*Slovakia, Geography

Location:
  Eastern Europe, between Hungary and Poland
Map references:
  Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  48,845 km2
 land area:
  48,800 km2
 comparative area:
  about twice the size of New Hampshire
Land boundaries:
  total 1,355 km, Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 515 km, Poland
  444 km, Ukraine 90 km
Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:   none; landlocked
International disputes:
  Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam dispute with Hungary; unresolved property issues
  with Czech Republic over redistribution of former Czechoslovak federal
  property; establishment of international border between the Czech Republic
  and Slovakia
Climate:
  temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Terrain:
  rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south
Natural resources:
  brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore;
  salt; gas
Land use:
 arable land:
  NA%
 permanent crops:
  NA%
 meadows and pastures:
  NA%
 forest and woodland:
  NA%
 other:
  NA%
Irrigated land:
  NA km2
Environment:
  severe damage to forests from "acid rain" caused by coal-fired power
  stations
Note:
  landlocked

*Slovakia, People

Population:
  5,375,501 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  0.51% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  14.59 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  9.47 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  10.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  72.39 years
 male:
  68.18 years
 female:
  76.85 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:   1.99 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Slovak(s)
 adjective:
  Slovak
Ethnic divisions:
  Slovak 85.6%, Hungarian 10.8%, Gypsy 1.5% (the 1992 census figures
  underreport the Gypsy/Romany community, which could reach 500,000 or more),
  Czech 1.1%, Ruthenian 15,000, Ukrainian 13,000, Moravian 6,000, German
  5,000, Polish 3,000
Religions:
  Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%, Orthodox 4.1%, other
  17.5%
Languages:
  Slovak (official), Hungarian
Literacy:
 total population:
  NA%
 male:
  NA%
 female:
  NA%
Labor force:
  2.484 million
 by occupation:
  industry 33.2%, agriculture 12.2%, construction 10.3%, communication and
  other 44.3% (1990)

*Slovakia, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Slovak Republic
 conventional short form:
  Slovakia
 local long form:
  Slovenska Republika
 local short form:
  Slovensko
Digraph:
  LO
Type:
  parliamentary democracy
Capital:
  Bratislava
Administrative divisions:
  4 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) Bratislava,
  Zapadoslovensky, Stredoslovensky, Vychodoslovensky
Independence:
  1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)
Constitution:
  ratified 3 September 1992; fully effective 1 January 1993
Legal system:   civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted
  compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the
  obligations of Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and
  to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory
National holiday:
  Slovak National Uprising, August 29 (1944)
Political parties and leaders:
  Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement, Vojtech BUGAR; Christian Democratic
  Movement, Jan CARNOGURSKY; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, Vladimir
  MECIAR, chairman; Party of the Democratic Left, Peter WEISS, chairman;
  Slovak National Party, Ludovit CERNAK, chairman; Coexistence, Miklos DURAY,
  chairman; Party of Conservative Democrats, leader NA
Other political or pressure groups:
  Green Party; Democratic Party; Social Democratic Party in Slovakia; Movement
  for Czech-Slovak Accord; Freedom Party; Slovak Christian Union; Hungarian
  Civic Party
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:
 President:
  last held 8 February 1993 (next to be held NA 1998); results - Michal KOVAC
  elected by the National Council
 National Council:
  last held 5-6 June 1992 (next to be held NA June 1996); results - Movement
  for a Democratic Slovakia 37%, Party of the Democratic Left 15%, Christian
  Democratic Movement 9%, Slovak National Party 8%, Hungarian Christian
  Democratic Movement/Coexistence 7%; seats - (150 total) Movement for a
  Democratic Slovakia, 74, Party of the Democratic Left 29, Christian
  Democratic Movement 18, Slovak National Party 15, Hungarian Christian
  Democratic Movement/Coexistence 14
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
  unicameral National Council (Narodni Rada)
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court

*Slovakia, Government

Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Michal KOVAC (since 8 February 1993)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Vladimir MECIAR (since NA), Deputy Prime Minister Roman KOVAC
  (since NA)
Member of:
  BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
  ICFTU, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM
  (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN (as of 8
  January 1993), UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UPU, WHO,
  WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Charge d'Affaires Dr. Milan ERBAN  chancery:
  3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:
  (202) 363-6315 or 6316
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Elect Eleanor SUTTER
 embassy:
  Hviczdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava
 mailing address:
  use embassy street address
 telephone:
  427 330 861
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with
  a crest with a white double cross on three blue mountains

*Slovakia, Economy

Overview:
  The dissolution of Czechoslovakia into two independent states - the Czech
  Republic and Slovakia - on 1 January 1993 has complicated the task of moving
  toward a more open and decentralized economy. The old Czechoslovakia, even
  though highly industrialized by East European standards, suffered from an
  aging capital plant, lagging technology, and a deficiency in energy and many
  raw materials. In January 1991, approximately one year after the end of
  communist control of Eastern Europe, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic
  launched a sweeping program to convert its almost entirely state-owned and
  controlled economy to a market system. In 1991-92 these measures resulted in
  privatization of some medium- and small-scale economic activity and the
  setting of more than 90% of prices by the market - but at a cost in
  inflation, unemployment, and lower output. For Czechoslovakia as a whole
  inflation in 1991 was roughly 50% and output fell 15%. In 1992 in Slovakia,
  inflation slowed to an estimated 8.7% and the estimated fall in GDP was a
  more moderate 7%. In 1993 the government anticipates up to a 7% drop in GDP,
  with the disruptions from the separation from the Czech lands probably
  accounting for half the decline; inflation, according to government
  projections, may rise to 15-20% and unemployment may reach 12-15%. The
  Slovak government is moving ahead less enthusiastically than the Czech
  government in the further dismantling of the old centrally controlled
  economic system. Although the governments of Slovakia and the Czech Republic
  had envisaged retaining the koruna as a common currency at least in the
  short run, the two countries ended the currency union in February 1993.
National product:
  GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $32.1 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  -7% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
  $6,100 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  8.7% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  11.3% (1992 est.)
Budget:   revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
  $3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
 commodities:
  machinery and transport equipment; chemicals; fuels, minerals, and metals;
  agricultural products
 partners:
  Czech Republic, CIS republics, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Italy,
  France, US, UK
Imports:
  $3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
 commodities:
  machinery and transport equipment; fuels and lubricants; manufactured goods;
  raw materials; chemicals; agricultural products
 partners:
  Czech Republic, CIS republics, Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland,
  Hungary, UK, Italy
External debt:
  $1.9 billion hard currency indebtedness (December 1992)
Industrial production:
  growth rate NA%
Electricity:
  6,800,000 kW capacity; 24,000 million kWh produced, 4,550 kWh per capita
  (1992)

*Slovakia, Economy

Industries:
  brown coal mining, chemicals, metal-working, consumer appliances,
  fertilizer, plastics, armaments
Agriculture:
  largely self-sufficient in food production; diversified crop and livestock
  production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, hogs,
  cattle, and poultry; exporter of forest products
Illicit drugs:
  the former Czechoslavakia was a transshipment point for Southwest Asian
  heroin and was emerging as a transshipment point for Latin American cocaine
  (1992)
Economic aid:
  the former Czechoslovakia was a donor - $4.2 billion in bilateral aid to
  non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)
Currency:
  1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru
Exchange rates:
  koruny (Kcs) per US$1 - 28.59 (December 1992), 28.26 (1992), 29.53 (1991),
  17.95 (1990), 15.05 (1989), 14.36 (1988)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

*Slovakia, Communications

Railroads:   3,669 km total (1990)
Highways:
  17,650 km total (1990)
Inland waterways:
  NA km
Pipelines:
  natural gas 2,700 km; petroleum products NA km
Ports:
  maritime outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Croatia (Rijeka),
  Slovenia (Koper), Germany (Hamburg, Rostock); principal river ports are
  Komarno on the Danube and Bratislava on the Danube
Merchant marine:
  the former Czechoslovakia had 22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 290,185
  GRT/437,291 DWT; includes 13 cargo, 9 bulk; may be shared with the Czech
  Republic
Airports:
 total:
  34
 usable:
  34
 with permanent-surface runways:
  9
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  1
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  5
Telecommunications:
  NA

*Slovakia, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Railroad Units
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 1,407,908; fit for military service 1,082,790; reach
  military age (18) annually 47,973 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  8.2 billion koruny, NA% of GDP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense
  expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce
  misleading results