Slovakia

The Slovak Republic /sloʊˈvɑːkiə/ (help·info) (short form: Slovakia; Slovak: Slovensko (help·info), long form Slovenská republika (help·info)) 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). It 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, UN, OECD, WTO, UNESCO and other international organizations.

The Slavs arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia between the fifth and sixth centuries AD during the Migration Period. In the course of history, various parts of today's Slovakia belonged to Samo's Empire (the first known political unit of Slavs), Great Moravia, Kingdom of Hungary,^[3] the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire, and Czechoslovakia. An independent Slovak state was created for a brief period during World War II, during which Slovakia was a dependency of Nazi Germany 1939-1944. From 1945 Slovakia once again became a part of Czechoslovakia. The present-day Slovakia became an independent state on January 1, 1993 after the dissolution of its federation with the Czech Republic.

Slovakia is a high-income advanced economy^[4][5] with the fastest growth rates in the EU and OECD. It joined the European Union in 2004 and joined the Eurozone on the 1st of January, 2009.

Contents

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Before the fifth century
  • 1.2 The great invasions of the 4-7th centuries
  • 1.3 Slavic states
  • 1.4 The era of Great Moravia (830-896)
  • 1.5 Kingdom of Hungary (1000-1919)
  • 1.6 Interwar Czechoslovakia
  • 1.7 World War II
  • 1.8 Rule of the Communist party
  • 1.9 Establishment of the Slovak Republic
• 2 Geography
  • 2.1 Climate of lowlands
  • 2.2 Climate of basins
  • 2.3 Mountain climate
• 3 Demographics
• 4 Politics
• 5 Regions and districts
• 6 Economy
  • 6.1 Industry
• 7 Infrastructure
  • 7.1 Road
  • 7.2 Rail
  • 7.3 Air
  • 7.4 River
  • 7.5 Tourism
• 8 Science
• 9 Culture
  • 9.1 Literature
  • 9.2 Cuisine
  • 9.3 Music
• 10 International rankings
• 11 See also
  • 11.1 Culture
  • 11.2 Holidays
  • 11.3 Miscellaneous topics
• 12 References
• 13 Further reading
• 14 External links

Slovak Republic Slovenská republika
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Nad Tatrou sa blýska "Lightning over the Tatras"
Location of Slovakia (dark green) – on the European continent (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green) — [Legend]
Capital (and largest city)		Bratislava 48°09′N 17°07′E / 48.15°N 17.117°E / 48.15; 17.117
Official languages		Slovak
Ethnic groups		85.8% Slovak, 9.5% Hungarian, 1.9% Roma, 2.8% other minority groups
Demonym		Slovak
Government		Parliamentary republic
-	President	Ivan Gašparovič
-	Prime Minister	Robert Fico
-	President of National Council	Pavol Paška
Independence
-	from Austria–Hungary	October 28, 1918
-	from Czechoslovakia	January 1, 1993
EU accession		May 1, 2004[1]
Area
-	Total	49,035 km2 (123) 18,932 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	2001 census	5,379,455 (109th)
-	Density	111/km2 (88th) 287/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2008 estimate
-	Total	$119.268 billion[2]
-	Per capita	$22,040[2]
GDP (nominal)		2008 estimate
-	Total	$95.404 billion[2]
-	Per capita	$17,630[2]
Gini (2008)		19.5 (low) (1st)
HDI (2006)		▲ 0.872 (high) (41st)
Currency		Euro (€)2 (EUR2)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
-	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		.sk3
Calling code		+4214