Regions of Slovakia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Slovakia

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Slovakia
Other countries · Atlas
 Politics Portal
view • talk • edit

Since 1949 (except 1990-1996) , Slovakia has been divided into a number of kraje (singular kraj; usually translated as "Regions" with capital R, other translations include "counties"). Their number, borders and functions have been changed several times. There are currently eight regions of Slovakia and they correspond to the EU's NUTS 3 level of local administrative units. Each kraj consists of okresy (districts). There are currently 79 districts of Slovakia.

Contents

[edit] Name

The term "Region" (Slovak: kraj) should not be confused with:

[edit] Before 1949

Historically, Slovakia was not divided into kraje, but into counties (Slovak: župy or stolice) . This was the case when present-day Slovakia was part of:

In 1928-1939 (and formally also 1945-1948) Slovakia as a whole formed the administrative unit "Slovak land" (Krajina slovenská) within Czechoslovakia.

[edit] Kraje December 24, 1948/ January 1 1949 – June 30, 1960

  • Bratislavský kraj (Bratislava Region)
  • Banskobystrický kraj (Banská Bystrica Region)
  • Košický kraj (Košice Region)
  • Nitriansky kraj (Nitra Region)
  • Prešovský kraj (Prešov Region)
  • Žilinský kraj (Žilina Region)

Each kraj was named after its principal city.

[edit] Kraje July 1, 1960 – December 19, 1990

  • Stredoslovenský kraj (Central Slovak Region)
  • Východoslovenský kraj (Eastern Slovak Region)
  • Západoslovenský kraj (Western Slovak Region)
  • Bratislava (before March 22 1968 part of the Západoslovenský kraj, afterwards a partly separate entity; from January 1971 a separate kraj)

Note: The kraje were abolished from July 1, 1969 to December 28, 1970 and reintroduced then.

[edit] Kraje since July 24, 1996

After a period without kraje and without any equivalent (1990-1996), the kraje were reintroduced in 1996. As for administrative division, Slovakia has been subdivided into 8 kraje since:

  1. Bratislavský kraj (Bratislava Region) (capital Bratislava)
  2. Trnavský kraj (Trnava Region) (capital Trnava)
  3. Trenčiansky kraj (Trenčín Region) (capital Trenčín)
  4. Nitriansky kraj (Nitra Region) (capital Nitra)
  5. Žilinský kraj (Žilina Region) (capital Žilina)
  6. Banskobystrický kraj (Banská Bystrica Region) (capital Banská Bystrica)
  7. Prešovský kraj (Prešov Region) (capital Prešov)
  8. Košický kraj (Košice Region) (capital Košice)
Nr. Region Pop. Area (km²) Density
1 Bratislava 603,699 2,052.6 294.11
2 Trnava 554,172 4,172.2 132.76
3 Trenčín 600,386 4,501.9 133.36
4 Nitra 708,498 6,343.4 111.69
5 Žilina 694,763 6,808.4 102.04
6 Banská Bystrica 657,119 9,454.8 69.50
7 Prešov 798,596 8,974.5 88.98
8 Košice 771,947 6,751.9 114.33

Since 2002, Slovakia is divided into 8 samosprávne kraje (Autonomous Regions), which are called by the Constitution vyššie územné celky (Higher Territorial Units), abbr. VÚC. The territory and borders of the autonomous regions are identical with the territory and borders of the kraje. Therefore, the word "kraj" can be replaced by "VÚC" or "samosprávny kraj" in each case in the above list. The main difference is that organs of samosprávne kraje are autonomous, with an elected chairperson and assembly, while the organs of kraje are appointed by the government.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries
1 Has part of its territory outside Europe. 2 Entirely in West Asia, but considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons. 3 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border.
Table of administrative country subdivisions by country