Slovakia

Slovakia (Slovensko) is a landlocked country located in Central Europe . It borders the Czech Republic to the northwest , Austria to the west, Hungary to the south , Ukraine to the east , and Poland to the northeast . The capital is Bratislava .

The official Slovak name is Slovak Republic (Slovenská republika [ˈslɔʋenskaː ˈrepublika], Slovenska Republika), while its abbreviated name is Slovakia (Slovensko [ˈslɔʋenskɔ], Slovensko). The reason why the Slovak transcription is different is that the adjective Slovenský is used as the feminine form Slovenská in the official country name.

The name Slobensko comes from Sloven, a horse that refers to the Slovakians in the Hungarian kingdom around the 15th century. The national issue used in Korea is Slovakia , which is the tone of SLOVAKIA, which appears to be derived from SLOVAKY , Czech, and first appears in the 16th -century German literature . It is still unclear what Slováky means, but there are many opinions that it means Slav .

Since the 16th century, the name Slovensko Slovakia has been used only as a geographical name for the area of ​​Slovakia called Upper Hungary ( Felvidék ) in the Kingdom of Hungary, and did not have political/ethnic significance. However, it came to have political and ethnic implications through the nationalist craze of the 19th century, the founding of Czechoslovakia in the early 20th century , and the independence of Slovakia at the end of the 20th century.

People tend to get confused because the name is similar to Slovenia . Both were under the rule of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty for a long time, their religion is Catholic , they are Slavic countries, and even their national flags are similar in that they use the Slavic tricolor (white-blue-red). Also, although the two countries do not share a border, the shortest distance between the two countries' borders is only 150km, and the straight-line distance between the capitals is only 300km, which is shorter than the distance between Seoul and Busan . Both countries are composed of mountainous areas. It also has something in common: it borders Austria and Hungary . Even the flag is similar to the Russian flag.[6]

The two countries have similar words for their country/national language.

National/national language in Slovenian is Slovenija/sloven šč ina. (Slovenia / Slovenščina )

In Slovak , national/national language is Slo ven sko/slovenčina. ( Slovensko / Slovenchina )

Slovenia in Slovak is Slo vin sko ( Slovin sko )[7]

Of course, if you look for something in common, there are many differences. Since the Slovakians are Saslav and the Slovenians are the Namlav tribes , there is a difference between the culture and language between the two countries. Slovaki, for example, is more similar to Polish than Slovenian. Slovakia in Central Europe is diplomatically friendly with the Czech Republic and Poland, and Slovenia, which is located south, is a friendly relationship with Croatia.

If you type Slovakia/Slovenia on YouTube, you can see related videos.[8]

For this reason, the EU country codes show traces of consideration to avoid confusion as much as possible. It is the same from Slovakia (Slovensko) and Slovenia (Slovenija) to Sloven , and if the national name of Sweden is expressed in its native language, it is Sverige, so if one of the three countries uses SV, it is very confusing. Therefore, Slovenia was assigned a country code of SI, Slovakia was SK, and Sweden was SE within the range where the spellings did not overlap as much as possible . By the way, SV became El Salvador .

The flag of Slovakia is white blue red It is a form of adding the national emblem to the tricolor flag and is designated as the national flag according to the Slovak Constitution enacted in 1992 . The ratio of the width and height is 3:2, the center of the emblem is at the exact center of the vertical line that is 3/10 of the width of the flag from the left, the height and width of the emblem are 4/15 and 1/6 of the width of the flag, and the width of the white space between the emblem and the background is 1/100 of the width of the flag.

If you look closely at the Slovakian flag, it looks like a coat of arms is engraved on a part slightly to the left of the center of the Russian flag. It is said that this flag was first used by Slovaks who sided with the Habsburg family during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, when the Kingdom of Hungary staged an independence uprising against the Austrian Empire . The white-blue-red color was influenced by Pan-Slavism , and the flag used at that time did not have a national emblem, so it was similar to the current Russian flag.[9] After the failure of the 1848 revolution, it was no longer used again, but in the early 20th century, when Slovakia became independent from the Czech Republic as Czechoslovakia, it was used again as a flag unofficially symbolizing Slovakia.

Ironically, the Slovakian flag, which was used unofficially, was first made official by the puppet state of Nazi Germany. It was the time of the First Slovak Republic . After World War II and the fall of communism, it was no longer used again, but was used again as the flag of the Slovak Republic, a constituent country of Czechoslovakia, when the Eastern European revolution in 1989 democratized it and adopted a federal system . In 1992, a national emblem was added to distinguish it from the Russian flag, and in 1993, it was adopted as the national flag of Slovakia with its independence.

When the flag is raised vertically, it is a rule that the head of state also stands upright. In other words, a flag for vertical hoisting is separately produced. Also, when placing it on a wall, place white on the left and red on the right.

The director of Slovakia is a white cross and a blue mountain peak on the red shield. This cross is a symbol of Loren Cross, a symbol of Slovakia, a Christian state and a symbol of St. Cyrillos and Brothers of St. Matodios , the Eastern Roman Empire, which preached Christianity to Slavin . In addition, Loren Bansa was a crucifixion of King Beler III of the Hungarian-Croatian kingdom at the end of the 12th century , and later became a symbol of Hungary. It was adopted because it was accepted as a symbol of the 19th -century Slovakians.[10] For reference, Hungary's director is a bit similar, but the difference is that the color of the three peaks is green and the director is similar for historical reasons.

Like the national flag, the national emblem has been used unofficially since the 19th century, but was first made official during the puppet state of Nazi Germany. It was the time of the First Slovak Republic . After World War II, during the communist regime, the Lorraine Cross was removed and the flame-shaped national emblem was used. With the 1989 revolution in Eastern Europe , which democratized and adopted a federal system , the Lorraine Cross was revived as the national emblem of the Slovak Republic, a constituent country of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic, but its design was slightly different from that of the Nazi era.

The current title of Slovakia's national anthem is "Nad Tatrou sa blýska" ( Even if Lightning Strikes Over the Tatra Mountains ). During the Czechoslovak era, Czech and Slovak songs were used together, but after the separation, the songs that were part of the national anthem became the Czech national anthem and the Slovak national anthem, respectively. See that document for details .

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Immediately after Czechoslovakia gained independence, until 1923, it used the administrative districts determined by the Kingdom of Hungary . For administrative districts up to this time, please refer to the Hungary/Administrative Districts document. Afterwards, administrative districts began to be reorganized in 1923, and the 21 provinces established in Slovakia during the Kingdom of Hungary were consolidated and reduced to 6. In 1928, the highest administrative districts across Czechoslovakia were reorganized into 4 provinces, and the provinces were abolished and the entire current Slovakia was organized into Slovakia provinces.

After World War II, Czechoslovakia's administrative district system was completely reorganized in 1949, and like the Czech Republic , it was established as a state (Kraj).[14] and the district (Okres) system was introduced. At the time, the province consisted of six provinces: Bratislava, Banská Bystrica, Kosice, Nitra, Prešov, and Žilina, but was reorganized into three provinces: Central Slovakia, East Slovakia, and Western Slovakia during the simplification of administrative districts in 1960. Bratislava was treated as a city of Western Slovakia until 1968, but then separated and became independent Bratislava Province in 1971.

After the Velvet Revolution in 1990, both the existing system of states and districts lost their effectiveness, and even after Slovakia became an independent country in 1993, there was no fixed administrative district system for three years. In July 1996, the state system was revived again, subdivided into eight provinces rather than the previous three. In 2002, the state governments were given a certain level of autonomy, and the official name of each state was Samosprávny kraj (autonomous province).

All autonomous provinces are named after their capital cities, and unlike the Czech Republic,[15] The capital, Bratislava, is also an administrative district belonging to Bratislava Province . Unlike the Czech Republic or Austria, the charter city system is not being introduced.

Slovakia was treated as part of the Kingdom of Hungary for a long time, and the Kingdom of Hungary, like the Czech Republic ( Kingdom of Bohemia ), was part of the Habsburg Empire for quite a long time, so German and Hungarian place names remain in the names of each region. However, due to strong antipathy towards Germany and Hungary, which took over their territory through the Munich Agreement, few Slovaks use foreign place names after World War II . If you are interested in Central European history, it would be a good idea to learn it.

It is a parliamentary country. The Cabinet Responsibility System, which exerts the authority on all administration and is responsible for the National Assembly, or the president is elected as a direct election, and the appointment of the prime minister and major personnel, the signature of the law, or the exercise of the veto.

The President (head of state) is elected by direct election with an absolute majority vote (5-year term, renewable). If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes, a runoff election will be held between the top two candidates, and the candidate with the most votes will be elected. Presidential candidates are recommended by 15 members of the National Assembly or 15,000 citizens within 21 days of the election announcement. The main powers of the President include representing the country externally, concluding and ratifying treaties with foreign countries, dispatching and receiving diplomatic envoys, opening the National Assembly, dissolving the National Assembly (if certain requirements are met), signing or vetoing laws (a vetoed bill can be re-passed by a simple majority of the National Assembly), appointing the Prime Minister and other key government officials, pardoning, commanding the Armed Forces, declaring war in accordance with a decision of the National Assembly, conducting a national referendum, and appointing Constitutional Court Justices.

The major political parties include Direction-Social-Democrats (SMER-SD), Progressive Slovakia (PS), Voice-Social-Democrats (HLAS), People's Party (SNS), and Christian Democrats (KDH).

In November 2013, Marian KOTLEBA , a candidate for Neonazi , who shouted the eradication of Jews and Gypsy, was elected to win the vans in the vanska bischri governor. #Fortily , in 2016 On March 5 , Robert Picho , the current prime minister and left party, the party-directional Democratic Party's party, won the general election and won the election. It was in power until March 4 . Thus, they are restricting their activities by punishing Neonazi -related characters and preventing them from being involved in politics. However, it was not able to escape the European far -right craze, such as small parties such as the Shin Nazi Party. #

In February 2018, a stir was caused when journalist Jan Kuciak, who had been covering allegations of collusion between politics and business in the government of Robert Pizzo, was found dead along with his girlfriend. As a result, Culture Minister Marek Majaric resigned, and large-scale rallies led by the opposition party and students were announced. #

On February 16, 2019, the function of the Constitutional Court was paralyzed amidst a conflict between the ruling party representative and the president. #

The presidential election is scheduled to be held on March 16, 2019, and expectations are rising as the first female president due to the high approval ratings of progressive runners and candidate Chaputova . Candidate #Chaputova took first place with 40% of the vote in her first round of voting, and won a landslide victory in the second round with 58.4% of the vote. #

Controversy arose on 5 April 2019 when the Slovak parliament passed a law banning the singing of foreign national anthems, except when accompanied by official envoys. In fact, the bill was aimed at the Hungarians , the largest ethnic minority, but President Kiska vetoed the bill. # #

In relation to the journalist murder case, Slovakian prosecutors recently indicted four suspects in 2019. # The Slovakian government proposed a bill that doubled the banking special tax and extended the tax period indefinitely, but the financial sector opposed it. # And the deputy speaker of Slovakia's National Assembly resigned amid allegations that he had links to a businessman accused of abetting the murder of a journalist. # Here, even the judge resigns. #

In the general election held on February 29, 2020, the center-right conservative party ' Ordinary People and Independent Personalities ' won and the government was replaced. #

An accomplice in the murder of a reporter was sentenced to 23 years in prison. # A businessman suspected of murdering a journalist has been acquitted and is in a controversial state. # Supreme Court sentenced reporter murderer to 25 years in prison. #

In the early general election on September 30, 2023, the center-left, pro-Russian ‘ Social Democracy (SMER-SD) ’ won. Afterwards, an agreement was reached to form a coalition government with Voice-Social Democracy and the Slovak People's Party, and former Prime Minister Robert Pitso returned to the position of Prime Minister.

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Hostel , a movie known for its cruelty, is set in this country.[17] When this movie was released in the United States and became a box office hit, the number of tourists coming to Slovakia decreased and Slovakians disliked it. However, when viewed globally, Slovakia's security is very good. However, we should not think of security as in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, or Hong Kong. The Slovak Mafia is a criminal organization that engages in various criminal activities.

Regarding religion , Catholics account for 60%. This is a Slovak identity that is clearly distinct from the Czech Republic , a neighboring country that ranks second to France in terms of atheist population in Europe , but as a result, it is a much more conservative country than the Czech Republic. The Orthodox Church is about 1%. Although the Latin Church is the mainstream, the Slovak Greek Catholic Church , which belongs to the Eastern Catholic Church , is also active in the eastern part of the country, where Ukrainians and Rusyn people live. Of the 12 Catholic dioceses in Slovakia, 9 are Latin Rite dioceses established by the Vatican , and the Slovak Greek Catholic Church has 3 dioceses throughout Slovakia that celebrate the Byzantine Rite (Eastern Catholic).[18]

It's not well known, but this country is also a country that produces beer . There are domestic beer brands such as Saris, Steiger, and Zlaty Bajand, but Slovak beers are not so famous, perhaps because Czech beers such as Pilsner Urquell and Kozel from the Czech Republic, which was once tied to Czechoslovakia, are so famous. side is not

The number of Roma (Gypsies) in Slovakia is statistically estimated to be about 100,000 (2% of the total population), but the actual number is estimated to be about 500,000, second only to Hungarians (450,000, 8.5%) in Slovakia. It is the second largest minority. In most cases, Romans neglect their children without schooling, and due to poor health conditions due to unsanitary lifestyles, many of them are unable to integrate into society and become isolated. In response, the Slovak government established a plan to introduce elementary school preparation classes and assistant teachers to increase the educational accessibility of Gypsy children. Since 1999, health support programs have been provided to Roma settlements, and local governments have also provided support through the EU Social Fund, but this is not sufficient. The unemployment rate of Roma varies by region, but averages between 15% and 40%, accounting for most of Slovakia's long-term unemployment rate. In 2013, Prime Minister Pisso sparked controversy when he said, "If it had not been for the problem of unemployment among Roma, the domestic unemployment rate would have been only 9 percent."[19]

The overall quality of life is almost the same as Korea.

Describes social and welfare systems.

pension system

After the separation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the early 1990s , the Slovak education system suffered from a lack of budget, but after joining the EU, educational infrastructure was built with support from EU social funds and structural funds, and the goal was to build a knowledge-based society and an information society. Efforts are being made to improve the ‘quality of education’

With the exception of a few private schools, most schools in Slovakia are public and compulsory education for 10 years from 6 to 16 years old.

Primary education (ages 6 - 15)

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Foreign direct investment in Slovakia is very active thanks to the government's active foreign investment attraction policy. Recognizing the limitations of the economic structure concentrated in the manufacturing sector, the Slovak government is striving to foster a knowledge-based economy with high added value, such as diversification of the industrial structure and service tourism.

In short, it is an export-driven economy. Due to the economic development policy through foreign manufacturing investment, it is highly dependent on overseas markets with a typical export-led trade structure of importing raw and subsidiary materials and exporting finished products. Trade bias in Europe is very severe, with exports to the EU accounting for 85% of total exports and imports from the EU accounting for 67% of total imports (as of 2017). Due to the characteristics of being a small open economy and highly dependent on the EU, there is always a risk of being hit by factors such as the intensification of protectionism and fluctuations in the value of the euro.

It has emerged as a major automobile producer. Slovakia's automobile industry is the most important industry, accounting for 44% of Slovakia's total industrial production and 40% of its total industrial exports, employing around 129,000 people (5% of total employment).

The electronics industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in Slovakia since 2000, and ranks second only to the automotive industry in terms of employment and exports. The electronics industry employs 68,000 people (2.7% of the total industrial workforce) and accounts for about 32.9% of total Slovak exports. The three major investors in the electronics industry are Samsung Electronics , Foxconn , and Universal Media Corporation. Sony and Panasonic from Japan are also present, and the country is attracting attention as a production base for LCE TVs in Europe.

Slovakia's domestic political and economic stability provides a safe investment environment. Due to its geographical location in the center of Europe and its location as a bridge connecting Eastern and Western Europe, it is advantageous to develop the European market as a whole. It provides a stable legal and institutional environment, unrestricted access to the EU market and free movement of labor. Low operating costs due to various market liberalization efforts (anti-monopoly, introduction of competition system, etc.) such as telecommunications and financial services. Reduced currency exchange risks as a eurozone country[24] .

It also has relatively low wages and high labor productivity. It has the highest labor productivity and highest university enrollment rate among Central and Eastern European countries. 19.7% of the total population are university graduates, 66% have completed secondary education or higher (Slovak Statistical Office) / The majority speak at least one foreign language, and 98.8% of the total students are learning English (Eurostat)

On January 1, 2009, the euro was introduced before the neighboring Czech Republic . The Czech Republic also tried to introduce the euro on January 1, 2009, just like Slovakia, but was unable to introduce it because then-President Václav Klaus, a former economist, was negative about introducing the euro .

Slovakia's financial sector is considered stable. According to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) report on Slovakia in September 2014, Slovakia's banking system was still evaluated as sound, thanks to its high liquidity and capital ratio. The Slovak Central Bank also announced in its financial stability report in November 2017 that, as of the first half of 2017, the total capital ratio and CET1 capital ratio of Slovak banks were 18.6% and 16.1%, respectively. No bank reported a capital ratio below 10.5%. The soundness of Slovakia's banking sector, which are mostly subsidiaries of foreign banks, has traditionally been attributed to a retail banking-oriented business model with sound capital and liquidity and stable domestic deposit-oriented capital raising. The International Monetary Fund recommended that policy authorities need to pay attention to the continued increase in household loans and high levels of mortgage loans in a healthy banking sector. Meanwhile, Slovakia's national credit rating is the highest among neighboring countries.[25]

In particular , it is famous for having the world's lowest gap between the rich and the poor . As of 2016, the Gini coefficient was 0.252, which puts the income gap in the top 10 in the world and the wealth gap.[26] It is also the lowest level in the world at 0.498.

Slovakia is completely dependent on imports for fossil and nuclear fuel. Accordingly, diversification of energy transport routes, especially natural gas and crude oil, is an important issue in securing stable energy sources. In particular, the natural gas supply cutoff in 2009 had a serious negative impact on the Slovak economy and made the country aware of the importance of energy security again. In preparation for emergencies, 95 days' worth of average daily imports of crude oil and petroleum products are stored.[27]

Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Slovakia , and the country is also a powerhouse with its own league called the T-Force Extraliga . It has been a strong team since its days in Czechoslovakia and is a member of the 'Big Seven', the world ice hockey team. However, after independence, it seems to be slightly behind the Czech Republic, which has the experience of winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Representative players include Peter Styastny , Marian Jossa , Zdeno Hara , Pavol Demitra , and Yurai Slavkowski .

Soccer is considered to be the most popular sport in Slovakia. There are about 2,400 soccer clubs across the country, and grassroots soccer is well established, with soccer matches against villages taking place every week. For details, refer to Slovakia national soccer team .

Tennis is the most popular singles sport. It has produced top tennis players such as Dominika Cibulková, who finished second at the 2014 Australian Open , as well as Daniela Hantuchová and Dominik Hrbatý.

National hero cyclist Peter Sagan was awarded the title of 2015/2016/2017 Road World Championship as he is currently the world's best sprinter, has excellent race management, and has all-round ability that complies with all terrain. Peter's older brother Yurai Sagan also plays on the World Team and is recognized as the best cyclist in Slovakia.

However, in 2011, the country was the host country for the Winter Depic Games, but due to the arrest investigation of the organizing committee members and international lawsuits, it was the only DePympics event to be canceled, leaving behind a dark history.[28]

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