Portal:Slovakia
The Slovakia Portal
Slovakia (/sloʊˈvækiə, -ˈvɑːk-/ (
listen); Slovak: Slovensko [ˈslɔʋɛnskɔ] (listen)), officially the Slovak Republic (Slovak: Slovenská republika, listen), is a landlocked country in the eastern part of Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5.6 million and consists mostly of Slovaks. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, and the second-largest city is Košice. The official language is Slovak.
The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries. In the 7th century they played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra, which was later conquered by the Principality of Moravia to establish Great Moravia. In the 10th century, after the dissolution of Great Moravia, the territory was integrated into the Principality of Hungary, which would become the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000. In 1241 and 1242, much of the territory was destroyed by the Mongols during their invasion of Central and Eastern Europe. The area was recovered largely thanks to Béla IV of Hungary who also settled Germans who became an important ethnic group in the area, especially in what are today parts of central and eastern Slovakia. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czechoslovak National Council established Czechoslovakia (1918–1939). A separate (First) Slovak Republic (1939–1945) existed during World War II as a totalitarian, clero-fascist one-party client state of Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was re-established as an independent country. After a coup in 1948 Czechoslovakia became a totalitarian one-party socialist state under a communist administration, during which the country was part of the Soviet led Eastern Bloc. Attempts to liberalize communism in Czechoslovakia culminated in the Prague Spring, which was crushed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended the Communist rule in Czechoslovakia peacefully. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce.
Slovakia is a high-income advanced economy with a very high Human Development Index, a very high standard of living and performs favourably in measurements of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance and peacefulness. The country maintains a combination of a market economy with a comprehensive social security system. Citizens of Slovakia are provided with universal health care, free education and one of the longest paid parental leaves in the OECD. The country joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 and joined the Eurozone on 1 January 2009. Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. As part of Eurozone, Slovak legal tender is the euro, the world's 2nd-most-traded currency. Slovakia is the world's largest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,110,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2019 alone and the 5th largest car producer in the European Union, representing 43% of Slovakia's total industrial output. Read more...
Selected article -
Slovak (/ˈsloʊvæk, -vɑːk/ (listen)) or less frequently Slovakian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. Spoken by approximately 5 million people as a native language, it serves as the official language of Slovakia and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union.
Did you know...
- ...that Pharmacy Salvator in Bratislava, Slovakia survived both World Wars and nationalization but closed after 102 years of operation after being privatized?
- ...that Slovak is an unincorporated community in Prairie County, Arkansas, United States?
- ...that the Trinitarian Church in Bratislava was built on the place of an older settlement which was demolished in 1529 due to the Ottoman wars?
- ...that Slovak Paradise National Park is home to more than 2,100 species of butterfly, resulting in the highest concentration in Slovakia?
- ...that tajchy, a network of 60 water reservoirs and more than 100 km of channels, was built in the 1700s to drain flooded silver mines in Banská Štiavnica?
- ...that of 43 people on board, the sole survivor of the 2006 Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crash was in the toilet at the time of the crash?
- ...that archaeologists discovered bones of at least seven people sacrificed by druids in Havránok?
General images
Massive anti-government rally in Bratislava, 9 March 2018
Suggested borders of the Duchy of Nitra, proposed by Ján Steinhübel based on the description of the southern frontiers of Poland under Duke Boleslav the Brave (r. 992–1025) in the late 13th-century Polish-Hungarian Chronicle
Tiso's independent Slovakia in 1941.
Territorial losses in 1938–39.
The Mongol invasion in the 13th century led to construction of mighty stone castles, such as Spiš Castle.
Present-day Slovakia as part of Poland under the reign of Boleslav the Brave (r. 992–1025): the borders of Poland are described based on the report of the late 13th-century Polish-Hungarian Chronicle, the reliability of which is not universally accepted by specialists
Czechoslovakia in 1928
Areas ruled by Matthew III Csák and Amade Aba.
The spread of archaeological cultures associated with the Celts in Europe:maximal Celtic expansion, by the 3rd century BC
A map of the northern part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary in 1850, showing the two military districts which had administrative centres in the territory of present-day Slovakia
Czechoslovakia 1969–1990.
The Long Turkish War in 1593–1606
This wooden church in Bodružal is an example of Rusyn folk architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Halušky with bryndza cheese, kapustnica soup and Zlatý Bažant dark beer—examples of Slovak cuisine
Wooden folk architecture can be seen in the well preserved village of Vlkolínec, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Avar settlement area from the 7th to the 9th century, according to Éva Garam
Germanic and other tribes within the Hun-dominated areas, around 450 AD
A map presenting Moravia and the Principality of Nitra.
The "Miracle of the Rain" depicted on the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome
A map of the federalization of Austria-Hungary planned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, with Slovakia as one of the member states
Slovaks wearing folk costumes from Eastern Slovakia
Sure and disputed borders of Great Moravia under Svatopluk I (according to modern historians)
Slavic peoples in the 6th century
Main altar in Basilica of St. James from the workshop of Master Paul of Levoča, highest wooden altar in the world, 1517
Football stadium Tehelné pole in Bratislava. Association football is the most popular sport in Slovakia.
Europe around 900.
A map of modern Slovakia.
The Slovak national ice hockey team celebrating a victory against Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Slovak folk dance
Ľudovít Štúr, the author of the Slovak language standard
Things you can do
- Please see WikiProject Slovakia if you would like to help.
