Žilina Region

The Žilina Region (Slovak: Žilinský kraj; Polish: Kraj żyliński; Hungarian: Zsolnai kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts (okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region was established in 1923, however, in its present borders exists from 1996. It is a more industrial region with several large towns. Žilina is the region administrative center and there is a strong cultural environment in Martin.

Žilina Region Žilinský kraj
Region
From the top to bottom-left; Sivý Vrch, Strečno Castle, Orava Castle, Žilina, Demänovská Cave of Liberty, Bytča, Čičmany, Tatras - Western Tatras
Flag Coat of arms
Location of the Žilina Region in Slovakia
Country	Slovakia
Capital	Žilina
Government
• Body	County Council of Žilina Region
• Governor	Erika Jurinová (OĽaNO)
Area [1]
• Total	6,808.44 km2 (2,628.75 sq mi)
Highest elevation	2,495 m (8,186 ft)
Lowest elevation	301 m (988 ft)
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	686,063
GDP [3]
• Total	€8.901 billion (2016)
• Per capita	€12,889 (2016)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SK-ZI
Website	www.zilinsky-kraj.sk

Geography

It is located in northern Slovakia and has an area of 6808.44 km².^[4] The whole area is mountainous, belonging to the Western Carpathians. Some of the mountain ranges in the region include Javorníky, the Lesser Fatra and the Greater Fatra in the west, Oravská Magura, Chočské vrchy, Low Tatras and Western Tatras in the east. The whole area is part of the Váh river basin. Its main left tributaries are the Turiec and Rajčanka rivers and its right tributaries are Belá, Orava and Kysuca. The national parks on the region's territory are the Lesser, Greater Fatra, Low Tatras and Tatra; landscape protected areas are Strážovské vrchy, Kysuce and Horná Orava. The region borders Prešov Region in the east, Banská Bystrica Region in the south, Trenčín Region in the south-west and west, Czech Zlín Region and Moravian-Silesian regions in the north-west and Polish Silesian and Lesser Poland voivodeships in the north and north-east.

History

After the fall of Great Moravia in the early 9th century, the area became part of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century practically to 1920. Before the break it was part of the Hungarian counties of Trencsén, Turóc, Árva and Liptó. After incorporation into Czechoslovakia, the counties continued to exist under their Slovak names of Trenčín, Turiec, Orava and Liptov, but only to 1923, when they were replaced by (grand) counties ((veľ)župy) From 1928 it was part of the administrative unit "Slovak Land". During the WWII Slovak Republic, the area was split between Trenčín and Tatra counties. Since 1928 it was part of the administrative after reincorporation into Czechoslovakia in 1945, the pre-war state was restored. In 1949-1960 there was a unit with the name Žilina Region but it was abolished in 1960 and the area became part of new Central Slovak Region, of which it was part until 1990 (except 1969-70) when it was abolished. After the independence of Slovakia in 1993, the current region was established in 1996. Since the administrative regions became autonomous in 2002, it is governed by the Žilina Self-Governing Region.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1970	570,624	—
1980	629,927	+10.4%
1991	668,771	+6.2%
2001	692,332	+3.5%
2011	688,851	−0.5%
2021	691,613	+0.4%
Source: Censuses[5][6]

Population statistic (10 years)^[7]

Year	1994	2004	2014	2024
Count	682,983	694,129	690,449	686,063
Difference		+1.63%	−0.53%	−0.63%

Population statistic^[7]

Year	2023	2024
Count	687,174	686,063
Difference		−0.16%

It has a population of 686,063 people (31 December 2024).^[8] The population density in the region is 100.76/km² (261.0/sq mi) (2024).^[9][10] The largest towns are Žilina, Martin, Liptovský Mikuláš, Ružomberok, Čadca and Dolný Kubín.

Ethnicity

Census 2021 (1+ %)^[11][12]

Ethnicity	Number	Fraction
Slovak	659,150	95.3%
Not found out	29,038	4.19%
Total	691,613

In year 2021 was 691,613 people by ethnicity 659,150 as Slovak, 29,038 as Not found out, 6465 as Czech, 2645 as Romani, 2198 as Other, 932 as Hungarian, 923 as Polish, 905 as Russian, 710 as German, 647 as Rusyn, 515 as Ukrainian, 244 as Moravian, 217 as Italian, 190 as English, 172 as Vietnamese, 135 as Korean, 133 as Jewish, 129 as Serbian, 128 as Chinese, 105 as French, 101 as Bulgarian, 100 as Irish, 100 as Austrian, 93 as Croatian, 78 as Canadian, 67 as Romanian, 54 as Greek, 48 as Turkish, 46 as Albanian, 44 as Silesian and 23 as Iranian.

Note on population

The difference between the population numbers above and in the census (here and below) is that the population numbers above are mostly made up of permanent residents, etc.; and the census should indicate the place where people actually mainly live. For example, a student is a citizen of a village because he has permanent residence there (he lived there as a child and has parents), but most of the time he studies at a university in the city.

Religion

Census 2021 (1+ %)^[13]

Religion	Number	Fraction
Roman Catholic Church	454,957	65.78%
None	133,335	19.28%
Evangelical Church	54,399	7.87%
Not found out	31,338	4.53%
Total	691,613

In year 2021 was 691,613 people by religion 454,957 from Roman Catholic Church, 133,335 from None, 54,399 from Evangelical Church, 31,338 from Not found out, 3890 from Greek Catholic Church, 2159 from Christian Congregations in Slovakia, 2117 from Ad hoc movements, 1780 from Other, 1500 from Other and not ascertained christian church, 1080 from Jehovah's Witnesses, 832 from Eastern Orthodox Church, 726 from Buddhism, 645 from Calvinist Church, 518 from Paganism and natural spirituality, 369 from United Methodist Church, 365 from Islam, 290 from Baptists Church, 282 from Seventh-day Adventist Church, 225 from Apostolic Church, 224 from Church of the Brethren, 184 from Old Catholic Church, 112 from Hinduism, 110 from Jewish community, 95 from Czechoslovak Hussite Church, 59 from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 16 from Bahá'i Community and 6 from New Apostolic Church.

Economy

From the stagnation in the 1990s the region now enjoys relative prosperity. The main employers are industry and tourism. The river Váh valley, which runs across the entire region, forms a strong industrial base with wood pulp and engineering factories as well as Volkswagen and Kia plants in Žilina and Martin.

Politics

Current governor of Žilina region is Erika Jurinová (OĽaNO) - first woman in this office in Slovakia. She won with 32 %. In election 2022 was elected also to the regional parliament :

County Council of Žilina region
Type
Type	Unicameral
Houses	County Council
Leadership
Governor	Erika Jurinová, OĽaNO
Structure
Seats	57
Political groups	A just region (16)[a]   Voice (12)   Christian Democrats (12)   For our region (9)[b]   Non-affiliated (8)[c]
Elections
Last election	29 October 2022
Meeting place
Governor's office, Žilina
Website
Council of Žilina region region

Political party		Seats won	Percentage
	Independents	25 / 57	43.9 %
	Centre-right coalition[d]	17 / 57	29.8 %
	Smer-SD	10 / 57	17.5 %
	SNS	5 / 57	8.8 %

Parliamentary groups were formed after the elections. Their status in August 2022 is as follows :

Political group	Seats	Status
Independents II	14 / 57	—
SaS, OĽaNO	9 / 57	Support
KDH	9 / 57	—
Smer-SD	6 / 57	—
Hlas-SD	5 / 57	—
Independents I	4 / 57	—
Independents III	4 / 57	—
Non-Inscrits	6 / 57	—

Administrative divisions

The region is divided into 11 districts. There are 315 municipalities in the region of which 18 are towns.

District	Area [km2][14]	Population[15]
Bytča	281.51	31,444
Čadca	760.61	86,666
Dolný Kubín	491.83	38,726
Kysucké Nové Mesto	173.68	32,540
Liptovský Mikuláš	1341.03	71,186
Martin	735.63	92,817
Námestovo	690.45	64,651
Ružomberok	646.79	56,278
Turčianske Teplice	392.86	15,646
Tvrdošín	478.92	35,749
Žilina	815.08	160,360

Population and area values are current for year 2024.

Places of interest

• Bytča with Bytča Castle and Marriage palace
• Čičmany: Village with special folk architecture
• Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area
• Kysuce Protected Landscape Area
• Low Tatras National Park
• Lesser Fatra National Park
• Museum of the Slovak Village in Martin, Museum of the Kysuce village in Nová Bystrica, Museum of the Orava village in Zuberec and Museum of the Liptov village in Pribylina
• Orava Castle
• Strážov Mountains Protected Landscape Area
• Tatra National Park - Western Tatras
• Towns in the Liptov region: Ružomberok, Liptovský Mikuláš and Liptovský Hrádok
• Demänovská Ice Cave
• Važecká Cave
• Greater Fatra National Park
• Vlkolínec near Ružomberok (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Wooden churches of the Slovak Carpathians - Wooden churches in Leštiny and Tvrdošín (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Žilina with Holy Trinity Cathedral, Church of Saint Stephen the King, Budatín Castle, etc.
• Stará Bystrica astronomical clock, the youngest astronomical clock in the world and the only in Slovakia. Located in the village of Stará Bystrica.

Photo gallery

• 
  Strečno Castle
• 
  Žilina
• 
  Holy Trinity Cathedral, Žilina
• 
  Church of Saint Stephen the King, Žilina
• 
  Budatín Castle, Žilina
• 
  Bytča Castle, Bytča
• 
  Marriage palace, Bytča
• 
  Čičmany
• 
  Typical ornaments of Čičmany
• 
  Museum of the Slovak village, Martin
• 
  Museum of the Kysuce village, Nová Bystrica
• 
  Museum of the Liptov village, Pribylina
• 
  Wooden church in Leštiny (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• 
  Wooden church in Tvrdošín (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• 
  Orava Castle
• 
  Vlkolínec (UNESCO World Heritage site)
• 
  Street in Vlkolínec
• 
  Ružomberok
• 
  Liptovský Mikuláš
• 
  Liptovský Hrádok
• 
  Važecká Cave, Važec
• 
  Tatra National Park - Western Tatras
• 
  Roháčske tarns in Western Tatras
• 
  Demänovská Ice Cave
• 
  Low Tatras National Park
• 
  Low Tatras National Park
• 
  Greater Fatra National Park
• 
  Lesser Fatra National Park
• 
  Kysuce Protected Landscape Area
• 
  Súľov Rocks in Strážov Mountains Protected Landscape Area
• 
  Súľov Rocks in Strážov Mountains Protected Landscape Area
• 
  Demänovská Cave of Liberty

Explanatory notes

1. 
     Independent (15)
     OĽaNO, NOVA, KÚ, ZZ, Chance, DS, ODS (1)
2. 
     Independent (8)
     Direction (1)
3. 
     Independent (4)
     Direction (1)
     SNS (1)
     Home (1)
     SaS, OKS, Let's try it differently (1)
4. SaS, OKS, OĽaNO, NOVA, Christian Democratic Movement