Slovakia

THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC was formed from the “velvet divorce” of 1993, when Czechoslovakia split into the Republic of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As part of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia had been pulled into the Soviet orbit after World War II. The relationship between the Slovaks and the Czechs has not always been smooth, although they are related culturally. In 1969, the Slovaks achieved a measure of independence from the Czechs by becoming the Slovak Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Slovaks renewed efforts to become completely independent and succeeded in 1993. In 2004, the Slovak Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.

Slovakia is an upper-middle-income nation with an annual per capita income of $14,500. Within the diversified economy, 55.9 percent of the labor force are employed in services. Over 29 percent are engaged in industry, and 5.8 percent are involved with the agricultural sector. Slovakia's natural resources include brown coal and lignite, as well as small deposits of iron ore, copper, and manganese ore. The economic transition from a state to a market economy is in the final stages in Slovakia. Foreign investors own most banks, and liberalized business laws and a 19 percent flat business tax have encouraged foreign investment in other areas. In 2003, unemployment hovered around 15 percent, but by 2005, it had been reduced to 13.1 percent.

Slovakia has a well-developed social net to meet the needs of those who do not earn sufficient income to provide a basic standard of living, and food security is guaranteed. Around seven percent of the population earn 50 percent less than the median income. Eight percent of Slovaks live on less than $4 a day. Those who are most likely to be poor in Slovakia include women and dependent children, large families, those with low levels of education, rural residents, and the unemployed. Antipoverty measures include financial assistance, housing assistance, counseling, social services, home nursing, transport services, and communal meal services. Inequality is not widespread in Slovakia, but the poorest 20 percent of the population live on 8.8 percent of resources while the richest 20 percent share 34.8 percent. Slovak is ranked 25.8 percent on the Gini Index of Human Inequality.

In 2005, life expectancy in the Slovak Republic was estimated at 75.5 years. With a projected life span of 78.68 years, women outlive men by an average of eight years. Slovakia's population of 5,431,363 experiences a median age of 35.43 years. Around 17 percent of the population are under the age of 14, and nearly 12 percent have reached the age of 65. All Slovaks have access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. There are 326 physicians for every 100,000 residents, and healthcare is widely accessible. From 95 to 100 percent of the population has access to essential drugs.

Between 1970 and 2005, infant mortality declined from 25 deaths per 1,000 live births to 7.41 deaths per 1,000 live births. The mortality for all children under the age of 5 dropped from 29 in 1970 to eight deaths per 1,000 in 2003. Seven percent of all infants are underweight at birth. Among children from birth to 23 months old, 98 to 99 percent have received all the necessary immunizations.

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