SLOVAKIA – MY HOMELAND

Slovakia is a country in the middle of Europe. Its capital city is Bratislava. Other main cities are: Košice, Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Trenčín, Nitra, Prešov and Trnava.

The area was a part of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1992. Czechoslovakia became independent in 1918 from Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The first Czechoslovakian president was Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Czechoslovakia split into two countries, Slovakia and Czech Republic, in 1993. Slovakia is a member of the European Union since 1st May 2004. About 5.5 milion people live in Slovakia.

The official language is Slovak. Most people speak Slovak, but in some regions people speak also Hungarian, Polish and Ukrainian. The majority of people living in Slovakia are ethnically Slovaks, 86 percent. Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority, 10 percent. Other ethnic groups are Romas, Czechs, Ukrainians and Germans. The majority of the population is Roman Catholic religion.


1. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Slovakia is a landlocked republic in Central Europe, it doesn’t have any borders with sea. It borders with the Czech Republic and Austria in the west, Poland in the north, Ukraine in the east and Hungary in the south. Slovakia features interesting natural landscapes, mountains, deep caves, medieval castles and cities, folk architecture and ski resorts.

Slovakia has 3 important lowlands: the East-Slovak lowland, the Záhorská lowland, the Podunajská lowland.

The most famous mountains of Slovakia are these:

- High Tatras
- Low Tatras
- Malá Fatra
- Veľká Fatra
- Vihorlat
- the Dargovské mountains

The most important rivers of Slovakia are:

- the Danube
- the Váh
- the Hron
- the Nitra
- the Hornád
- the Orava and others

The country has also many thermal springs and spas, the most famous being those of:

- Piešťany
- Bardejov
- Bojnice
- Lučivná
- Štrbské Pleso
- Trenčianske Teplice

There are also several national parks and protected regions in Slovakia, for example:

- the High Tatras
- the Low Tatras
- the Little Fatra
- the Giant Fatra
- the Muráň
- the Slovenský raj

The climate is a mix of continental and ocean climates with four seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter. The coldest month is January, the warmest is July.


2. HISTORY

Slovakia is a small country, but it has a long history. In 833 The Great Moravian Empire was founded. In 863 Byzantine brothers Constantine and Methodius came to Great Moravia and brought the oldest Slavic alphabet. In 907 The Great Moravian Empire broke up and Slovakia became a part of the Hungarian state.