovak RepublicSlovenská republika (Slov...
Slovak Republic
Slovenská republika (Slovak)
Anthem: Nad Tatrou sa blýska (Slovak)
(English: "Lightning over the Tatras")
National seal
Statna_pecat_Slovenskej_republiky.png
EU-Slovakia.svg
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
Official languagesSlovak
Ethnic groups
(2021)[1]
Religion
(2021)[2]
  • 23.8% No religion
  • 0.9% Others
  • 6.5% Unspecified
Demonym(s)Slovak
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
 President
Zuzana Čaputová
Ľudovít Ódor
Boris Kollár
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)2022 estimate
 Total
Increase $211.119 billion[5] (70th)
 Per capita
Increase $38,320[5] (44th)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
 Total
Increase $127,533 billion[5] (62nd)
 Per capita
Increase $21,665[5] (47th)
Gini (2019)Negative increase 22.8[6]
low
HDI (2021)Increase 0.848[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
Close

The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the fifth and sixth centuries. In the seventh century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire. In the ninth century, they established the Principality of Nitra, which was later conquered by the Principality of Moravia to establish 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. The area was recovered largely thanks to Béla IV of Hungary, who also settled Germans, leading them to become an important ethnic group in the area, especially in what are today parts of central and eastern Slovakia.[11]

After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the state of Czechoslovakia was established. It was the only country in central and eastern Europe to remain a democracy during the interwar period. Nevertheless, local fascist parties gradually came to power in the Slovak lands, and the first Slovak Republic existed during World War II as a partially-recognised client state of Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was re-established as an independent country. After a coup in 1948, Czechoslovakia came under communist administration, and became a part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. Attempts to liberalise communism in Czechoslovakia culminated in the Prague Spring, which was crushed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution peacefully ended the 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]