Slovak (official), Hungarian

Literacy: definition: NA

total population: NA%

male: NA%

female: NA%

Slovakia Government

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: Bratislava

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, fully effective 1 January
1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the
president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO
and EU membership

Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; 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 Rudolf SCHUSTER (since
15 June 1999)

head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30
October 1998)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation
of the prime minister

elections: president elected by direct popular vote for a five-year
term; election last held 29 May 1999 (next to be held NA May/June
2004); following National Council elections, the leader of the
majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually
appointed prime minister by the president

election results: Rudolf SCHUSTER elected president in the first
direct, popular election; percent of vote - Rudolf SCHUSTER 57%

note: government coalition - SDK, SDL, SMK, SOP, KDH

Legislative branch: unicameral National Council of the Slovak
Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members
are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve
four-year terms)

elections: last held 25-26 September 1998 (next to be held NA
September 2002)

election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS 27%, SDK 26.3%,
SDL 14.7%, SMK 9.1%, SNS 9.1%, SOP 8%; seats by party - governing
coalition 93 (SDK 42, SDL 23, SMK 15, SOP 13), opposition 57 (HZDS
43