le(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 9.48 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.46 years
male: 69.71 years
female: 77.4 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.2 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Slovak(s)
adjective: Slovak

Ethnic groups: Slovak 85.7%, Hungarian 10.7%, Gypsy 1.5% (the
1992 census figures underreport the Gypsy/Romany community, which is
about 500,000), Czech 1%, Ruthenian 0.3%, Ukrainian 0.3%, German
0.1%, Polish 0.1%, other 0.3%

Religions: Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%,
Orthodox 4.1%, other 17.5%

Languages: Slovak (official), Hungarian

Literacy: NA

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia
local long form: Slovenska Republika
local short form: Slovensko

Data code: LO

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Bratislava

Administrative divisions: 8 departments (kraje, singular--kraj);
Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky,
Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky

Independence: 1 January 1993 (from Czechoslovakia)

National holiday: Slovak Constitution Day, 1 September (1992);
Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising, 29 August (1944)

Constitution: ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1
January 1993

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 (vacant); note--President NOVAC retired at
the end of his term; the government has announced its intention to
hold direct presidential election in early 1999; in the meantime the
prime minister takes over the president's duties
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 National Council secret ballot that
must yield a three-fifths majority for a five-year term; election
last held NA March 1998 but no candidate was able to win a
three-fifths majority required by law (next to be held NA 1999);
following National