The Slovak Republic
The Slovak Republic is located in the central part of the European continent and it shares borders with Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Administrative Division - 8 regions, divided into 50 districts.
Capital – Bratislava.
Major cities are Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, Banska Bystrica.
Population - 5.4 million people. Ethnically, Slovakia is a multinational state: 85.8% are Slovaks, 9.7% - Hungarians, 1.7% - Gipsy, 0.8% - Czechs. In some places it is densely populated by Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Poles and Croats, which together make up 2% of the population of Slovakia.
Official language is Slovak.
The currency since 1 January 2009 is Euro.
Slovakia is a member of UNO, OSCE, Council of Europe, OECD, WTO, since 2004 - the EU and NATO.
National holiday:
January 1 – the Day of the Slovak Republic formation
July 5 – the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius
August 29 – the Anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising
1 September – the Day of Slovak Constitution
November 17 – the Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy
Public authorities
Slovakia is a parliamentary republic.
Legislative authority, according to the Constitution (1992), is the National Council of the Slovak Republic. It consists of 150 members, who are elected for 4 years. Decisions are taken by a simple majority of presents. For the adoption of constitutional laws and amendments to the Constitution, was established the qualified majority of 3/5 of the total number of deputies. On the 6th National Council of the Slovak Republic by the results of parliamentary elections in 2010 were presented: the party "Direction – the Social Democracy", Slovak Democratic Christian Union – the Democratic Party, the party "Freedom and Solidarity", the Christian-Democratic Movement, the party "The Bridge", the Slovak National Party. The chairman of the National Council of the Slovak Republic is Richard Sulik. In Parliament there are 19 committees.
Executive power. The Constitution assigns to it the President and Government of the Slovak Republic.
The President is the head of state. Since 1999, he is elected by direct and general elections for a period of 5 years. In April 2009, Ivan Gasparovic was re-elected to the post. The President is the chief of the armed forces, represents Slovakia on the international arena, signs laws and international treaties, appoints and dismisses ambassadors, by the proposal of the Parliament appoints and dismisses the Chairman and members of the government and other senior government officials, at the suggestion of the government declares martial law, declares the war on the basis of the decision of the Parliament, on the basis of the law introduces a state of emergency, announces a referendum. The President may be recalled by popular vote, which is announced by the President of the Parliament on the basis of the decision of the legislature. For such a decision is required the consent of a qualified majority of its members.
Government is the highest executive body. It is responsible for the Parliament, in the case of vote of no-confidence from legislators is revoked by the President. Government decisions are taken by a simple majority of the members, presented on the meeting.
Economy
Slovakia is an industrial-agrarian country with an average level of economic development. Trade structure of Slovak GDP is as follows: industry (about 30%); trade, hotels and restaurants and transport (26%); financial sector (17%); services (15%). The share of agriculture is decreasing and today does not exceed 3%. In terms of GDP per head (11.6 thousand euros) Slovakia is placed as 20th among the EU countries.
As Slovakia's main trading partners remain the EU countries. Slovakia's main foreign partners in Europe are Germany (17% of total turnover), Czech Republic (12%), Poland, Hungary and France (5%).
Foreign policy
The basic direction of foreign policy in Slovakia is participation in the EU and NATO (entered in 2004). In 2006-2007 Slovakia was a nonpermanent member of the UNO Security Council and chaired it in February 2007.
Slovakia - a member of the OSCE, Council of Europe, UNESCO, FAO, ILO, WTO, OECD and other organizations. The country is also a member of the regional associations: "Visegrad Four", where it was chaired until June 2011; the Central European Initiative; the Central European Free Trade Agreement; the Danube Commission.
Slovakia has established and maintains diplomatic and consular relations with 198 countries of the world.
Education and culture
Slovakia has an extensive network of public schools with free education at all levels. The network of private and church schools is expanding. There are 33 institutions of higher education, most of which provide a university education. There are four high schools with advanced study of Russian language: State Physical and Mathematical Gymnasium of Einstein, private Slavic school in Bratislava and Kosice, bilingual Russian-Slovak gymnasium with a humanitarian bias in Snina.
There also acts Slovak Academy of Sciences, in a system of which are more than 40 institutes and laboratories.
It has more than 20 professional theaters, dozens of museums and art galleries, several symphony orchestras, folk groups, numerous libraries and information centers. There are a number of creative unions.
A special place in the life of the country is the cultural and educational organization "Matica Slovenská". As the budget agency, it communicates with the Slovak communities abroad, leads the historical and cultural studies, does publishing, leads literary-folk festivals, scientific seminars and symposia.
Slovakia, with its rich nature and sights, developed network of hotels and sports facilities, is a promising object of international tourism.
