Country name:
conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia
local long form: Slovenska Republika
local short form: Slovensko

Government type:
parliamentary democracy

Capital:
name: Bratislava
geographic coordinates: 48 09 N, 17 07 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:
8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky

Independence:
1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

National holiday:
Constitution Day, 1 September (1992)

Constitution:
ratified 1 September 1992, effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998; amended February 2001
note: the change in September 1998 allowed direct election of the president; the amendment of February 2001 allowed Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership

Legal system:
civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ivan GASPAROVIC (since 15 June 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Iveta RADICOVA (since 8 July 2010); Deputy Prime Ministers Jan FIGEL, Ivan MIKLOS, Jozef MIHAL, Rudolf CHMEL (since 9 July 2010)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister (For more information visit the  )
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 21 March and 4 April 2009 (next to be held no later than April 2014); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president
election results: Ivan GASPAROVIC reelected president in runoff; percent of vote - Ivan GASPAROVIC 55.5%, Iveta RADICOVA 44.5%

Legislative branch:
unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 12 June 2010 (next to be held in June 2014)
election results: percent of vote by party - Smer 34.8%, SDKU-DS 15%, SaS 12.1%, KDH 8.5%, Most-Hid 8.1%, SNS 5.1%, other 16.2%; seats by party - Smer 62, SDKU-DS 28, SaS 22, KDH 15, Most-Hid 14, SNS 9

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council); Special Court (judges elected by a council of judges and appointed by president)

Political parties and leaders:
parties in the Parliament:: Bridge or Most-Hid [Bela BUGAR]; Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Jan FIGEL]; Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SD [Robert FICO]; Freedom and Solidarity or SaS [Richard SULIK]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party or SDKU-DS [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Jan SLOTA]
selected parties outside the Parliament:: Alliance for a Europe of Nations or AZEN [Milan URBANI]; Association of Slovak Workers or ZRS [Jan LUPTAK]; Civic Conservative Party or OKS [Peter ZAJAC]; Green Party or SZ [Peter PILINSKY]; Party of the Democratic Left or SDL [Marek BLAHA]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Jozsef BERENYI]; People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or LS-HZDS [Vladimir MECIAR]; People's Party - Our Slovakia or LSNS [Marian KOTLEBA]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Jozef HRDLICKA]; Union - Party for Slovakia or Unia [Milan CELIK]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia or ZPS; Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic; National Union of Employers or RUZ; Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry or SOPK; Slovenska Pospolitost; The Business Alliance of Slovakia or PAS

International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Peter BURIAN
chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054
FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Theodore SEDGWICK
embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava
mailing address: P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava
telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338
FAX: [421] (2) 5441-8861

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red derive from the Pan-Slav colors; the Slovakian coat of arms (consisting of a red shield bordered in white and bearing a white Cross of Lorraine surmounting three blue hills) is centered over the bands but offset slightly to the hoist side
note: the Pan-Slav colors were inspired by the 19th-century flag of Russia

National anthem:
name: "Nad Tatrou sa blyska" (Storm Over the Tatras)
lyrics/music: Janko MATUSKA/traditional
note: adopted 1993, in use since 1844; the anthem"s music is based on the Slovak folk song "Kopala studienku"