Why is slovakia called country in the heart of europe

But the murder of an investigative journalist highlighted the increasing exposure of reporters to intimidation and abuse, says Reporters Without Borders. Some key dates in the history of Slovakia:.

The "velvet divorce" results in two independent countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. BBC Languages- Slovakia. BBC Slovak archive. Slovak government. President's office. Slovak Tourist Board. Slovak Republic Capital: Bratislava. Image source, zuzanacaputova.

Therefore, many trips within the country can easily be made by car or by bus. Slovakia also has a good rail network. Similar to many other European countries, it is unusual in Slovakia to ask for a separate bill in a restaurant. Usually one pays alternately for all, or the bill is divided after the payment in the restaurant among all present ones.

As almost everywhere in Slovakia, German punctuality is not expected. Delays of up to 20 minutes are considered normal and are not unusual. Slovakia is mainly dominated by a continental climate.

This is accompanied by large differences between summer and winter. While the winter months are rather cold and harsh, especially in the mountain regions, the summer months are rather warm and dry.

The annual rainfall fluctuates extremely between the high mountains and the low plains of the country. In plateaus such as the Tatras, up to mm of precipitation falls, while in the lowlands only mm of precipitation falls annually.

Among the trees, beech and oak trees and, in higher regions, pine trees are the most common ones in Slovakia. However, large parts of the country are threatened by the worldwide dying of forests due to human activity and climate change.

Due to this threat, about a fifth of Slovakia's total land area has been declared a protected area. As a result, the forests slowly recover and rare animals seek and find shelter in them again. In the remote mountain regions, wolves, lynxes and even brown bears are present. They mostly hunt the big deer populations and chamois as well as boars and marmots. The European bison, which is highly threatened by extinction, is also found again in the lower plains of Slovakia.

The bird life is also quite rich along the rivers. Ospreys, herons and white storks can be found there; they feed on the fish and other animals living in the rivers. Slovakia has about 5. But also some immigrant Germans and Russians can be found in this multicultural country. The official language of Slovakia is Slovak. Besides Polish and Czech, this language can be assigned to the West Slavic languages.

However, you can also communicate well with English and sometimes even with German. Most Slovaks work in the tertiary sector, i. The heart is one of the vital organs in the human body. It has always been a Slovak tradition to welcome guests warmly, and offer them bread with salt and homemade spirits. Many people might not know this, but Slovakia is a country of cars. If we look at it per capita, Slovakia is the biggest manufacturer of cars, as for every one thousand citizens, Slovakia make of them.

And a beautiful car deserves a beautiful woman, right? Beauty is obviously in the eye of the beholder but no conversation about the most beautiful women in the world can do without mentioning the charming Slovak women. Apart from the beautiful nature, High Tatras, Slovak traditions, folklore, and food Slovakia has many other jewels worth mentioning. For example more than 6, caves, 1, mineral springs, or castles and palaces — the highest number per capita, even though most of them have declined into ruins.