Slovakia
The Slovakian countryside, with the Tatra mountains visible in the distance.
Countries and Regions of the World Collection 
Slovakia is a landlocked nation of five-and-a-half million people in central Europe, south of Poland.
Most of the country is rugged and mountainous. The Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys.
Its major environmental issues include:
- air pollution from metallurgical plants presents human health risks; and,
- acid rain damaging forests
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Slovakia's roots can be traced to the 9th century state of Great Moravia.
Subsequently, the Slovaks became part of the Hungarian Kingdom, where they remained for the next 1,000 years.
Following the formation of the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867, language and education policies favoring the use of Hungarian (Magyarization) resulted in a strengthening of Slovak nationalism and a cultivation of cultural ties with the closely related Czechs, who were themselves ruled by the Austrians.
After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the close of World War I, the Slovaks joined the Czechs to form Czechoslovakia.
Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free.
The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993.
Slovakia joined both NATO and the European Union in the spring of 2004 and the euro area on 1 January 2009.
Contents
Geography
Location: Central Europe, south of Poland
Geographic Coordinates: 48 40 N, 19 30 E
Area: 49,035 sq km (land: 48,105 sq km; water: 930 sq km)
Land Boundaries: 1,474 km (Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 197 km, Hungary 676 km, Poland 420 km, Ukraine 90 km)
As a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Slovakia has implemented the strict Schengen border rules.
Natural Hazards:
Terrain: rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south. The highest point is Gerlachovsky Stit (2,655 m) and the lowest point Bodrok River (94 m).
Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Ecology and Biodiversity
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
- Pannonian mixed forests
- Carpathian Montane Forests
See also:
People and Society
Population: 5,483,088 (July 2012 est.)
The majority of the 5.5 million inhabitants of the Slovak Republic are Slovak (80.7%). Hungarians are officially the largest ethnic minority (8.5%) and are concentrated in the southern and eastern regions of Slovakia. Up to 10% of the population is thought to be Roma, although the last official census (2011) put their number at 2.0%. Other ethnic groups include Czechs, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Germans, and Poles. The Slovak constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The majority of Slovak citizens (62%) are Roman Catholic; the second-largest group is Lutheran (5.9%). About 3,000 Jews remain of the estimated pre-World War II population of 120,000. The official state language is Slovak, and Hungarian is widely spoken in the south.
Despite its modern European economy and society, Slovakia has a significant rural element. About 46% of Slovaks live in villages of less than 5,000 people, and 14% in villages of less than 1,000.
Ethnic Groups: Slovak 85.8%, Hungarian 9.7%, Roma 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 15.6% (male 437,755/female 417,797)
15-64 years: 71.6% (male 1,955,031/female 1,965,554)
65 years and over: 12.8% (male 262,363/female 438,538) (2011 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 0.104% (2012 est.)
Birthrate: 10.38 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)
Death Rate: 9.64 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 76.03 years
male: 72.14 years
female: 80.12 years (2012 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 1.38 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Languages: Slovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census)
Literacy (age 15 and over can read and write): 99.6% (2004)
Urbanization: 55% of total population (2010) growing at an annual rate of change of 0.1% (2010-15 est.)
History
Historians usually trace Slovakia’s roots to the Great Moravian Empire, founded in the early ninth century. The territory of Great Moravia included all of present western and central Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and parts of neighboring Poland, Hungary, and Germany. Saints Cyril and Methodius, known for the creation of a Cyrillic alphabet, came to Great Moravia as missionaries upon the invitation of the king in the early 10th century to spread Christianity. The empire collapsed after only 80 years as a result of the political intrigues and external pressures from invading forces. Slovaks then became part of the Hungarian Kingdom, where they remained for the next 1,000 years. Bratislava was the Hungarian capital for nearly two and a half centuries after the Turks occupied the territory of present-day Hungary in the early 16th century.
Revolutions inspired by nationalism swept through Central Europe in 1848, which led to the codification of the Slovak language by Ludovit Stur in 1846 and later the formation of the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867. As language and education policies favoring the use of Hungarian, which came to be known as Magyarization, grew stricter, Slovak nationalism grew stronger. Slovak intellectuals cultivated cultural ties with the Czechs, who were themselves ruled by the Austrians. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian State following World War I, the concept of a single Czecho-Slovakian unified state came to fruition. Tomas Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Agreement, declaring the intent of the Czechs and Slovaks to found a new state in May 1918, and a year later became Czechoslovakia's first president.
After the 1938 Munich agreement forced Czechoslovakia to cede territory to Germany, Slovakia declared its autonomy. Slovakia became a Nazi puppet state led by the Catholic priest Jozef Tiso. During this period, approximately 70,000 Slovak Jews were sent to concentration camps to perish in the Holocaust. Roma, while persecuted under the Tiso regime, were not deported by the Slovak Hlinka guards. An undetermined number of Roma were deported from the southern part of Slovakia when it was occupied by Hungary in 1944. The Slovak National Uprising, a brief insurrection against the fascist powers in August-September 1944, was put down by Nazi forces.
At the conclusion of World War II, the reunified Czechoslovakia was considered within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. The communist party, supported by the U.S.S.R., took political power in February 1948 and began to centralize control. The next 4 decades were characterized by strict communist rule, interrupted only briefly during the Prague Spring of 1968. The Slovak-born Communist leader Alexander Dubcek presided over a thawing of communist power and proposed political, social, and economic reforms in his effort to make "socialism with a human face" a reality. Concern among other Warsaw Pact governments that Dubcek had gone too far prompted an invasion and Dubcek's removal from his position.
The 1970s were characterized by the development of a dissident movement. On January 1, 1977 more than 250 human rights activists signed a manifesto called Charter 77, which criticized the government for failing to meet its human rights obligation. The so-called "Candle Demonstration," which took place in Bratislava in March 1988, was the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The demonstration, organized by Roman Catholic groups asking for religious freedom in Czechoslovakia, was brutally suppressed by the police.
On November 17, 1989, a series of public protests, known as the "Velvet Revolution," began and led to the downfall of communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Dissident groups, such as Charter 77 in the Czech Republic and Public Against Violence in Slovakia, united to form a transitional government and assist with the first democratic elections since 1948. Several new parties emerged to fill the political spectrum.
After the 1992 elections, Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), which demanded Slovak autonomy as a matter of fairness, emerged as the leading party in Slovakia. In June 1992, the Slovak parliament voted to declare sovereignty, and the federation dissolved peacefully on January 1, 1993. Meciar's party ruled Slovakia for its first 5 years as an independent state. His authoritarian style as Prime Minister created international concerns about the democratic development of Slovakia. In the 1998 elections, HZDS received about 27% of the vote, but was unable to find coalition partners and went into opposition.
An anti-Meciar coalition formed a government led by Mikulas Dzurinda, the chairman of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) and began to pursue critical economic and political reforms. The first Dzurinda government enabled Slovakia to enter the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), begin accession negotiations with the European Union (EU) and close virtually all chapters of the accession acquis, and make the country a strong candidate for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accession. However, the popularity of the governing parties declined sharply, and several new parties gained relatively high levels of support in public opinion polls.
In the September 2002 parliamentary elections, a last-minute surge in support for the SDKU gave Dzurinda a mandate for a second term. He formed a government with three other center-right parties: the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), Christian Democrats (KDH), and Alliance of New Citizens (ANO). The main priorities of the coalition were ensuring a strong Slovak performance within NATO and the EU, fighting corruption, attracting foreign investment, and reforming social services, such as the health care system. Following a summer 2003 parliamentary shake-up, the government lost its narrow parliamentary majority and controlled only 69 of the 150 seats; however, because of conflicts among the opposition parties, the coalition was able to remain in power with the tacit support of Meciar’s HZDS.
Slovakia became a member of NATO on March 29, 2004, and joined the EU on May 1, 2004. All parliamentary political parties strongly supported Slovakia's NATO and EU accession.
After parliamentary elections on June 17, 2006, Robert Fico became Prime Minister, leading a coalition of Direction (Smer-SD), the Slovak National Party (SNS), and the People’s Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (LS-HzDS). During Fico’s tenure, the ambitious economic reforms of the previous government largely stagnated although, in most cases, they were not rolled back. Fico’s government supported the mission in Afghanistan, increasing deployments from just over 50 to more than 300 while in office. In January 2010, Slovakia accepted three Guantanamo detainees for resettlement.
Although Smer-SD gained the largest share of parliamentary seats in June 12, 2010 elections, four center-right parties--SDKU, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), KDH, and Bridge (Most-Hid)--formed a narrow governing coalition with the stated principal aim of attacking corruption, enhancing transparency, and returning to a more free-market economic agenda. SDKU’s Iveta Radicova led the government as the first female Prime Minister in Slovakia’s history. The government fell in October 2011 because of disputes among coalition parties regarding Slovak participation in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). EFSF was approved in November 2011 with SMER-SD support.
Parliamentary elections took place in March 2012. Smer-SD won more than 44% of the vote and 83 seats in the Slovak Parliament. Under the leadership of former Prime Minister Robert Fico, Smer-SD formed the first one-party government since the Velvet Revolution.
Government
Government Type: Parliamentary democracy
Slovakia's highest legislative body is the 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic. Delegates are elected for 4-year terms on the basis of proportional representation. The Slovak political scene supports a wide spectrum of political parties, including several center-right parties and the Slovak National Party.
In January 1999, Parliament passed a constitutional amendment allowing for direct election of the president. Kosice Mayor Rudolf Schuster was elected president in a May 1999 run-off with former Prime Minister Meciar and took office on June 15, 1999. On April 17, 2004, Ivan Gasparovic, a former Meciar deputy, was elected president; he was re-elected to a second 5-year term on April 4, 2009. Virtually all executive powers of government belong to the prime minister, but the president serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is empowered to grant pardons, and has the right to return legislation to Parliament. Parliament, however, can override this veto with a simple majority.
Capital: Bratislava - 428,000 (2009)
Panorama of Bratislava. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
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Administrative divisions: 8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj);
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Independence Date: 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Legal System: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; note - legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal system. Slovakia accepts compulsory International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction with reservations; and accepts International criminal court (ICCt) jurisdiction.
The country's highest appellate forum is the Supreme Court; below that are regional, district, and military courts. In certain cases the law provides for decisions of tribunals of judges to be attended by lay judges from the citizenry. Slovakia also has a special Constitutional Court, which rules on constitutional issues. The 13 members of this court are appointed by the president from a slate of candidates nominated by Parliament.
In 2002, Parliament passed legislation that created a Judicial Council. This 18-member council, composed of judges, law professors, and other legal experts, is responsible for the nomination of judges. All judges, except those of the Constitutional Court, are appointed by the president from a list proposed by the Judicial Council. The Council determines principles for the selection, evaluation, promotion, and continuing education of judges, and should establish principles of judicial ethics. The Judicial Council appoints Disciplinary Senates in cases of judicial misconduct.
International Environmental Agreements
Slovakia is party to international agreements on: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, and Whaling.
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 50.1 cu km (2003)
Freshwater Withdrawal: 1.04 cu km/yr
Per Capita Freshwater Withdrawal: 193 cu m/yr (2003)
Bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working group negotiations continued in 2006 between Slovakia and Hungary over Hungary's completion of its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube.
Agriculture
Agricultural products: grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products
Irrigated Land: 1,660 sq km (2008)
Resources
Natural Resources: brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; arable land.
Land Use:
Economy
With the establishment of the Slovak Republic in January 1993, Slovakia continued the difficult transformation from a centrally-planned to a modern market-oriented economy. This reform slowed in the 1994-98 period due to the crony capitalism and irresponsible fiscal policies of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's government. While economic growth and other fundamentals improved steadily during Meciar's term, public and private debt and trade deficits soared, and privatization, often tarnished by corrupt insider deals, progressed only in fits and starts. Real annual GDP growth peaked at 6.5% in 1995 but declined to 1.3% in 1999. Much of the growth in the Meciar era, however, was attributable to high government spending and over-borrowing rather than productive economic activity.
The pace of economic reforms picked up during the second administration of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, which oversaw the simplification of the tax system, reforms of the labor code and pension systems, and a large number of privatizations. With the onset of the global recession in 2008, Slovakia’s highly export-dependent economy began to contract, finishing that year with 6.4% growth, following 10.4% growth in 2007. The economy slowed rapidly in the first quarter of 2009--contracting 12% from the previous quarter--as the deepening recession was exacerbated by a political crisis between Russia and Ukraine that led to a 3-week disruption of Slovakia’s natural gas supply.
The economy contracted 5% in 2009 primarily as a result of smaller inflows of FDI and reduced demand for Slovakia's exports before rebounding 4% in 2010 and 3.3% in 2011. A return to modest growth was forecast for 2010. Unemployment rose above 12% in 2010-11. The government of Prime Minister Iveta Radicova implemented reforms to curb corruption and improve government accountability - a major source of discontent with many Slovaks - and trimmed the budget deficit to 4.9% of GDP in 2011.
Slovakia entered into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in November 2005, and joined the European Monetary Union on January 1, 2009. Headline consumer price inflation dropped from a high of 26% in 1993 to 1.4% in 2009. The current account deficit, including the cost of the second pension pillar, reached 5.0% in 2008 then moved considerably higher. The general government deficit for 2010 was forecast at 5.5%, although private sector analysts expected it to be as high as 7.0%. In 2009 the government deficit peaked at 7.8% of GDP. Austerity measures adopted during the Radicova administration were successful in reducing the deficit to 4.6% of GDP.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Slovakia accounted for much of the growth in the period 2000-2010. Cheap and skilled labor, low taxes, a 19% flat tax for corporations and individuals, no dividend taxes, a relatively liberal labor code, and a favorable geographical location are Slovakia's main advantages for foreign investors. The main points of economic reform remained untouched even after the 2006 elections. FDI inflow cumulatively reached $48.72 billion in 2009; the total inflow of FDI in 2009 was $2.0 billion.
Germany is Slovakia's largest trading partner, purchasing 19.2% of Slovakia's exports and supplying 15.8% of its imports in 2010. Other major partners include the Czech Republic (13.7% of Slovakia’s exports and 10.2% of Slovakia’s imports in 2010), Italy (5.5% and 3.3%), Russia (4.0% and 9.8%), Austria (6.8% and 2.5%), Hungary (6.6% and 4.3%), Poland (7.3% and 4.1%) and France (6.8% and 3.6%). Slovakia imports nearly all of its oil and gas from Russia, and its export markets are primarily EU and OECD countries. In 2010, 84.2% of its export trade was with EU members, and 85.9% was with OECD countries. Slovakia's exports to the United States made up 1.5% of its overall exports in 2010 ($728 million), while imports from the U.S. accounted for 0.9% of its total purchases abroad ($433.3 million).
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $126.9 billion (2011 est.)
GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $97.2 billion (2011 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $23,400 (2011 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 35.5%
services: 60.7% (2011 est.)
Industries: metal and metal products; food and beverages; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals and manmade fibers; machinery; paper and printing; earthenware and ceramics; transport vehicles; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products
Currency: Euros (EUR)
