1993 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1993 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Area
total area: 48,845 km2 land area: 48,800 km2 comparative area: about twice the size of New Hampshire
Climate
temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Coastline
0 km (landlocked)
Environment
severe damage to forests from "acid rain" caused by coal-fired power stations
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
Irrigated land
NA km2
Land boundaries
total 1,355 km, Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 515 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 90 km
Land use
arable land: NA% permanent crops: NA% meadows and pastures: NA% forest and woodland: NA% other: NA%
Location
Eastern Europe, between Hungary and Poland
Map references
Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
none; landlocked
Natural resources
brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; gas
Note
landlocked
Terrain
rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south
People and Society
Birth rate
14.59 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate
9.47 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
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
Infant mortality rate
10.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Labor force
2.484 million by occupation: industry 33.2%, agriculture 12.2%, construction 10.3%, communication and other 44.3% (1990)
Languages
Slovak (official), Hungarian
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 72.39 years male: 68.18 years female: 76.85 years (1993 est.)
Literacy
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%
Nationality
noun: Slovak(s) adjective: Slovak
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Population
5,375,501 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate
0.51% (1993 est.)
Religions
Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%, Orthodox 4.1%, other 17.5%
Total fertility rate
1.99 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Government
Administrative divisions
4 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) Bratislava, Zapadoslovensky, Stredoslovensky, Vychodoslovensky
Capital
Bratislava
Charge d'Affaires Dr. Milan ERBAN chancery
3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 363-6315 or 6316
Chief of State
President Michal KOVAC (since 8 February 1993)
Constitution
ratified 3 September 1992; fully effective 1 January 1993
Digraph
LO
Diplomatic representation in US
chief of mission:
Executive branch
president, prime minister, Cabinet
Flag
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with a crest with a white double cross on three blue mountains
Head of Government
Prime Minister Vladimir MECIAR (since NA), Deputy Prime Minister Roman KOVAC (since NA)
Independence
1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
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
Legislative branch
unicameral National Council (Narodni Rada)
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
Names
conventional long form: Slovak Republic conventional short form: Slovakia local long form: Slovenska Republika local short form: Slovensko
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
National holiday
Slovak National Uprising, August 29 (1944)
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
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
President
last held 8 February 1993 (next to be held NA 1998); results - Michal KOVAC elected by the National Council
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Type
parliamentary democracy
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
Economy
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
Budget
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Currency
1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru
Economic aid
the former Czechoslovakia was a donor - $4.2 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89)
Electricity
6,800,000 kW capacity; 24,000 million kWh produced, 4,550 kWh per capita (1992)
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)
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
External debt
$1.9 billion hard currency indebtedness (December 1992)
Fiscal year
calendar year
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)
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
Industrial production
growth rate NA%
Industries
brown coal mining, chemicals, metal-working, consumer appliances, fertilizer, plastics, armaments
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
8.7% (1992 est.)
National product
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $32.1 billion (1992 est.)
National product per capita
$6,100 (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate
-7% (1992 est.)
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.
Unemployment rate
11.3% (1992 est.)
Communications
Airports
total: 34 usable: 34 with permanent-surface runways: 9 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 5
Highways
17,650 km total (1990)
Inland waterways
NA km
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
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
Railroads
3,669 km total (1990)
Telecommunications
NA
Military and Security
Branches
Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Railroad Units
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
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.)