Regions of Slovakia

Regions of Slovakia Kraje Slovenska
Category	Unitary state
Location	Slovak Republic
Number	8 Regions
Populations	554,172 (Trnava) – 798,596 (Prešov)
Areas	2,052.6 km2 (792.5 sq mi) (Bratislava) – 9,454.8 km2 (3,650.5 sq mi) (Banská Bystrica)
Government	Region government, National government
Subdivisions	District

Prešov Košice Žilina Banská Bystrica Trenčín Nitra Trnava Bratislava

Since 1949 (except 1990–1996), Slovakia has been divided into a number of kraje (singular kraj; usually translated as "Regions" with capital R). Their number, borders and functions have been changed several times. There are currently eight regions of Slovakia and they correspond to the EU's NUTS 3 level of local administrative units. Each kraj consists of okresy (counties or districts). There are currently 79 Districts.

List

After a period without kraje and without any equivalent (1990–1996), the kraje were reintroduced in 1996. As for administrative division, Slovakia has been subdivided into 8 kraje since 24 July 1996:

Flag	Arms	Region	Capital	Pop.	Area (km²)	Density	NUTS level 3
		Bratislava	Bratislava	603,699	2,052.6	294.11	SK010
		Trnava	Trnava	554,172	4,172.2	132.76	SK021
		Trenčín	Trenčín	600,386	4,501.9	133.36	SK022
		Nitra	Nitra	708,498	6,343.4	111.69	SK023
		Žilina	Žilina	694,763	6,808.4	102.04	SK031
		Banská Bystrica	Banská Bystrica	657,119	9,454.8	69.50	SK032
		Prešov	Prešov	798,596	8,974.5	88.98	SK041
		Košice	Košice	771,947	6,751.9	114.33	SK042

Since 2002, Slovakia is divided into 8 samosprávne kraje (self-governing regions), which are called by the Constitution vyššie územné celky (Higher Territorial Units), abbr. VÚC. The territory and borders of the self-governing regions are identical with the territory and borders of the kraje. Therefore, the word "kraj" can be replaced by "VÚC" or "samosprávny kraj" in each case in the above list. The main difference is that organs of samosprávne kraje are self-governance, with an elected chairperson and assembly, while the organs of kraje are appointed by the government.

Name

The term "Region" (Slovak: kraj) should not be confused with:

• the general (i.e. non-administrative) term "region" (Slovak: región) as it is used for example in the articles List of traditional regions of Slovakia or List of tourism regions of Slovakia
• the 4 "regions" (Slovak: regióny or oblasti or zoskupenia krajov) that correspond to the NUTS 2 level, i.e. groups of several kraje, used by the Eurostat for statistical purposes. These are:
  • Bratislavský kraj SK 01 (Bratislava Region) – comprises only this single kraj
  • Západné Slovensko SK 02 (Western Slovakia) = Trnavský kraj + Trenčiansky kraj + Nitriansky kraj
  • Stredné Slovensko SK 03 (Central Slovakia) = Žilinský kraj + Banskobystrický kraj
  • Východné Slovensko SK 04 (Eastern Slovakia) = Prešovský kraj + Košický kraj

History

Prior to 1949

Historically, Slovakia was not divided into kraje, but into counties (Slovak: župy or stolice). This was the case when present-day Slovakia was part of:

• Great Moravia (cca. 9th century)
• the Kingdom of Hungary (cca. 11th / 12th century – 1918)
• Czechoslovakia (the župy existed 1918 – 1928)
• the WWII Slovak Republic (the župy existed 1940 – 1945)

In 1928–1939 (and formally also 1945–1948) Slovakia as a whole formed the administrative unit "Slovak land" (Krajina slovenská) within Czechoslovakia.

Kraje 24 December 1948/1 January 1949 – 30 June 1960

• Bratislavský kraj (Bratislava Region)
• Banskobystrický kraj (Banská Bystrica Region)
• Košický kraj (Košice Region)
• Nitriansky kraj (Nitra Region)
• Prešovský kraj (Prešov Region)
• Žilinský kraj (Žilina Region)

Each kraj was named after its principal city.

Kraje July 1, 1960 – December 19, 1990

• Stredoslovenský kraj (Central Slovak Region)
• Východoslovenský kraj (Eastern Slovak Region)
• Západoslovenský kraj (Western Slovak Region)
• Bratislava (before March 22, 1968 part of the Západoslovenský kraj, afterwards a partly separate entity; from January 1971 a separate kraj)

Note: The kraje were abolished from July 1, 1969 to December 28, 1970 and reintroduced then.

See also

• List of traditional regions of Slovakia
• List of tourism regions of Slovakia
• Districts of Slovakia
• Counties of Slovakia
• Flags of Slovak Regions
• ISO 3166-2:SK

External links

• EU-maps (the kraje correspond to the NUTS 3 level with EUROSTAT)
• Former names of all Slovakia´s towns and villages prior IWW (prior 1918)
• Nature and lanscsape of Eastern Slovakia in photo