"text":"Slovakia traces its roots to the 9th century state of Great Moravia. The Slovaks then became part of the Hungarian Kingdom, where they remained for the next 1,000 years. After the formation of the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867, language and education policies favoring the use of Hungarian (known as \"Magyarization\") led to a public backlash that boosted Slovak nationalism and strengthened Slovak cultural ties with the closely related Czechs, who fell administratively under the Austrian half of the empire. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved at the end of World War I, the Slovaks joined the Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar period, Slovak nationalist leaders pushed for autonomy within Czechoslovakia, and in 1939, in the wake of Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland, the newly established Slovak Republic became a German client state for the remainder of World War II. <br><br>After World War II, Czechoslovakia was reconstituted and came under communist rule within Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. In 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded and ended the efforts of Czechoslovakia's leaders to liberalize communist rule and create \"socialism with a human face,\" ushering in a period of repression known as \"normalization.\" The peaceful Velvet Revolution swept the Communist Party from power at the end of 1989 and inaugurated a return to democratic rule and a market economy. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia underwent a nonviolent \"velvet divorce\" into its two national components, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Slovakia joined both NATO and the EU in 2004 and the euro zone in 2009."
"text":"Dunaj (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country; slightly larger concentration in the west in proximity to the Czech border"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"flooding"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"landlocked; most of the country is rugged and mountainous; the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> data represent population by nationality; Romani populations are usually underestimated in official statistics and may represent 7–11% of Slovakia's population"
"text":"<br>Svetova Kniha Faktov, nenahraditelny zdroj zakladnej informacie. (Slovak)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"Roman Catholic 55.8%, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession 5.3%, Greek Catholic 4%, Reformed Christian 1.6%, other 3%, none 23.8%, unspecified 6.5% (2021 est.)"
"text":"air pollution and acid rain present human health risks and damage forests; land erosion caused by agricultural and mining practices; water pollution"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling"
"text":"Dunaj (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"may derive from the medieval Latin word \"Slavus\" (Slav), which had the local form \"Sloven\", used since the 13th century to refer to the territory of Slovakia and its inhabitants"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Bratislava"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"48 09 N, 17 07 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"the name was adopted in 1919 after Czechoslovakia gained its independence and may derive from later transliterations of the 9th century military commander, Braslav, or the 11th century Bohemian Duke BRETISLAV I; alternatively, the name may derive from the Slovak words <em>brat</em> (brother) and <em>slava</em> (glory)"
"text":"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"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election first round 23 March 2024 with a runoff on 6 April 2024 (next to be held in 2029); following National Council elections (every 4 years), the president designates a prime minister candidate, usually the leader of the party or coalition that wins the most votes, who must win a vote of confidence in the National Council"
"text":"<em><br>2024: </em>Peter PELLEGRINI elected president in the second round; percent of vote in first round - Ivan KORCOK (independent) 42.5%; Peter PELLEGRINI (Hlas-SD) 37%; Stefan HARABIN (independent) 11.7%, other 8.8%; percent of vote in second round Peter PELLEGRINI (Hlas-SD) 53.1%; Ivan KORCOK (independent) 46.9%<em><br><br>2019:</em>Zuzana CAPUTOVA elected president in second round; percent of vote - Zuzana CAPUTOVA (PS) 58.4%, Maros SEFCOVIC (independent) 41.6%"
"text":"unicameral National Council or Narodna Rada (150 seats; members directly elected in a single- and multi-seat constituencies by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms); 76 seats needed for a majority"
"text":"percent of vote by party - SMER-SSD 23%, PS 18%, Hlas-SD 14.7%, OL'aNO 8.9%, KDH 6.8%, SaS 6.3%, SNS 5.6%; seats by party - SMER-SSD 42, PS 32, Hlas-SD 27, OL'aNO 16, KDH 12, SaS 11, SNS 10; composition - men 116, women 34, percentage women 22.7%"
"text":"Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of the court president, vice president, and approximately 80 judges organized into criminal, civil, commercial, and administrative divisions with 3- and 5-judge panels); Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of 13 judges organized into 3-judge panels)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court judge candidates nominated by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, an 18-member self-governing body that includes the Supreme Court chief justice and presidential, governmental, parliamentary, and judiciary appointees; judges appointed by the president serve for life subject to removal by the president at age 65; Constitutional Court judges nominated by the National Council of the Republic and appointed by the president; judges serve 12-year terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"regional and district civil courts; Special Criminal Court; Higher Military Court; military district courts; Court of Audit;"
"text":"Alliance-Szovetseg or A-S<br>Christian Union or KÚ<br>Civic Conservative Party or OKS<br>Democrats<br>Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SSD<br>For the People or Za Ludi<br>Freedom and Solidarity or SaS<br>Life National Party or Život–NS (formerly Christian Democracy - Life and Prosperity - Alliance for Slovkia)<br>New Majority or NOVA<br>Ordinary People and Independent Personalities - New Majority or OLaNO-NOVA<br>People's Party Our Slovakia or LSNS<br>Progressive Slovakia or PS<br>Republic<br>Slovak National Party or SNS<br>Voice - Social Democracy or Hlas-SD<br>We Are Family or Sme-Rodina (formerly Party of Citizens of Slovakia)"
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red derive from the Pan-Slav colors; the Slovakian coat of arms (consisting of a red shield bordered in white and bearing a white double-barred cross of St. Cyril and St. Methodius surmounting three blue hills) is centered over the bands but offset slightly to the hoist side",
"text":"Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica (c); Levoča, Spišský Hrad, and the Associated Cultural Monuments (c); Vlkolínec (c); Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (n); Bardejov Town (c); Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians (n); Wooden Churches of the Slovak Carpathians (c); Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube Limes (Western Segment) (c)"
"text":"high-income EU- and eurozone-member economy; manufacturing and exports led by automotive sector; weakening of anti-corruption laws may impact foreign investment and status of EU funds; influx of foreign labor offsets aging workforce; widening fiscal deficit from social spending and EU-financed public investments "
"text":"automobiles; metal and metal products; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals, synthetic fibers, wood and paper products; machinery; earthenware and ceramics; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products; food and beverages; pharmaceutical"
"note":"<b>note:</b> central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated"
"text":"the broadband market has shown steady growth in recent years; fiber has become the principal platform for fixed broadband services, followed by DSL; the cable sector is a distant third in terms of subscribers, though cable is particularly strong in urban areas; mobile broadband access and content services are developing rapidly in line with operators having upgraded their networks; the regulator prepared the groundwork for 5G services in line with European Union requirements, with concessions in the 3.5GHz range followed by those in the 700MHz, 900MHz and 1800MHz bands; 5G was launched in late 2021 and is expected to cover about a fifth of the population by the end of 2022 (2024)"
"text":"country code - 421; 3 international exchanges (1 in Bratislava and 2 in Banska Bystrica) are available; Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services; connects to DREAM cable (2017)"
"text":"state-owned public broadcaster, Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), operates 2 national TV stations and multiple national and regional radio networks; roughly 50 privately owned TV stations operating nationally, regionally, and locally; about 40% of households are connected to multi-channel cable or satellite TV; 32 privately owned radio stations"
"text":"2,270 km gas transmission pipelines, 6,278 km high-pressure gas distribution pipelines, 27,023 km mid- and low-pressure gas distribution pipelines (2016), 510 km oil (2015) (2016)"
"text":"Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (Ozbrojene Sily Slovenskej Republiky): Land Forces (Slovenské Pozemné Sily), Air Forces (Slovenské Vzdušné Sily), Special Operations Forces (Sily Pre Speciálne Operácie)<br><br>Ministry of Interior: Slovak Police Force (SPF or Policajný Zbor) (2024)",
"text":"approximately 15,000 active-duty personnel (8,000 Land Forces; 4,000 Air Forces; 3,000 other, including staff, special operations, and support forces) (2024)"
"text":"the military's inventory consists mostly of Soviet-era platforms; in recent years it has imported limited quantities of more modern, NATO-compatible equipment, particularly from Italy and the US (2024)"
"text":"the Slovak military was created from the Czechoslovak Army after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993; it is responsible for external defense and fulfilling Slovakia’s commitments to European and international security; Slovakia has been a member of both the EU and NATO since 2004; a key focus of the Slovak military is fulfilling the country’s security responsibilities to NATO, including modernizing and acquiring NATO-compatible equipment, participating in training exercises, and providing forces for security missions such as NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic States; since 2022, Slovakia has hosted a NATO ground force battlegroup comprised of troops from Czechia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the US as part of the NATO effort to boost the defenses of Eastern Europe since the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Slovakia also contributes to EU and UN peacekeeping missions<br><br>the Slovak Air Force has only a handful of fighter aircraft and is assisted by NATO’s air policing mission over Slovakia, which includes fighter aircraft from Czechia and Poland; in 2022, Slovakia signed a defense agreement with the US that allows the US to use two Slovak military air bases (2024)"
"text":"no national government agency; the Slovak Space Office is responsible for inter-ministerial political coordination and multilateral international cooperation; it serves as the official national contact point for international cooperation between space agencies, offices, associations, businesses, and research entities, and is part of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport (2023)"
"text":"focused on the development of satellites, satellite subcomponents, and other space-related technologies; as a member state of the EU, it is actively involved in all key components of the EU space program, and Slovak researchers actively participate in a variety of EU and/or European Space Agency (ESA) space missions including the Galileo global navigational system program, Copernicus Earth observation satellite program, Rosetta comet probe, BepiColombo (Mercury planetary orbiter), and Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission; has more than 40 established companies actively involved in the space sector (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in the Space Programs reference guide"
"text":"transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market; consumer of MDMA (ecstasy)"
