Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe, a mountainous land of the Carpathians, dense forests, and hundreds of castles. For most of its history its people lived within larger states, ruled for a thousand years by Hungary and then joined with the Czechs in Czechoslovakia, gaining a country of their own only in 1993. Compact and increasingly prosperous, it is known for its dramatic High Tatra mountains and a rich folk heritage.
In the ninth century the region was part of Great Moravia, an early Slavic state to which the missionaries Cyril and Methodius brought Christianity and a written script, a foundational moment for Slavic culture. For the following thousand years the Slovak lands were part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Habsburg empire. After the First World War the Slovaks joined the Czechs to form Czechoslovakia, and after the fall of communism the two parted peacefully in 1993 in the so-called Velvet Divorce, giving Slovakia independence.
Slovakia is dominated by mountains, above all the Carpathian arc, whose highest part, the rugged High Tatras, rises along the northern border with Poland and forms the country's alpine heart. Forests cover a large part of the land, sheltering wildlife including bears, wolves, and lynx, and the country is dotted with caves and mineral springs. To the south and along the Danube lie lowlands and the most fertile farmland, where the capital, Bratislava, sits near the Austrian and Hungarian borders.
The flag of Slovakia has three horizontal bands of white, blue, and red, the pan-Slavic colours, with the national coat of arms set toward the hoist. The shield shows a white double cross standing on three blue hills, an ancient symbol associated with the region's Christian heritage and its mountainous landscape, the three hills traditionally taken to represent three mountain ranges. The emblem distinguishes the flag from those of other Slavic nations sharing the same colours.
Slovakia is among the more religious countries of Central Europe, with the majority of the population Roman Catholic, a faith with deep roots reaching back to the mission of Cyril and Methodius. There are also Protestant and Greek Catholic minorities. Religious tradition remains a significant part of national identity and rural life, marked by pilgrimages, festivals, and a landscape rich in churches, and the country preserves a strong heritage of folk customs often intertwined with the religious calendar.
Slovak cuisine is hearty and rooted in the produce of a mountainous, farming country. The national dish is bryndzove halusky, small potato dumplings served with a soft, tangy sheep's cheese and topped with bits of bacon, a comforting dish born of the shepherding tradition of the Carpathians. Pork, cabbage, potatoes, and dumplings feature widely, alongside thick soups, and the country produces wines in its southern regions and a strong tradition of fruit brandies.
Slovak agriculture is concentrated in the fertile lowlands of the south, especially along the Danube, where farmers grow wheat, maize, sugar beet, and sunflowers. The warmer southern regions also support vineyards and orchards. The mountainous north and centre, less suited to crops, have a long tradition of raising sheep and cattle on upland pastures, the source of the sheep's cheese central to the national dish. Forestry is significant in the heavily wooded uplands.
Great Moravia and the mission of Cyril and Methodius, a thousand years within the Kingdom of Hungary, and the shared history within Czechoslovakia shaped the Slovak nation. The peaceful division of Czechoslovakia in 1993, often cited as a model of an amicable national separation, finally gave the Slovaks a state of their own. Since then Slovakia has integrated with the rest of Europe, joining the European Union and adopting the euro, and developed a strong manufacturing economy.
Slovakia has a population of around 5.4 million people, the great majority ethnic Slovaks, a West Slavic people closely related to the Czechs, with a significant Hungarian minority in the south and a Roma community among others. Most Slovaks live in towns and cities, above all the capital, Bratislava, which sits on the Danube at the very edge of the country, near Vienna. A strong tradition of folk music, costume, and craft remains a cherished part of the national culture.
