Slovakia won formal endorsement on Thursday from European Union (EU) leaders to join the euro zone in 2009, ready to become the 16th member to use the single currency.
The following is a brief introduction to Slovakia.
Located in the heart of central Europe, Slovakia is a landlocked country which is bounded by Poland to the north, Hungary to the south, Ukraine to the east as well as Czech and Austria to the west.
It has an area of 49,035 square kilometers. The mid and the north of the country is mountainous, and the south and east are typical lowlands, providing a fertile farming region producing wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beet, fruit, tobacco and grapes.
The most important Slovak river the Danube connects the capital Bratislava with two capital cities of the neighbor countries -- Vienna and Budapest.
Slovakia has a population of more than five million. Ethnically, the population is 86 percent Slovak, while Hungarians are the largest minority.
Slovakia became an independent state in January 1993 after Czechoslovakia split into its two constituent parts. It was then established as a parliamentary democratic republic with a multi-party system.
The Slovak head of state is the president, elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term but having limited powers. The country has a single-chamber parliament whose 150 members are elected for four-year terms. Most executive power lies with the head of government, the prime minister, who is usually the leader of the winning party in the parliament.
Thanks to the past decade of reforms, Slovakia is characterized by the sustained high economic growth. In 2006, Slovakia reached the highest growth of gross domestic product (GDP), which was 8.9 percent, among the members of OECD.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country's GDP in nominal term was 55 billion U.S. dollars in 2007.
Its currency is called the Slovak koruna and its official language is Slovak.
Source:Xinhua
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