Slovakia and Slovakian News

Country Profile
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked country  in Central Europe,bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south.Slovakia is divided into 8 Regions(Krajov) and each of which is named after its principal city.The 8 Regions are subdivided into 79 Districts(Okres)

Capital                            Bratislava
Population                      5.5 Million( 2010 Estimate )
Ethnic Groups                86% Slovak        ;
                                        10% Hungarian  
                                        4% Others        
Official Language         Slovak
Currency                        Euro

History

In 1918, Slovakia and the regions of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Carpathian Ruthenia formed a common state, Czechoslovakia, with the borders confirmed by the Treaty of Saint Germain and Treaty of Trianon
The Slovak Republic was a semi independent state under strong influence of Nazi Germany, which existed from 14 March 1939 to 8 May 1945.
After World War II, Czechoslovakia was reconstituted and came under the influence of the Soviet Union.
In 1969, Czechoslovakia became a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic.
The end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989 resulted in the country's dissolution into two - he Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic which went their separate ways after Jan 1,1993, an event sometimes called the Velvet Divorce

                          

                                                                

          Flag Of Slovakia                                                                                                   


                                                                                               










    


Government
Slovakia is a Parliamentary Democratic Republic.The President of Slovak is Head of State and is elected by direct popular vote for a  5 year term.
President of Slovakia 

Ivan Gašparovič  is the Current President(also the first Slovak) in office from June 15,2004
after winning the 2004 Presidential Election held on April 3,2004 securing 59.9% Votes(Ivan Gašparovič of Movement for Democracy -HZD) and defeated Vladimir Meciar of People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia who got only 40.1% votes and
after winning the 2009 Presidentail Election held on April 4,2009 securing 55.53% Votes(Ivan Gašparovič supported by governing parties Direction – Social Democracy and Slovak National Party, and extra-parliamentary Movement for Democracy ) and defeated Iveta
Radicova of SDKU (supported by  Party of the Hungarian Coalition, Christian Democratic Movement and Civic Conservative Party) who got only 44.47% Votes

Prime Minister of Slovakia

PM of Slovakia is Head of Govt and accountable to the National Council.Robert Fico of Smer-SD Party is the Current PM of Slovakia in office from


Slovakia's Presidential Palace in Bratislava

 Parliament of Slovakia

Slovakia's Legislative Body is the 150-seat Unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic .Members are elected for a 4 year term on the basis of Proportional Representation.

Religion
The Slovak constitution guarantees freedom of religion.Roman Catholics-60.4% ;nonreligious or atheist - 9.6% ;Protestant-6% ; Greek Catholic - 4.1% ; Eastern Orthodox -0.9% and 19% chose "other" to identify themselves.


Economy
The Slovak economy is considered an advanced economy, with the country dubbed the "Tatra Tiger". Slovakia transformed from a centrally planned economy to a market-driven economy.
Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in private hands, and foreign investment has risen.Slovakia has recently been characterized by sustained high economic growth.
In 2006, Slovakia achieved the highest growth of GDP (8.9%) among the members of the OECD.
Slovakia's GDP comes mainly from the tertiary (services) sector, the industrial sector also plays an important role within its economy.

The main industry sectors are Car Manufacturing and Electrical Engineering.
Since 2007, Slovakia has been the world's largest producer of Cars Per Capita, with a total of 571,071 cars manufactured in the country in 2007 alone.There are currently 3 automobile assembly plants -
 Volkswagen's in Bratislava,
PSA Peugeot Citroen's in Trnava and
 Kia Motors' Žilina Plant.

2012 Slovakia Parliamentary Election - March 10,2012

A Parliamentary election took place on March10, 2012 to elect 150 members of the National Council.The election followed the fall of PM Iveta Radicova's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party led coalition in Oct 2011 over a No-Confidence Vote her Govt. failed because of its support for the European Financial Stability Fund.

 

 Direction – Social Democracy Party(Smer-SD) led by Rober Fico(PM in 2006-10) secured 44.4% Votes and got 83 seats and won the election defeating -

 

Christian Democractic Movement(KDH) which secured 8.82% Votes and got 16 seats

 

Ordinary People and Independent Personalities Party which secured 8.55%Votes and got 16 seats

Most-Hid Party which secured 6.89% and got 13 seats

 

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party(SDKU) whcih secured 6.09% Votes and got 11 seats

 

Freedom Solidarity Party(SaS) which secured 5.88 Votes and got 11 seats