Svidník

Svidník (Hungarian: Felsővízköz, German: Oberswidnik, Rusyn: Свідник, Ukrainian: Свидник) is a town in eastern Slovakia, the capital of the Svidník District in the Prešov Region. It has a population of around 11,000.

Svidník
Municipality
Panorama of Svidník
Flag Coat of arms
Svidník Location of Svidník in the Prešov Region Show map of Prešov Region Svidník Location of Svidník in Slovakia Show map of Slovakia
Coordinates: 49.31°N 21.57°E / 49.31; 21.57
Country	Slovakia
Region	Prešov Region
District	Svidník District
First mentioned	1330
Government
• Mayor	Marcela Ivančová
Area [1]
• Total	20.20 km2 (7.80 sq mi)
	2022
Elevation [2]	225 m (738 ft)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	9,839
Population by ethnicity (2011) [4]
• Slovak	67.2%
• Rusyn	19.2%
• Roma	3.1%
• Ukrainian	2.0%
• Other	0.9%
• Unreported	7.6%
Population by religion (2011) [5]
• Greek Catholic	38.2%
• Orthodox	25.4%
• Roman Catholic	21.4%
• Lutheran	0.9%
• Jehovah's Witness	0.4%
• Other	0.4%
• Non-religious	4.8%
• Unreported	8.5%
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	890 1[2]
Area code	+421 54[2]
Car plate	SK
Website	www.svidnik.sk

There is a monumental Soviet Army Memorial in the city, in memory of Battle of the Dukla Pass.

Geography

It is located in the Ondava Highlands, at the confluence of Ondava and Ladomírka rivers, located around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Dukla Pass (Polish border) and around 55 kilometres (34 mi) northeast of Prešov.

History

Soviet Army Memorial

The town arose in 1944 by merger of two formerly independent municipalities of Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník. The first written mention stems from 1355 as Scyuidnyk. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník were part of Sáros County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, they were part of the Slovak Republic. On 19 January 1945, the Red Army dislodged the Wehrmacht from Svidník in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1970	3,518	—
1980	7,538	+114.3%
1991	11,520	+52.8%
2001	12,428	+7.9%
2011	11,721	−5.7%
2021	10,168	−13.2%
Source: Censuses[6][7]

According to a 2001 census, the town had 12,428 inhabitants. 79.60% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 13.04% were Rusyns, 4.07% were Ukrainian, 1.50% were of Romani descent and 0.39% were Czechs.^[8] The religious make-up was 41.10% Greek Catholics, 25.82% Orthodox, 24.13% Roman Catholics, 5.17% people with no religious affiliation and 0.93% Lutherans.^[8]

Twin towns — sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Slovakia

Svidník is twinned with:^[9]

• Strzyżów, Poland
• Świdnik, Poland
• Jarosław, Poland
• Sanok County, Poland
• Chrudim, Czech Republic
• Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia
• Rakhiv, Ukraine
• Vrbas, Serbia