Slovakia

• temperate;
• cool summers;
• cold, cloudy, humid winters

• lignite, small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore;
• salt;
• arable land

agricultural land:

40.1%;

• arable land 28.9%;
• permanent crops 0.4%;
• permanent pasture 10.8%

forest:

40.2%

other:

19.7% (2011 est.)

total:

0.69 cu km/yr (47%/51%/3%)

per capita:

126.7 cu m/yr (2010)

• landlocked;
• most of the country is rugged and mountainous;
• the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys

noun:

Slovak(s)

adjective:

Slovak

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.62 male(s)/female

total population:

0.94 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

conventional long form:

Slovak Republic

conventional short form:

Slovakia

local long form:

Slovenska republika

local short form:

Slovensko

name:

Bratislava

geographic coordinates:

48 09 N, 17 07 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC,. during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• several previous (preindependence);
• latest passed by National Council 1 September 1992, signed 3 September 1992, effective 1 October 1992;
• amended several times, last in 2009;
• note - amendments relating to same sex marriages were passed by the National Council in 2014 but failed to meet the required percentage of voters in a February 2015 referendum (2015)

• civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes;
• note - legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe

chief of state:

President Andrej KISKA (since 15 June 2014)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Robert FICO (since 4 April 2012);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Robert KALINAK, Peter KAZIMIR, Miroslav LAJCAK (since 4 April 2012), Lubomir VAZNY (since 26 November 2012)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held in 2 rounds on 15 and 29 March 2014 (next to be held in March 2019);
• following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president

election results:

Andrej KISKA elected president; percent of vote in second round - Andrej KISKA (independent) 59.4%, Robert FICO (Smer-SD) 40.6%

description:

unicameral National Council or Narodna Rada (150 seats; members directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 10 March 2012 (next to be held in 2016)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - Smer-SD 44.4%, KDH 8.8%, OLaNO 8.6%, Most-Hid 6.9%, SDKU-DS 6.1%, SaS 5.9%, other 19.3%;
• seats by party - Smer-SD 83, KDH 16, OLaNO 16, Most-Hid 13, SDKU-DS 11, SaS 11

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (consists of 84 judges - as of 2015 - organized into criminal, civil, commercial, and administrative divisions with 3- and 5-judge panels; Constitutional Court (consists of 13 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judge candidates proposed by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, a 17-member independent body to include the Supreme Court chief justice and presidential and governmental appointees;
• judges appointed by the president for life with mandatory retirement at age 65;
• Constitutional Court judges nominated by the National Council of the Republic and appointed by the president;
• judges appointed for 12-year terms

subordinate courts:

• regional and district civil courts;
• Higher Military Court;
• military district courts;
• Court of Audit

• Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Jan FIGEL]
• Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SD [Robert FICO]
• Freedom and Solidarity or SaS [Richard SULIK]
• Most-Hid or Bridge [Bela BUGAR]
• Ordinary People and Independent Personalities or OLaNO [Igor MATOVIC]
• Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party or SDKU-DS [Pavol FRESO]
• Civic Conservative Party or OKS [Ondrej DOSTAL]
• Nation and Justice - Our Party or NAS [Anna BELOUSOVOVA]
• Network or Siet [Radoslav PROCHAZKA]
• New Majority or NOVA [Daniel LIPSIC]
• Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Jozsef BERENYI]
• People's Party - Our Slovakia or LSNS [Marian KOTLEBA]
• Slovak National Party or SNS [Andrej DANKO]

• Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS
• Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ
• Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia or ZPS
• Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic or AZZZ
• Medical Trade Association or LOZ
• National Union of Employers or RUZ
• Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry or SOPK
• The Business Alliance of Slovakia or PAS

chief of mission:

Ambassador Peter KMEC (since 17 September 2012)

chancery:

3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 237-1054

FAX:

[1] (202) 237-6438

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Theodore SEDGWICK (since 4 July 2010)

embassy:

Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava

mailing address:

P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava

telephone:

[421] (2) 5443-3338

FAX:

[421] (2) 5441-8861

• three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red derive from the Pan-Slav colors;
• the Slovakian coat of arms (consisting of a red shield bordered in white and bearing a white double-barred cross of St. Cyril and St. Methodius surmounting three blue hills) is centered over the bands but offset slightly to the hoist side

note: the Pan-Slav colors were inspired by the 19th-century flag of Russia

name:

"Nad Tatrou sa blyska" (Lightning Over the Tatras)

lyrics/music:

Janko MATUSKA/traditional

note: adopted 1993, in use since 1844; music based on the Slovak folk song "Kopala studienku"

• grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit;
• pigs, cattle, poultry;
• forest products

• automobiles;
• metal and metal products;
• electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel;
• chemicals, synthetic fibers, wood and paper products;
• machinery;
• earthenware and ceramics;
• textiles;
• electrical and optical apparatus;
• rubber products;
• food and beverages;
• pharmaceutical

agriculture:

3.5%

industry:

25.9%

services:

70.6% (2014)

lowest 10%:

4.4%

highest 10%:

26% (2013 est.)

general assessment:

a modern telecommunications system that has expanded dramatically in recent years with the growth of cellular services

domestic:

• analog system is now receiving digital equipment and is being enlarged with fiber-optic cable, especially in the larger cities;
• 3 companies provide nationwide cellular services

international:

• country code - 421;
• 3 international exchanges (1 in Bratislava and 2 in Banska Bystrica) are available;
• Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services (2011)

• state-owned public broadcaster, Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), operates 3 national TV stations and multiple national and regional radio networks;
• roughly 35 privately owned TV stations operating nationally, regionally, and locally;
• about 40% of households are connected to multi-channel cable or satellite TV;
• more than 20 privately owned radio stations (2008)

total:

3,624 km

broad gauge:

99 km 1.520-m gauge

standard gauge:

3,475 km 1.435-m gauge (1,616 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

50 km 1.000-m or 0.750-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 49

• 18-30 years of age for voluntary military service;
• conscription in peacetime suspended in 2006;
• women are eligible to serve (2012)

males age 16-49:

1,405,310

females age 16-49:

1,369,897 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,156,113

females age 16-49:

1,139,380 (2010 est.)

male:

31,646

female:

30,219 (2010 est.)

• bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working group negotiations continued in 2006 between Slovakia and Hungary over Hungary's completion of its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube;
• as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Slovakia has implemented the strict Schengen border rules

• transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe;
• producer of synthetic drugs for regional market;
• consumer of ecstasy