Throughout its history, Slovakia has been overshadowed and sometimes dominated by a succession of foreign powers, including most recently, the Czech Republic. The separation of Czechoslovakia into its constituent parts – the Czech and Slovak Republics – on 1 January 1993 was one of the rare occasions in history that two nations have accomplished this peacefully. It also marked the emergence of an independent and sovereign Slovak nation for the first time.
A brief relatively peaceful period during the 9th century was followed by the first of a series of incursions by marauding, nomadic Magyar tribes, who settled in the region and created an embryonic Hungarian state. A major military defeat in 1526 at the Battle of Mohacs at the hands of the Ottoman Turks signalled the end of this prosperous and peaceful period.
Allying itself with the Austrian Hapsburg monarchy, Slovakia resisted the Ottoman occupation and remained under the effective control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the late 18th century. The first nationalist movements – which have since become a recurring feature of Slovak history – started to emerge during this time. One of the most potent of these was led by Ludovit Stur and Andrej Hlinka (whose name was adopted by the Slovak World War II fascist movement, the Hlinka Guard).
With the end of World War I and the Austro-Hungarian Empire came the birth of Czechoslovakia, founded by Tomas Masaryk, the country's first President, aided by Milan Rastislav Štefánik, and an age of prosperity that lasted until 1938 and the advent of Nazism.
A dark period followed, in which the country was effectively under German control. In 1948, the Slovaks voted for a democratic government which was aborted when Slovakia was grouped together with its Czech neighbours after the Yalta agreement between the world's superpowers.
Democratic reforms in November 1989 led to the appointment of Václav Havel as President while the country set about introducing a pluralistic political system and a market economy. While appreciating the new opportunities offered by the post-Soviet order, the Slovaks were worried – mainly for economic reasons – about the crash liberalisation programme planned by Havel and his finance minister, Václav Klaus.
After two years of negotiations (following the first democratic elections of June 1990) between the two republican governments, the population voted for the 'sovereignty association' platform proposed by the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) led by Vladimr Mečiar. The HZDS was by now the dominant force in Slovak politics: in the second national election, held in June 1992 specifically over the issue of separation, the HZDS polled 37 per cent nationally and gained the lion's share in the Slovak region. On 1 January, 1993, the two nations parted amicably.
In 2002 Mikulas Dzurinda became Prime Minister at the head of a centre-right coalition. Under Dzurinda, Slovakia made up for lost time, embarking on an economic reform programme and accelerating membership negotiations with the EU. By 2004, along with nine other countries, including most of its immediate neighbours, Slovakia joined the EU.
Currrent President Gasparovic’s non-confrontational approach to many important issues have made him a popular choice.
The majority of the population is Roman Catholic. Protestant churches comprise the remainder with Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist and Baptist denominations. There is also a Jewish minority and, in the east of the country, a Greek Orthodox minority.
Social conventions:Shaking hands is the customary form of greeting. Punctuality is appreciated on social occasions.
The official language is Slovak. Hungarian, Ruthenian, Ukrainian and German are spoken by ethnic minorities.
