Landlocked country in central Europe,
bounded N by Poland, E by the Ukraine , S
by Hungary, W by Austria, and NW by the
Czech Republic.
• government
The 1992 constitution provides for a
single-chamber, 150-member national
assembly, the National Council of the
Slovak Republic, elected by universal
suffrage for a four-year term. The president,
who is head of state, is elected by the
National Council for a maximum of two
consecutive five-year terms and appoints
the prime minister, who in turn appoints a
cabinet or council of ministers. The
president may be removed from office if the
assembly passes a no-confidence
resolution with a 60% majority. The country
is divided for administrative purposes into
four regions, which are subdivided into
municipalities.
• history
Slovakia was under Hapsburg rule 906-18,
when it gained independence and chose to
unite with the Czech lands as the
sovereign state of Czechoslovakia. Prior to
World War II there was a growth in Slovak
nationalism, partly in reaction to the Nazi
threat, but this was less marked after the
communists took power 1948. In Nov 1989
there were prodemocracy demonstrations
in Prague and the Slovak capital,
Bratislava. The Communist Party was
disbanded, a new `coalition government´
formed with Václav Havel as president, and
political parties legalized, including the
Slovak-based People against Violence
(PAV). This smooth and largely peaceful
transition to democracy was later termed
the `velvet revolution´.
Landlocked country in central Europe,
bounded N by Poland, E by the Ukraine , S
by Hungary, W by Austria, and NW by the
Czech Republic.
