Slovakia

LOCATED IN CENTRAL Europe, formerly the eastern part of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia has a land area of 18,932 sq. mi. (49,035 sq. km.), with a population of 5,390,000 (2006 est.) and a population density of 287 people per sq. mi. (Ill people per sq. km.). A strongly agricultural country, some 31 percent of Slovakia's land is used for arable purposes, with an additional 17 percent used for meadows and pasture.

In terms of its per capita carbon dioxide emissions, Slovakia ranks 56th in the world, with 8.1 metric tons of emissions per person in 1992, falling to 7 [Page 901]metric tons in 2003. Slovakia sources 35.3 percent of its electricity production from fossil fuels, with 47.6 percent nuclear power and 17.1 percent from hydro power. Because of the heavy use of coal, solid fuels account for 45 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in the country, with 34 percent from gaseous fuels, 17 percent from liquid fuels (reflecting the fact that transportation accounts for 12 percent of emissions), and the remaining 4 percent from cement manufacturing. The high amount of fossil fuels used in electricity also shows itself in the emissions by sector, with 32 percent of emissions from electricity and heat production and 43 percent from manufacturing and construction. The fossil fuels also account for the nation's relatively high sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions.

The Slovakian government took part in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed in Rio de Janeiro in May 1992, and ratified the Vienna Convention in 1993. The government signed the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on February 26, 1999, ratified it on May 341, 2002, and entered into force on February 16, 2005.