Slovakia, officially named the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million and an area
of about 49,000 square
kilometres. The largest
city is
Bratislava,
its capital.
Slovakia is divided into 8 regions, each of which is named after its regional capital. The regions are subdivided into many districts. In the past, Slovakia had 79 districts, which are no longer part of the official administrative system, but the country has maintained them for different purposes.
In terms of economy and unemployment rate, the western regions are more prosperous than the east. Slovakia is best known for its pistine nature in the countryside: mountains make up two-thirds of its land, 40 percent of which is covered by forests.
The region of Bratislava is the country's smallest in terms of area, but its most densely settled and urbanised, with 296 inhabitants per square kilometre, about three times the Slovak average. Bratislava, the capital, had a population of 426,091, or 70 percent of the total inhabitants of the region. The Bratislava region is bordered by the Danube to the south and the Morava to the west. It consists of the Záhorie lowlands in the far west of the country and the Podunajská nížina (Danube lowlands) towards the Hungarian south, divided by the heavily forested Malé Karpaty (Small Carpathian mountains) range.
The south-west Trnava region is a strangely shaped body of land that encloses Bratislava region and borders on the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. It is the second smallest region after Bratislava, and the smallest in terms of area.
The south-central Nitra region is Slovakia's agricultural heartland. Flatter and warmer than the rest of the country, its soil and terrain are best suited to farming.
The north-west Žilina region is a rugged area that borders on the Czech Republic and Poland. It includes no fewer than seven mountain ranges: the Tatry and Nízke tatry (Tatras and the Low Tatras), the Veľká and Malá Fatra (Greater and Lesser Fatras), the Chočské vrchy (Choč Mountains), the Javorníky and the Strážovské vrchy (Strážov Mountains). The region is also dominated by national parks
Banská Bystrica region, the country's largest in terms of area, lies in the southern part of Central Slovakia. With its extensive forests and hilly terrain, it is the least densely settled region.
The north-east Prešov region is Slovakia's most physically spectacular, but poor and sparsely settled as well. It borders on Poland and Ukraine, and contains five national parks. Less than half of the inhabitants of the region live in urban settings.
Košice region is a largely flat and poor area in the southeast of Slovakia bordering on Ukraine and Hungary. With a population of 773,000, it is the second largest region while with about one third of the total inhabitants of the region, the capital Košice is Slovakia's second largest city and is the industrial anchor of the east of the country.
The north-west Trenčín region is a relatively wealthy and developed part of Slovakia, bordering on the Czech Republic. It is hilly but not rugged, and has an unusually high (55 percent) proportion of inhabitants employed in industry, making it the second most heavily industrialised region after Bratislava.
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Decline of construction sector slows down
Published: 1 week ago
The construction sector in Slovakia continues to decline, although at a slower rate. In April, the construction sector’s output fell by 4.6 percent to €342.1 million in annual terms. After seasonal adjustments, output was 0.5 percent lower than in March. For four months of this year, the volume of construction output was €1.066 billion, a decline by 9.5 percent compared with the same period of the previous year, the Slovak Statistics Office informed on June 10, as cited by the SITA newswire.
Most of Slovaks own their housing
Published: 2 weeks ago
Slovakia has the third highest rate of homeownership in the European Union, standing at 90.2 percent, which is exceeded only by Romania and Lithuania. In Slovakia as much as 82 percent of the population lives in an owner-occupied home without a loan or mortgage, while an additional 8.2 percent of the population live in owner-occupied homes with a loan or mortgage. Only the remaining 9.8 percent of the population are tenants. Analysts with UniCredit Bank elaborated the comparison based on data of the Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU, the TASR newswire wrote on June 2.
Hotel Kyjev will not become a historical monument
Published: 3 weeks ago
The legendary hotel and symbol of the previous regime will not become a protected monument. Hotel Kyjev and the adjoining department store failed to pass the evaluation of the Monuments Board, the Hospodárske Noviny economic daily wrote on May 17.
Filling niches on the market
Published: 3 weeks ago
The developer Macho, with its Papaver project involving the reconstruction of a former lodging house, is bringing to the market small apartments for reasonable prices suitable for those who are just starting out, either after moving out from one’s parents or relocating to another city. The company is thus filling a gap on the market, reporting a high level of interest in small apartments.
Growth in new retail distribution networks to drive massive demand for logistics space
Published: 1 month ago
European retailers will need up to 25 million square metres of additional logistics space over the next five years, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, a financial and professional services firm specialising in real estate services and investment management. This equates to five million square metres of logistics space each year - enough to more than cover the whole of New York’s Central Park - for each of the next five years.
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Penta decelerates, Bory Mall will be smaller
Published: Yesterday 8:52 am, Compiled by Spectator staff
The financial group Penta has resumed its Bory Mall shopping centre project, albeit on a reduced scale, the Hospodárske Noviny economic daily wrote on June 13. It attributes the cutback to the situation on the market, which has changed significantly since receiving the construction license for the project. In response to this, the investor has re-evaluated the scope of the investment, reduced the size of the shopping mall and simultaneously redesigned it. Penta has submitted the redesigned project for the environmental impact assessment.
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