Independence Year : 1993
Population : 5398700
Life Expectancy : 73.7
Capital : 3209
GNP : 20594.00
GNP Old : 19452.00
Local Name : Slovensko
Government Form : Republic
Location : landlocked country in Central Europe, bounded on the northwest by the Czech Republic, on the north by Poland, on the east by Ukraine, on the south by Hungary, and on the southwest by Austria.
Terrain : -
Climate : Temperate; mild summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Ethnic Group : Slovaks 85.8%, Hungarians 9.7%, Roma 1.7%, Czechs 0.8%, Ruthenians 0.4%, Ukranians 0.2%, other 1.4%
Religions : Roman Catholic 69%, Protestant 9%, Greek Catholic 4%, Orthodox 0.9%.
Official Website :
www.government.gov.sk
|
|
General Information - Slovakia
Background
Formerly a part of Austria-Hungary, the Slovaks joined with the closely related regions of Bohemia and neighbouring Moravia to form Czechoslovakia in 1918. In the chaos of World War II Slovakia became a separate republic in 1938, tightly controlled by Germany. Post World War II in 1945 with the Warsaw Pact Czechoslovakia has become a communist state within a Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. With the collapse of the Soviet influence in 1989 Czechoslovakia became a sovereign state.
Historic, political, and geographic factors have caused Slovakia to experience more difficulty than some of its Central European neighbors in developing from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy.
In 1993 the Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully. In 2004 Slovakia became a member of the European Union and the NATO.
|
