Capital: Bratislava
The Slovak head of state is the President, elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term. Executive power lies with the head of government, the prime minister, who is usually the leader of the major party or a majority coalition in parliament and appointed by the president. Slovakia's highest legislative body is the 150-seat National Council of the Slovak Republic (Národná rada Slovenskej republiky). Delegates are elected for 4-year terms on the basis of proportional representation. Slovakia highest judicial body is the Constitutional Court (Ústavný súd).
President : Ivan Gašparovič (became President on 15 June 2004).
Prime Minister: Róbert Fico (Mr. Fico has been Prime Minister since 4 July 2006 for SMER - Social Democracy)
Government: Since 2006 SMER - Social Democracy is in coalition with the Slovak National Party and People´s Party - Movement for Democratic Slovakia.
Independence: 1 January 1993 (Division of Czechoslovakia)
Slovak entry to EU on 1 May 2004 and NATO on 29 March 2004
Slovakia is member of: EU, NATO, OSN, UNESCO, OECD, OBSE, CERN, WHO, INTERPOL, etc.
Regions of Slovakia:
As for administrative division, Slovakia is subdivided into 8 regions (kraje), each of which is named after their principal city. As for territorial division and the definition of self-governing entities, since 2002, Slovakia is divided into 8 Upper-Tier Territorial Units (sg. vyšší územný celok, pl. vyššie územné celky, abbr. VÚC) called Samosprávny kraj (Self-governing or: Autonomous Region).
Population: 5,379,455 (2003)
Area total: 48,845 km², land: 48,800 km², water: 45 km²
Land boundaries: total: 1,355 km
Border countries: Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 515 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 90 km
Climate: temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Bodrog River 94 m
highest point: Gerlach 2,655 m (High Tatras)
Currency: Slovak koruna (SKK)
Official language: Slovak
Demographics of Slovakia:
The majority of the inhabitants of Slovakia are ethnically Slovak (86 percent). Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority (10 percent) and are concentrated in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Other ethnic groups include Roma, Czechs, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Germans and Poles.
The Slovak constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The majority of Slovak citizens (68.9 percent) practice Roman Catholicism, the second-largest group consider themselves atheists (13.7 percent). About 6.9 percent are Protestants and 4.1 percent are Greek Catholic and some 0.9 percent are Eastern Orthodox.