Geography of Slovakia
Slovakia is a landlocked Central European country with mountainous regions in the north and flat terrain in the south.
Area
Slovakia lies between 49°36'48" and 47°44'21" northern latitude and 16°50'56" and 22°33'53" eastern longitude.
The northernmost point lies near the Beskydok mountain in the Beskides, near the Oravská Polhora municipality on the border with Poland. The southernmost point lies near the Patince municipality on the Danube, bordering Hungary. The westernmost point lies on the Morava River near Záhorská Ves at the Austrian border and the easternmost point is located near the summit of the Kremenec mountain near the village of Nová Sedlica, at the tri-point area Slovakia-Ukraine-Poland.
Slovakia borders Poland in the north (547 km), Ukraine in the east (98 km), Hungary in the south (669 km), Austria in the west (106 km) and the Czech Republic in the north-west (252 km), making up a total length of Template:Unit length.[1]
The surface area is 48.845 km². Out of these 31% is arable, 17% is pasture land, 41% forested and 3% plantations. The remaining 8% are desolated land, water areas or human structures and infrastructure.[2]
The highest point of the country is Gerlachovský štít in the High Tatras at 2655 m, the lowest point is the surface of the Bodrog river at the Hungarian border at 94 m.
Physical geography
Geomorphological division
Slovakia is formed by 2 main regions: the Carpathian Mountains and the Pannonian Basin
Approximately two thirds of the country belong to the Carpathians and for most of the part to the Western Carpathians.
The Inner Western Carpathians begin in the south-west with the Little Carpathians and continue with other mountain ranges of the Fatra-Tatra Area, including Lesser and Greater Fatra, Tatras and Low Tatras. South of this area lie the Slovenské stredohorie (Slovak Medium Mountains) and Slovak Ore Mountains. The Lučenec-Košice Depression more into the south separates them from the Matra-Slanec Area, which lies predominantly in the Hungarian territory.
The Outer Western Carpathians begin with the Slovak-Moravian Carpathians in the west, while Beskids are located along the Polish border and are divided in Slovakia into Western, Central and Eastern Beskids. Between the Central and Eastern Beskids in the north and Fatra-Tatra Area south lies the Podhale-Magura Area, which is formed by small mountain ranges and relatively high basins. Slovakia also has part of the Eastern Carpathians in the north-east. The Low Beskids and Bukovské vrchy belong to the Outer, while the Vihorlat Mountains into the Inner Eastern Carpathians.
Around one third of the country is part of the Pannonian Basin, which in Slovakia is divided into three parts. The lowlands around Morava River are part of the Vienna Basin, while the Danubian Lowland in the south belongs to the Little Hungarian Plain. In the south-east there is the Eastern Slovak Lowland, which belongs to the Great Hungarian Plain.
Climate
Slovakia is located in the temperate zone within the continental climate, with warm, relatively dry summers and cold, humid winters. The average daily temperature ranges from 0°C (32°F) in January to 21°C (70°F) in summer. The annual average temperature varies from 6°C (43°F) in northern Slovakia to 11°C (52°F) in the south.[3] Precipitation varies from 500 mm in the lowlands to 2000 mm in the mountains.[4]
For monthly temperature averages, see [14]
Protected areas
Many attractive ecologically valuable regions are placed under some sort of protection. In 2003 around 23% of the country was protected under one of these: 9 national parks (12%), 14 protected landscape areas (10.5%), 181 protected sites, 383 nature reserves, 219 national nature reserves, 230 nature monuments and 60 nature monuments.[5]
Rivers and lakes
Most of the country belongs to the drainage basin of the Danube (Black Sea). Only parts around the Poprad River and Dunajec in the north-west belong to the drainage basin of the Vistula, which flows into the Baltic Sea. The boundary between the drainage basins is part of the European drainage divide.
The Danube is also the biggest river in the country, with the average flow near Bratislava being 2,025m³/s,[6] and making up a long section of the border with Hungary. The former main arm and now the side arm of the Danube Little Danube leaves the river in Bratislava and flows back again in Komárno, creating one of the biggest river islands in Europe called Žitný ostrov between them, with an area of app. 1,900 km². Major tributaries are Váh, with 413 km the longest Slovak river, Hron and Ipeľ. In the extreme south-west Tisza forms around 5 km border with Hungary, with major tributaries from Slovakia being Bodrog and Hornád (which flows into Sajó first).
As for lakes, the greatest natural lake is the Veľké Hincovo pleso with 0.2 km². Biggest reservoirs and dams are the Orava reservoir (Orava River ,35 km²), Zemplínska šírava (canal of Laborec, 33 km²) Liptovská Mara (Váh, 22 km²) and Veľká Domáša (Ondava, 14 km²).
Resources
Slovakia has only limited natural resources. They include copper, lead, zinc, salt, manganese ore, lignite and iron.[7][8] In the past, gold, silver and other precious ore were mined in the mining towns.
Human geography
Economic geography
The gross domestic product was at 1,66 trillion SKK (short scale) in 2006, equal to around 50 billion Euro or 71 billion U.S. dollars,[9] what is around 8,800 Euro or 13,000 USD per capita. It is divided into the sectors as follows:[8]
- Agriculture 3.6%
- Industry (raw materials, production, energy, water) 31.6%
- Services 64.8%
The western regions are more developed than the eastern ones. The highest GDP per capita was 573,976 SKK in the Bratislava Region, what was more than double of national average (251,814 SKK), while in the Prešov Region in the north-east it was only 152,786 SKK (60% of national average) (data as of 2004).[10]
Agriculture
Cultivated fields occupy around 29 percent of Slovakia. Principal crops are wheat, barley, maize, sugar beets and potatoes. Viticulture is widespread in the southern areas, mainly in the Little Carpathians, Danubian Lowland and Tokaj areas. Breeding of livestock, including pigs, cattle, sheep is also practised.[11]
Industry
Slovakia was partly industrialized in the 19th century, but became an industrialized country in the second half of the 20th century. The Communist government emphasized heavy and arms industry. After Velvet Revolution and independence from Czechoslovakia in 1993 it somewhat declined; today, main sectors are manufacturing, electrotechnical, chemical, petrol, steel, textile and food processing industries. In recent years the car-making industry is on the rise, with car plants built in Bratislava, Trnava and Žilina. Besides the aforementioned, other important industrial towns are Trenčín, Prešov and Košice.
Energy
Much of the energy supply, particularly oil and gas, is imported. In 2004, the most important source of energy was from nuclear power plants (55.7%), located in Jaslovské Bohunice and Mochovce. Another source of energy was from hydroelectric plants (13,9%), with the main one being the Gabčíkovo Dam on the Danube and other on the Váh, Slaná, Orava and Hornád rivers; other sources were coal (10,9%), natural gas (7,9%) and oil (2,4%).[12] In 2005 Slovakia consumed 24.93 billion kWh of electricity.[8]
Transport
Road transport
The road network in Slovakia is composed of 42,696 km of roads (except highways and expressways), of which 3,341 km were first-class roads, 3,734 km second-class roads, 10,401 km third-class roads and 25,220 km local roads (2000).[13] As of December 2007, there were 368 km of highways and 135 km of expressways.
Rail transport
The railway network includes as of 2006 3,662 km of railways, of which 3,512 km were in standard gauge (1435 mm), 100 km in broad gauge (1520 mm) and 50 km in narrow gauge (1000 or 750 mm).[8] There are significant links from Bratislava to the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary and the most important line in the country is from Bratislava to Košice via Žilina.
Water transport
The main Slovak waterway is the Danube, with 172 km. Other navigable rivers are lower parts of Váh, and few kilometres of Bodrog. Main ports are located in Bratislava and Komárno.
Social geography
Around 5,391,000 people lived in Slovakia at the end of 2006. According to the 2001 census, 85.8% of the people were Slovaks, 9.7% Hungarian, 1.7% Roma, 0.8% Czechs, 0.4% Rusyns, 0.2% Ukrainians and others.[14]
As for the migration, in 2006 approximately 5,600 people immigrated into Slovakia, while 1,700 emigrated from Slovakia. There were 53,904 live births (fertility rate 1.24) and 53,301 deaths (9.9 deaths per 1000 inhabitants) (2006).[15]
The average population density in Slovakia was 110/km². There are noticeable, but not extreme differences between regions. The most populated are Bratislava with surroundings, Danubian Lowland and the lower and middle Váh valley. Another agglomeration is located near the cities of Košice and Prešov. The least populated are the mountain regions in central Slovakia and the north-east of the country; in some districts the density is lower than 50-70/km².
References
- Part or whole of the information is based on the corresponding article on the German Wikipedia
- ^ Slovak Wikipedia: [1]
- ^ bedekr.cz: [2]
- ^ bratislava.de (German): [3]
- ^ MSN (German): [4]
- ^ Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic: [5]
- ^ Slovak Wikipedia: [6]
- ^ MSN Encarta
- ^ a b c d CIA World Factbook
- ^ Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic: [7]
- ^ Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic: [8]
- ^ MSN Encarta: [9]
- ^ (German): [10]
- ^ Slovak Roads Administration: [11]
- ^ [12]
- ^ Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic: [13]
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