In 1918 the Slovaks joined the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-ruled 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 EU in the spring of 2004.

Central Europe, south of Poland

48 40 N, 19 30 E

total: 48,845 sq km
land: 48,800 sq km
water: 45 sq km

total: 1,524 km
border countries: Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 677 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 97 km

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south

lowest point: Bodrok River 94 m
highest point: Gerlachovsky Stit 2,655 m

brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; arable land

arable land: 29.23%
permanent crops: 2.67%
other: 68.1% (2005)

1,830 sq km (2003)

air pollution from metallurgical plants presents human health risks; acid rain damaging forests

landlocked; most of the country is rugged and mountainous; the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys

5,439,448 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 16.7% (male 465,304/female 443,967)
15-64 years: 71.3% (male 1,929,448/female 1,947,735)
65 years and over: 12% (male 244,609/female 408,385) (2006 est.)

total: 35.8 years
male: 34.2 years
female: 37.6 years (2006 est.)

0.15% (2006 est.)

10.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

9.45 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 7.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.48 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 74.73 years
male: 70.76 years
female: 78.89 years (2006 est.)

1.33 children born/woman (2006 est.)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

less than 200 (2003 est.)

less than 100 (2001 est.)

noun: Slovak(s)
adjective: Slovak

Slovak 85.8%, Hungarian 9.7%, Roma 1.7%, Ruthenian/Ukrainian 1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

Roman Catholic 68.9%, Protestant 10.8%, Greek Catholic 4.1%, other or unspecified 3.2%, none 13% (2001 census)

Slovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6%
male: 99.7%
female: 99.6% (2001 est.)

conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia
local long form: Slovenska Republika
local short form: Slovensko

parliamentary democracy

Bratislava

8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky

1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

Constitution Day, 1 September (1992)

ratified 1 September 1992, effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20-21 September 2002 (next to be held 17 June 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS-LS 19.5%, SDKU 15.1%, Smer 13.5%, SMK 11.2%, KDH 8.3%, ANO 8%, KSS 6.3%; seats by party - governing coalition 53 (SDKU 23, SMK 20, ANO 10), opposition 97 (Smer 27, HZDS-LS 22, KDH 15, KSS 9, and independents 24) (February 2006)

Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council); Special Court (judges elected by a council of judges and appointed by president)

Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA government made excellent progress during 2001-04 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and the government has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom with business-friendly policies, such as labor market liberalization and a 19% flat tax. Foreign investment in the automotive sector has been strong. Slovakia's economic growth exceeded expectations in 2001-05, despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 15% in 2003-04, dropped to 11.4% in 2005, but remains the economy's Achilles heel. Slovakia joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

$85.56 billion (2005 est.)

$42.74 billion (2005 est.)

5.5% (2005 est.)

$15,800 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 5.5%
industry: 28.4%
services: 66.1% (2005 est.)

2.24 million (30 September 2005 est.)

agriculture 5.8%, industry 29.3%, construction 9%, services 55.9% (2003)

11.4% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 18.2% (1992)

25.8 (1996)

2.7% (2005)

25.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

revenues: $22.7 billion
expenditures: $23.2 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

16.9% of GDP (2005 est.)

grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products

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

3.3% (2005 est.)

30.57 billion kWh (2004)

24.8 billion kWh (2004)

10.59 billion kWh (2004)

8.731 billion kWh (2004)

3,808 bbl/day (2003 est.)

71,400 bbl/day (2003 est.)

4.5 million bbl (1 January 2002)

165 million cu m (2004 est.)

6.72 billion cu m (2004 est.)

1 million cu m (2004 est.)

6.949 billion cu m (2004 est.)

15.01 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

-$2.15 billion (2005 est.)

$32.39 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

vehicles 25.9%, machinery and electrical equipment 21.3%, base metals 14.6%, chemicals and minerals 10.1%, plastics 5.4% (2004)

Germany 34.2%, Czech Republic 14.6%, Austria 8.2%, Italy 6%, Poland 5.3%, US 4.5%, Hungary 4.3% (2004)

$34.48 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

machinery and transport equipment 41.1%, intermediate manufactured goods 19.3%, fuels 12.3%, chemicals 9.8%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 10.2% (2003)

Germany 25.9%, Czech Republic 21.3%, Russia 9.1%, Austria 6.6%, Italy 5.1%, Poland 4.9% (2004)

$15.5 billion (2005 est.)

$26.54 billion (2005 est.)

$12.67 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2007-13)

Slovak koruna (SKK)

calendar year

1,250,400 (2004)

4,275,200 (2004)

general assessment: a modernization and privatization program is increasing accessibility to telephone service, reducing the waiting time for new subscribers, and generally improving service quality
domestic: predominantly an analog system that is now receiving digital equipment and is being enlarged with fiber-optic cable, especially in the larger cities; mobile cellular capability has been added
international: country code - 421; three international exchanges (one in Bratislava and two in Banska Bystrica) are available; Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services

AM 15, FM 78, shortwave 2 (1998)

6 national broadcasting, 7 regional, 67 local (2004)

.sk

135,991 (2005)

2.276 million (2005)

34 (2005)

total: 17
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 7 (2005)

total: 17
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 7 (2005)

1 (2005)

gas 6,769 km; oil 449 km (2004)

total: 3,662 km
broad gauge: 100 km 1.520-m gauge
standard gauge: 3,512 km 1.435-m gauge (1,588 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 50 km (1.000 m or 0.750-m gauge) (2004)

total: 42,993 km
paved: 37,533 km (including 313 km of expressways)
unpaved: 5,460 km (2003)

172 km (on Danube River) (2005)

total: 39 ships (1000 GRT or over) 204,146 GRT/287,586 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 5, cargo 33, chemical tanker 1
foreign-owned: 38 (Bulgaria 7, Estonia 1, Greece 5, Israel 6, Syria 2, Turkey 8, Ukraine 8, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 1 (Cyprus 1) (2005)

Bratislava, Komarno

Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (Ozbrojene Sily Slovenskej Republiky): Land Forces (Pozemne Sily), Air Forces (Vzdusne Sily), Training and Support Forces (Vycviku a Podpory Sily) (2005)

Hungary amended its status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, to which Slovakia had protested; consultations continue between Slovakia and Hungary over Hungary's completion of its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Slovakia must implement the strict Schengen border rules

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market