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Slovak Republic

Capitol: Bratislava ( population is 450 000 )

SLOVAKIA.GIF (526 bytes)

General Information*
*The information on this site is subject to disclaimer.   disclaimer

Slovakia
"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. Historic, political, and geographic factors have caused Slovakia to experience more difficulty in developing a modern market economy than some of its Central European neighbors.

-- CIA World Factbook

  Slovakia belongs to NATO and the European Union

BRATISLAVA      www.bratislava.com/

The Guide to the Slovak Republic: Slovakia.org

A List of Towns in Slovakia
www.fact-index.com/l/li/list_of_towns_in_slovakia.html

World's Largest Collection of Slovak Links    www.slovaklinks.com/page7.htm

Slovak, Slovaks Czechoslovakians or Slovakian are very good People

External Links to: Pictures from Slovakia

Photos from Slovakia(Photos are the property of European Commission) europa.eu.int
/comm/enlargement
/slovakia/pictures
/slovakia_pictures.htm

Using this link to Slovakia:
You Will Read About Her Glorious Past and Her Present-Day Resources. Moreover, See Pictures of Slovakia. Your Guide to Slovakia.
 
www.slovensko
.com/


Spectacular Pictures are brought to you by:
www.album-slovakia
.wz.cz
/index.php

Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogy Center Center: www.iarelative.com
/slovakia.htm

External Links to: Slovak History from Webster's Online Dictionary:

Abridged history of Slovakia
Abacci Atlas

One of the most informative sites on the Web. A guide to Slovak Republic
www.slovakia.org

More Goodies
www.slovak.com/

More Slovakian History www.adc.sk/english
/slovakia/


Another Very Informative Slovak Sites: Jewish History of Slovakia:
www.heritagefilms.com
/Slovak.htm

Links to: Slovak Language Courses

Basic Slovak Language Course:  Let's Learn Slovak - Online Language Course
www.heartofeurope
.co.uk/dictionary.htm


Basic Slovak Language Course: 

Wikibooks.org.

A Learners Slovak Overview:
www.slovak.com
/language/

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Slovaks Around the World
External Links to:

There are approximately 821,000 People of Slovakian Ancestry Living in America
Slovaks in America - www.euroamericans.net
/slovak.htm

Slovaks in America By the Library of Congres
www.loc.gov
/rr/european
/imsk/slovakia.html

  
Slovaks in Canada
 
www.slovak.com
/stephens
/politics.html

External Links to: Slovak Born or of Slovak Descent - Great Men and Women:

List Of Famous Slovaks: A link to:
Asinah.net

The Global Encyclopedia Slovakian Scientist and Inventors:
www.fact-
index.com /l/li
/list_of_slovaks
.html

Slovakia - The Heart of Europe   Famous Slovaks & Many Links to Other Sites
heartofeurope.co.uk
/history_famous.htm

 

Slovakia
Location: Central Europe, south of Poland

Map references: Europe

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

Area - comparative: about twice the size of New Hampshire

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

Coastline:0 km (landlocked)

Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters

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

Natural Resources:  ignite coal, lead, zinc, mercury, uranium, silver 

Government type:parliamentary democracy

Capital:Bratislava

Independence:1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech and Slovak Republics)

National holiday: Slovak Constitution Day, 1 September (1992); Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising, 29 August (1944)

Constitution:ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president

Population:5,407,956 (July 2000 est.)

Nationality: noun: Slovak(s)
adjective: Slovak

Ethnic groups:Slovak 85.7%, Hungarian 10.6%, Gypsy 1.6% (the 1992 census figures underreport the Gypsy/Romany community, which is about 500,000), Czech, Moravian, Silesian 1.1%, Ruthenian and Ukrainian 0.6%, German 0.1%, Polish 0.1%, other 0.2% (1996)

Religions:Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%, Orthodox 4.1%, other 17.5%

Languages:Slovak (official), Hungarian

Currency:1 koruna (Sk) = 100 halierov

Slovakian Economy
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 2001-03 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatization are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up. Slovakia's economy exceeded expectations in 2001-03, despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 15% in 2003, remains the economy's Achilles heel. The government faces other strong challenges in 2004, especially cutting the budget deficit, containing inflation, and strengthening the health care system.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $72.29 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:agriculture: 4.5%
industry: 34.1%  services: 61.4% (2000)

Labor force: 3 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation   industry 29.3%, agriculture 8.9%, construction 8%, transport and communication 8.2%, services 45.6% (1994)

Budget: revenues: $5.2 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

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   

 
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- CIA World Factbook
  Disclaimer 

 


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bratislava_building_01.jpg (12647 bytes)
Picture courtesy of Christopher Holt
www.christopherholt.com
/subjects/free-pictures.htm

National Weather Service
Internet Weather Source  Slovakia and the World  /weather.noaa.gov
/weather/SL_cc.html

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A Little of Slavic and  History 

Origin of Slavs
"Little is known of  the origins of  Slavs. Philologists and archaeologists theorize that the Slavs settled very early in the Carpathian Mountains or in the area of present-day Belarus. By A.D. 600, they had split linguistically into southern, western, and eastern branches. The East Slavs settled along the Dnepr River in what is now Ukraine; then they spread northward to the northern Volga River valley, east of modern-day Moscow, and westward to the basins of the northern Dnestr and the western Bug rivers, in present-day Moldova and southern Ukraine. "

Czechoslovakia
Problem of Dissatisfied Nationalities
Slovak Autonomy

Czechoslovakia's centralized political structure might have been well suited to a single nation-state, but it proved inadequate for a multinational state. Constitutional protection of minority languages and culture notwithstanding, the major nonCzech nationalities demanded broader political autonomy. Political autonomy was a particularly grave issue for the Czechs' partners, the Slovaks. In 1918 Masaryk signed an agreement with American Slovaks in Pittsburgh, promising Slovak autonomy. The provisional National Assembly, however, agreed on the temporary need for centralized government to secure the stability of the new state. The Hlasists, centered on the journal Hlas, continued to favor the drawing together of Czechs and Slovaks. Although the Hlasists did not form a separate political party, they dominated Slovak politics in the early stages of the republic. The Hlasists' support of Prague's centralization policy was bitterly challenged by the Slovak Populist Party. The party had been founded by a Catholic priest, Andrej Hlinka, in December 1918. Hlinka argued for Slovak autonomy both in the National Assembly and at the Paris Peace Conference. He made Slovak autonomy the cornerstone of his policy until his death in August 1938.

The Slovak Populist Party was Catholic in orientation and found its support among Slovak Catholics, many of whom objected to the secularist tendencies of the Czechs. Religious differences compounded secular problems. The Slovak peasantry had suffered hardships during the period of economic readjustment after the disintegration of the Hapsburg Empire. Moreover, the apparent lack of qualified Slovaks had led to the importation of Czechs into Slovakia to fill jobs (formerly held by Hungarians) in administration, education, and the judiciary. Nevertheless, at the height of its popularity in 1925, the Slovak Populist Party polled only 32 percent of the Slovak vote, although Catholics constituted approximately 80 percent of the population. Then, in 1927, a modest concession by Prague granted Slovakia the status of a separate province, and Slovak Populists joined the central government. Monsignor Jozef Tiso and Marko Gazlik from Slovakia were appointed to the cabinet.

Although Hlinka's objective was Slovak autonomy within a democratic Czechoslovak state, his party contained a more radical wing, led by Vojtech Tuka. From the early 1920s, Tuka maintained secret contacts with Austria, Hungary, and Hitler's National Socialists (Nazis). He set up the Rodobrana (semimilitary units) and published subversive literature. Tuka gained the support of the younger members of the Slovak Populist Party, who called themselves Nastupists, after the journal Nastup.

Tuka's arrest and trial in 1929 precipitated the reorientation of Hlinka's party in a totalitarian direction. The Nastupists gained control of the party; Slovak Populists resigned from the government. In subsequent years the party's popularity dropped slightly. In 1935 it polled 30 percent of the vote and again refused to join the government. In 1936 Slovak Populists demanded a Czechoslovak alliance with Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. In September 1938, the Slovak Populist Party received instructions from Hitler to press its demands for Slovak autonomy.
-- The Library of Congress Country Studies

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