Country Name
Slovakia, or officially the Slovak Republic.
Location
Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest.
Capital
Bratislava.
Reason for Naming
The first written mention of the name Slovakia is in 1586. It derives from the Czech word Slováky.
The native name Slovensko derives from an older name of Slovaks, Sloven, which may indicate its origin before the 15th century, the original meaning was geographic, not political, since Slovakia was a part of the multiethnic Kingdom of Hungary and did not form a separate administrative unit in this period.
Flag
The first use of the flag was in 1848. The current Flag of Slovakia was adopted on 3 September 1992.
The flag consists of three horizontal stripes with white, blue, and red colors.
The colors used on the flag are the Pan-Slavic colors seen on the national flags of other Slavic countries.
These colors were based on the flag of Russia, which was inspired by the flag of the Netherlands. These colors are also used in the Slovak coat of arms that is featured in the flag’s design.
To differentiate this flag from the flag of the Russian Federation, the national coat of arms was added to the hoist side.
The coat of arms features a Medieval-style shield with a double-cross sitting on a three-peaked mountain.
The white color represents honesty, the blue color represents honesty and morality, and the red represents courage and generosity.
The cross design symbolizes Christianity, while the mountain is a symbol of the mountain ranges of Fatra, Matra, and Tatra.
Flag Facts:
- The flags of Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the flag of Serbia are almost identical to one another, these flags comprise three horizontal stripes of red, blue, and white, but the difference is in the coat of arms also Russian flag didn't contain any symbols while the color of Serbian flag is upside down.
- The flags of Slovenia & Slovakia most closely resemble the Russian flag, which differs mainly in being longer than the Russian flag and incorporating their respective country's coat of arms into the flag design.
Language
The official language is Slovak which is spoken by more than 80% of the population and is given priority over other languages in Slovakia, a member of the Slavic language family. Hungarian is widely spoken in the southern regions, and Rusyn is used in some parts of the Northeast.
In Slovakia, a minority language may earn a co-official status if it attains a legal threshold of 15% of the speakers in a particular municipality as Hungarian, Rusyn*, Polish, Ukrainian, and Roma.
The best-known foreign language in Slovakia is Czech other foreign languages spoken in Slovakia are Russian, German, and English.
*Rusyn, also known in English as Ruthene, is an East Slavic language spoken by the Rusyns of Eastern Europe.
Religion
Christianity is the religion of the majority in Slovakia. 62% of the population of the nation practice Roman Catholicism, and adherents of Protestant Christianity and the Greek Catholic Church comprise 8.2% and 3.8% of Slovakia’s population, respectively.
12.5% of the population are affiliated with other religions or did not specify their religion. 13.4% of Slovakia’s residents claim not to adhere to any faith.
Today, some other branches of Christianity including Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Scientologists, The Brethren Church, and others also have a small following in the country.
Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith are some of the minority religious communities residing in Slovakia.
Currency
Euro (€) (EUR).
Time Zone
+02:00 GMT. (Summer Time)
+01:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary parliamentary republic.
Climate
In Slovakia, the climate is moderately continental in the plains, while it becomes colder with increasing altitude in mountainous areas. Spring starts on 21 March and is characterized by colder weather with an average daily temperature of 9 °C (48 °F) and about 14 °C (57 °F) in May and 17 °C (63 °F) in June, the weather in the spring are very unstable.
Summer starts on 22 June and is usually marked by hot weather with daily temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F). July is the warmest month with temperatures up to about 37 to 40 °C (99 to 104 °F).
Autumn is mostly characterized by wet weather and wind, the average temperature in September is around 14 °C (57 °F), in November to 3 °C (37 °F). Late September and early October are dry and sunny times of the year (so-called Indian summer).
Winter starts on 21 December with temperatures around −5 to −10 °C (23 to 14 °F). In December and January, it is usually snowing, these are the coldest months of the year. At lower altitudes, snow does not stay the whole winter, it changes into thaw and frost. Winters are colder in the mountains, where the snow usually lasts until March or April and the night temperatures fall to −20 °C (−4 °F) and are colder.
The best time to visit Slovakia runs from mid-May to mid-September.
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