Welcome to Slovakia

Facts & Figures

Official name Slovak Republic
Independence 1 January 1993
Political system Parliamentary democracy
Membership in international groupings/organisations UN (January 1993), NATO (March 2004), EU (May 2004), Schengen area (December 2007), Council of Europe, INTERPOL, OECD, OSCE, the Visegrád Group, WHO, WTO et.

Geography

Area 49,035 km2
Perimeter 1,652.2 km
Neighbouring countries
and border lengths		 Hungary 654.8 km; Poland 541.1 km; the Czech Republic 251.8 km; Austria 106.7 km; Ukraine 97.8 km
Terrain Landlocked with high mountains in the north, low mountains in the centre, hills to the west, Danube ('Dunaj') River basin in the south
Elevation Lowest point – Bodrog River: 94 metres above sea level;
highest point – Gerlachovský štít (Peak): 2,654 metres above sea level

People

Population (January 2023) 5 790 512
Largest towns – by population (December 2022) Capital – Bratislava (475,503); Other towns – Košice (229,040), Prešov (84,824), Žilina (82,656), Banská Bystrica (76,018), Nitra (78,489), Trnava (63,803), Trenčín (54,740), Martin (50,764), Poprad (49,855)
Ethnic groups (December 2022) Slovak (83.82%), Hungarian (7.74%), Romani (1,23%), Czech and Moravian (0.53%), Ruthenian (0.44%), Ukrainian (0.17%), German (0.06%), Polish (0.07%), other and unknown (6.4%)
Internationals living in Slovakia (January 2021) 152 902 (54 056 EU nationals) - Ukrainians (28.1%), Czechs (8.2%), Serbians (10.1%), Hungarians (7.75%), Romanians (6.8%), Poles (4.1%), Germans (3.1%), Russians (4.1%), Italians (2%), Great Britain (1%)
Religions (January 2021) Roman Catholics (79,97%), Evangelical Lutherans of Augsburg Confession (7.55%), Greek Catholics (5,74%), Reformed Christians (1.6%), Orthodox (1.33%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (0.3%), Methodists (0.2%), without denomination (23,8%) and unknown (5.61%)
Language Spoken at Home Slovak (official language, 81,8 %), Hungarian (8.5%), Romani (1.8%), Ruthenian (0.7%), Czech (0.6%)
Health Life expectancy at birth (2021): 78.3 yrs. women; 71.3 yrs. men

Economy

Currency euro (since 1 January 2009)
GDP (2021) 95.14 billion €
Real GDP growth rate (2020) -4.4%
GDP per capita in PPS (2017) 77% of EU 28
Unemployment (2022)

6.1%
Natural resources bentonite, brown coal, crude oil, dimension and crushed stone, gold, gypsum and anhydrite, kaolin, limestone, magnesite, natural gas, perlite, talc, zeolite
Agriculture crops corn, hops, oat, potatoes, rapeseed, rye, sugar beet, wheat
Breeding cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, sheep
Industry chemical, electro‑chemical, automotive, light industry, food processing, back‑office support, engineering, building materials, paper and cellulose, wood, mining, metallurgical
Major trading partners (2017) Imports: Germany – 16.5%, Czech Republic – 10.2%, China – 7.3%, South Korea – 5.7 %, Russia – 4.7 %
Exports: Germany – 20.6%, Czech Republic – 11.5%, Austria, (6%), Italy (6%), Poland 7.6 %

General information about Slovakia

Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic www.mzv.sk
National tourism portal of Slovakia www.slovakia.travel