Official name: the Slovak Republic
Date of establishment: 1 January 1993 (after splitting of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic)
Form of government: republic
Political system: parliamentary democracy
Administrative organisation: 8 higher territorial units, 8 regions, 79 districts, 2,891 municipalities out of which are 138 cities and towns
Regional capitals: Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Trenčín, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Prešov, Košice
Official language: Slovak
Capital: Bratislava (425,155 inhabitants)
Neighbouring countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria
Area: 49,035 sq. km
Population: 5,384,822 (out of them 51.5 % of women)
Density of population: 110 sq. km
Large towns: Košice (235, 006 ), Prešov (91,767), Nitra (85,742), Žilina (85,268) Banská Bystrica (81,704), Trnava (69,140), Martin (59,449), Trenčin (56,850), Poprad (55,404), Prievidza (51,596), Zvolen (43,272).
Ethnic mix of the population: Slovaks (85.8 %), Hungarians (9.7 %), Roma (1.7 %), Czechs (0.8 %), Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Poles and others (2 %)
Population and their denominations: Roman Catholic Church (68.9 %), Evangelic Church of Augsburg Confession (6.9 %), Greek Catholic Church (4.1 %), Reformed Christian Church (2.0 %), Orthodox (0.9 %), others (4.2 %), without religious affiliation (13.0 %)
Currency: Slovak crown (koruna), 1 SKK = 100 hellers (halier), banknotes in denominations of 5,000, 1,000, 500, 200, 100, 50 and 20 Sk; coins in denominations of 10, 5, 2, 1 Sk and 50 hal.; NBS exchange rate (www.nbs.sk)
Membership in international organisations: EU, NATO, UN, OECD, OSCE, WHO, INTERPOL etc.
Main agricultural crops: wheat, rye, corn, potatoes, sugar beets
Breeding: cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, goats
Main fields of industry: automobile industry, chemical industry, iron ore processing, fertilizers, plastics, brown coal mining
Natural resources: iron ore, mercury, copper, lead, zinc
Electric current: 230 V/50 Hz, outlets with safety peg
Information Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Demographic data as of 31.12. 2004.