Slovakia

a) krajina a obyvatelia

Slovakia is a small country which is situated in Central Europe. It has borders with the Czech
Republic, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. The area of the Slovak republic is about 49, 000
square kilometres and its population is more than 5 million people. Slovakia has been an independent
country since 1993 and it is a member of many international organisations including United Nations,
EU and NATO. From 1918 to 1992 the country was a part of Czechoslovakia and before the First
World War the territory of Slovakia had belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

The capital city is Bratislava which is also the biggest city in Slovakia. The national flag consists of
three horizontal stripes – white, blue and red – and the national emblem which depicts three blue hills
and a white double-cross in red background. The Slovak Republic is a democratic country and the
most important political institutions are the Parliament (The National Council of the Slovak Republic),
the government and the President. The President as well as the members of the parliament are elected
by the citizens of the country.

The majority of population is of Slovak nationality and more than 8 percent of the population are
Hungarians who are the most numerous national minority. Hungarians live mainly in the south of the
country, near the borders with Hungary.

There are mountain ranges as well as lowlands in Slovakia – the most well-known mountain ranges
are Tatra Mountains, Carpathian Mountains, Greater and Lesser Fatra and the largest lowlands are
Danubian Lowland and Eastern Slovak Lowland.

b) miesta, ktoré by som odporučil cudzincom

Slovakia has a lot of attractive places worth visiting. Tourists can visit its beautiful mountains,
national parks, the capital city, historical mining towns, caves, spa resorts, many castles and castle
ruins, historical monuments, churches, galleries, museums and traditional villages in the countryside.

Many tourists visit the High Tatras which are famous for its natural beauties such as caves (e.g.
Dobšinská Ice Cave), mountain lakes and tarns (e.g. Štrbské and Skalnatépleso), picturesque valleys
and waterfalls. In summer, holidaymakers can go hiking and enjoy breathtaking views from the
highest peaks of The High Tatras and in winter they can visit modern ski resorts where they can
practise winter sports such as skiing or snowboarding.

Some places worth visiting in our country have been included in the UNESCO World Cultural
Heritage List, for example Spiš Castle, a historical mining town Banská Štiavnica or a small town
Bardejov which is situated in the eastern part of the country and which is famous for its traditional
architecture and spa resort.

Needless to say, the capital city Bratislava offers its visitors many opportunities to see not only
historical monuments such as the Saint Martin´s Cathedral, which used to be a coronation church of
Hungarian Queens and Kings; Bratislava Castle and castle ruin Devín but also many cultural
institutions such as Slovak National Gallery and Slovak National Theatre. However, there are many
places in the capital city which are not so well-known but which are definitely worth visiting – we can
mention for example The Blue Church near the building of Comenius University, the Good Shepherd
´s House with the museum of historical clocks or the monument Slavín which commemorates soldiers
who died during the Second World War.

c) zvyky, tradície, konvencie

Many Slovak people, especially in villages, are proud of Slovak folk traditions. People in Slovakia
have many customs related to the celebration of Christmas and Easter. For example, the traditional
Slovak Christmas dinner consists of fried carp, potato salad, sauerkraut soup and on Easter Monday
we have a tradition which is quite difficult to explain to foreigners because Slovak boys and men visit
their female relatives or friends and whip them with braided birch twigs and willow whips decorated
with ribbons, pour water on them or spray them with perfume. Traditionally, it was seen as a custom
which should help the girls keep healthy and beautiful for the rest of the year.

During the tourist season, visitors to Slovakia can buy a lot of special souvenirs related to folk art – for
example traditional Slovak ceramics, embroidered tablecloths or an especially decorated folk hatchet
called “valaška”.

d) stereotypy a predsudky

When it comes to national or cultural stereotypes, we can say that Slovak people have the reputation of
being friendly, humble and hospitable. Some negative stereotypes – often attributed to Slovak people
also by themselves, not by foreigners – include the ideas that a typical Slovak person drinks too much
alcohol or that in spite of their hospitality Slovak people are quite envious, not very proud of their own
traditions, they tend to underestimate themselves and are always ready to adopt foreign trends which
they automatically see as much better than our own national traditions.

Recently, especially since 1990s many young people have moved from Slovakia and they settled down
abroad where they either studied or came to look for better job opportunities, higher salaries and
higher standard of living in general. As a result, experts often speak about the dangers related to “brain
drain” – a social and economic phenomenon when qualified and educated people leave their homeland
which might have negative economic consequences on the labour market in our country where we can
suffer from the lack of qualified labour in the near future.

e) miesto Slovenska v zjednotenej Európe

Slovakia has been a member country of the European Union since 1 May 2004. Our membership in
the EU has its supporters as well as opponents. As the main advantages of being a part of the EU are
often mentioned economic stability, the guarantee of human rights and political democracy, easier
access of foreign investors to our country, financial resources from European funds to increase the
quality of infrastructure, education and culture as well as the common currency euro which was
adopted by our country in 2009. Needless to say, when we are a member of the European Union it is
easier for our citizens to travel, study and work abroad. On the other hand, it is often pointed out that
we have become dependent on countless European regulations and norms which are not always easily
implemented by Slovak producers and companies. Many Slovak producers or farmers find it very
difficult to succeed in fierce economic competition with foreign companies. In addition, the prices
have risen much faster than our salaries since the adoption of euro. In spite of all the pros, there are
still many problems and challenges that Slovakia has to face today and which haven´t been solved so
far – for instance high levels of corruption, declining quality of education and health care, the
economic imbalance between the capital city and regions with high levels of unemployment in Central
and Eastern Slovakia or low salaries of people working in health care, education or the public sector in
comparison with the average salaries of their colleagues in European countries.