An Introduction to Slovakia
The seat of a Great Moravian Empire in the 9th and 10th centuries, the territory that is now The Slovak Republic formed an integral part of the Hungarian state from the eleventh until the 20th century, when it became (in 1918) half of Czechoslovakia, first democratic and then communist after WWII, breaking away peacefully from the Soviets in 1989 and from the Czech Republic in 1993. Just as the former move is known as the Velvet Revolution, the latter deal, negotiated in 1992 by Prime Minister Vladimr Meiar and Czech leader Vclav Klaus, is sometimes called the 'velvet divorce'. Relations with the Czech Republic remain cordial and the two co-operate with Hungary and Poland in the Visegrad Group. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Europe (Other)
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GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary republic
AREA: 49,035 sq km
POPULATION: 5,445,324 (July 2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Slovak
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Slovakia
Modern Cyrillic script is based on old Greek, augmented by ligatures and consonants from Glagolitic, and by Old Bulgarian for sounds not found in Ancient Greek. With the accession of Bulgaria to the EU on 1 January 2007, Cyrillic became the Union's third official script, following Latin and Greek.
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The seat of a Great Moravian Empire in the 9th and 10th centuries, the territory that is now The Slovak Republic formed an integral part of the Hungarian state from the eleventh until the 20th century, when it became (in 1918) half of Czechoslovakia, first democratic and then communist after WWII, breaking away peacefully from the Soviets in 1989 and from the Czech Republic in 1993. Just as the former move is known as the Velvet Revolution, the latter deal, negotiated in 1992 by Prime Minister Vladimr Meiar and Czech leader Vclav Klaus, is sometimes called the 'velvet divorce'. Relations with the Czech Republic remain cordial and the two co-operate with Hungary and Poland in the Visegrad Group.
Today Slovakia is categorised as a high-income, advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the EU and OECD, having joined the former in 2004 and adopted the Euro as its national currency on 1 January 2009.
GDP: $126.9 bn (2011 est.); $23,304 per capita
Religions 60.4% Roman Catholic, 9.6% nonreligious or atheist, 6% Protestant, 4.1% Greek Catholic 0.9% Orthodox; 19% other
Currency: Euro
Telephone Code: + 421
Slovakia's economy boasts the highest sustained GDP growth in the EU - 10.4% in 2007 - and has been called the Tatra Tiger. Part of the EU since 2004, it adopted the Euro in 2009. Since 2007, Slovakia has been the world's largest producer of cars per capita - 571,071 cars were made in the country that year, with assembly plants for Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Kia Motors.
The country made early reforms after its split from the Czechs in 1993, but the economy stagnated at first as did those of most emerging eastern bloc countries, growing again in the 2000s. Encouraged by the government, foreign investment has boomed, and cheap and skilled labor, low taxes and a liberal labour code make it an attractive target. The economy contracted by 5% in 2009 but had repassed the 2008 mark again within two years after growth of 4% in 2010 and 3.3% in 2011. Corruption, unemployment and a budget deficit remain the targets of government action.
2011 exports were $75.3bn with metals, minerals, vehicles and plastics important. Germany (20.1% in 2009) and the Czech Republic (14.8%) are key partners, with Poland and Hungary also taking 7-8% each that year. Imports - a similar list - totalled $72.0bn in 2011 and key partners are the Czech Republic (18.9% in 2009), Germany (18.3%), Russia (9.5%) and Hungary (7.4%).
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