• Officially the Slovak Republic
• Landlocked in Central Europe, bordered by Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic
• Area: 49,000 km²; Population: over 5.4 million
• Capital: Bratislava; Second-largest city: Košice

• Slavs arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries
• Incorporated into the Avar Khaganate; established Principality of Nitra in the 9th century
• Became part of the Kingdom of Hungary by the end of the 9th century
• Suffered destruction during 1241-1242 Mongol invasion but recovered under King Béla IV
• Regions controlled by the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th centuries; ceded to Habsburgs in the 18th century
• Slovak Uprising in 1848 aimed to assert national identity

• Czechoslovakia proclaimed in 1918 post World War I
• The first Slovak Republic founded in 1939 under Nazi control
• Reestablished Czechoslovakia in 1945; became communist in 1948
• Velvet Revolution in 1989 ended communist rule; Slovakia became independent on January 1, 1993

• Developed high-income economy with market structure and social security
• Member of EU, NATO, and other international organizations
• Known for automotive manufacturing, being the largest per-capita car producer in the world

List of newspapers published in Slovakia.