About Slovakia

    Slovakia (long form: Slovak Republic; Slovak: Slovensko, long form Slovenská republika) is a landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 square kilometres (almost 19,000 square miles). The Slovak Republic borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava. Slovakia is a member state of the European Union, NATO, OECD, WTO, and other international organizations.

    The Slavic people arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia between the 5th and 6th century AD during the Migration Period (Migration of Nations). Various parts of Slovakia belonged to Samo's Empire, the first known political unit of Slavs, Great Moravia, the Kingdom of Hungary, Habsburg (Austrian) monarchy, Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia throughout history. Slovakia became independent on 1 January 1993, after the Velvet Divorce.

     Slovakia features interesting natural landscapes, mountains, deep caves, medieval castles and towns, folk architecture, spas and ski resorts.

    Slovakia has pursued a difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up.

     Solid domestic demand boosted economic growth to 4.1% in 2002. Strong export growth, in turn, pushed economic growth to a still-strong 4.2% in 2003 and 5.4% in 2004, despite a downturn in household consumption. Multiple reasons entailed a GDP growth of 6% in 2005, the 4th highest rate in the EU (after the three Baltic states). GDP growth is expected to reach 8.2% in 2006 (the year-to-year growth amounted to unexpected 9.8% in the 3th quarter of 2006 and stayed high at 9.5% year-to-year change in the 4th quarter of 2006), and 8.0% in 2007. The 9.8% growth came as a surprise to local analysts (6 % was expected), given that the big foreign investor Kia was only going to launch its production in late 2006. In 2006, Slovakia reached the highest economic growth among the members of OECD.

About Zilina

     Žilina (German: Sillein, Hungarian: Zsolna, Polish: Żylina, Latin: Solna) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around 200 km from the capital Bratislava. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia, an important industrial centre, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a kraj (Žilina Region) and of an okres (Žilina District).

     Žilina is located at the confluence of Váh, Kysuca and Rajčanka rivers, in the Žilina basin. It is surrounded by these mountain ranges: Malá Fatra, Strážov Mountains (Strážovské vrchy), Súľovské vrchy, Javorníky and Kysucká vrchovina. There are two hydroelectric dams on the Váh river around Žilina: the Žilina dam on the Eastand the Hričov dam on the West.

     Žilina is the main business and industrial hub of the Váh river basin. The biggest employer is the car producer Kia Motors. By 2007, the plant plans to produce 300,000 cars per year and employ around 3000 people. Kia's investment in Žilina amounts to over 1 billion USD. Another big employer is Tento, a paper mill company. Žilina is also seat to some major Slovak companies, particularly from construction sector.

     The city is an important international road and rail junction. Railroads and roads connect the city with Bratislava and Prievidza in the south, Čadca in the north, and Martin in the east. It is possible to reach various interesting locations in western and central Slovakia by bus from the Žilina bus station (Slovak: autobusová stanica). Such places include Bojnice, Orava, Strečno, and the Malá Fatra mountains. Žilina is also served by international Žilina Airport, which is some 10 km away from the city centre.

Public transport vehicles are buses and trolleybuses.

City parts: Bánová, Brodno, Budatín, Bytčica, Celulózka, Mojšova Lúčka, Považský Chlmec, Strážov, Trnové, Vranie, Zádubnie, Zástranie, Závodie, Žilina and Žilinská Lehota.

Apartment blocks city parts: Hájik, Hliny I-VIII, Solinky, Vlčince I-IV.

Other parts: Bôrik, Frambor, Hruštiny, Kálov, Malá Praha, Nová Žilina, Nový Chlmec, Rosinky, Rudiny, Šašvárka, Šibenice, Veľký diel, Závažie.