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Slovak Republic
Slovenska Republika
GOVERNMENT
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia local short form: Slovensko local long form: Slovenska Republika |
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Government type:
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parliamentary democracy |
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Capital:
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Bratislava |
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Administrative divisions:
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8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky |
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Independence:
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1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) |
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National holiday:
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Constitution Day, 1 September (1992) |
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Constitution:
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ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership |
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Legal system:
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civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President Rudolf SCHUSTER (since 15 June 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 29 May 1999 (next to be held NA May/June 2004); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president note: government coalition - SDKU, SMK, KDH, ANO election results: Rudolf SCHUSTER elected president in the first direct, popular election; percent of vote - Rudolf SCHUSTER 57%; Mikulas DZURINDA reelected prime minister October 2002 |
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Legislative branch:
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unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS-LS 19.5%, SDKU 15.1%, SMER 13.5%, SMK 11.2%, KDH 8.3%, ANO 8%, KSS 6.3%; seats by party - governing coalition 78 (SDKU 28, SMK 20, KDH 15, ANO 15), opposition 72 (HZDS 36, SMER 25, KSS 11) (as of February 2003, 12 deputies had split from HZDS and formed an independent faction) elections: last held 20-21 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006) |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Pavol HRUSOVSKY]; Democratic Party or DS [Ludovit KANIK]; Direction (Smer) [Robert FICO]; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia-People's Party or HZDS-LS [Vladimir MECIAR]; New Citizens Alliance or ANO [Pavol RUSKO]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Bela BUGAR]; Real Slovak National Party or PSNS [Jan SLOTA]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Jozef SEVC]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union or SDKU [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Peter SULOVSKY]
note: PSNS and SNS were in the process of merging in April 2003 |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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Association of Employers of Slovakia; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Metal Workers Unions or KOVO and METALURG |
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International organization participation:
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Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMISET, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Martin BUTORA
FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438 telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054 chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Ronald WEISER
embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava mailing address: P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338, 5443-0861 FAX: [421] (2) 5443-0096 |
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Flag description:
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three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the Slovak cross in a shield centered on the hoist side; the cross is white centered on a background of red and blue |
ECONOMY
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Economy - overview:
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Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA government has made excellent progress in 2001-02 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up. Slovakia's economy exceeded expectations in 2001-02, despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 17.2% in 2002, remains the economy's Achilles heel. The government faces other strong challenges in 2003, especially the cutting of budget and current account deficits and the prevention of a revival of inflation. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $66 billion (2002 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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4% (2002 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $12,200 (2002 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 4.5%
industry: 34.1% services: 61.4% (2000) |
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Population below poverty line:
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NA% |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 18.2% (1992) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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26.3 (1996) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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3.3% (2002 est.) |
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Labor force:
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3 million (1999) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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industry 29.3%, agriculture 8.9%, construction 8%, transport and communication 8.2%, services 45.6% (1994) |
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Unemployment rate:
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17.2% (2002 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $5.2 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
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Industries:
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metal and metal products; food and beverages; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals and manmade fibers; machinery; paper and printing; earthenware and ceramics; transport vehicles; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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4.4% (2002 est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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30.29 billion kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 30.3%
hydro: 16% other: 0% (2001) nuclear: 53.7% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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24.41 billion kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - exports:
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5.141 billion kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - imports:
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1.381 billion kWh (2001) |
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Oil - production:
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1,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
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Oil - consumption:
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82,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
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Oil - exports:
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NA (2001) |
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Oil - imports:
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NA (2001) |
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Oil - proved reserves:
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4.5 million bbl (January 2002 est.) |
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Natural gas - proved reserves:
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7.504 billion cu m (January 2002 est.) |
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Agriculture - products:
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grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products |
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Exports:
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$12.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment 39.4%, intermediate manufactured goods 27.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 13%, chemicals 8% (1999) |
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Exports - partners:
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EU 59.9% (Germany 27.0%, Italy 8.8%, Austria 8.1%), Czech Republic 16.6% (2001) |
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Imports:
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$15.4 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
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Imports - commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment 37.7%, intermediate manufactured goods 18%, fuels 13%, chemicals 11%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) |
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Imports - partners:
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EU 49.8% (Germany 24.7%, Italy 6.4%), Czech Republic 15.1%, Russia 14.8% (2001) |
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Debt - external:
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$9.6 billion (2002 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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ODA $113 million (2000), $92 million EU structural adjustment funds (2000 est.) |
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Currency:
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Slovak koruna (SKK) |
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Currency code:
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SKK |
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Exchange rates:
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koruny per US dollar - 45.3267 (2002), 48.3548 (2001), 46.0352 (2000), 41.3628 (1999), 35.2334 (1998) |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year |