Introduction to Slovak landscape and governmental structure

Landscape

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The Slovakian surface is very irregular, characterised by lowlands, valleys, hills, highlands and mountain chains. The Slovak topography is dominated by the Carpathian Mountains. The highest point is at the summit of Gerlachovský štít in the High Tatras, at 2,655m, while the lowest point is the surface of the Bodrog River on the Hungarian border, at 94m. A great part of the territory is covered by protected landscape areas. From a landscape structure point of view, 41% of the surface is covered by forests, 31% is arable land, 17% is pastures, 3% is cultivated land and the remaining 8% is mostly covered with human structures and infrastructure, and partly with rocky mountain ridges and others. The Slovak territory is crossed by the main European watershed. From Austria to Slovakia flows the largest Central European river, the Danube, connecting Slovakia with the Black Sea. The largest reserves of groundwater in Slovakia are located in Danube river sediments in the area of Žitný ostrov (Rye Island). The longest Slovak river is the Vah, at 390km.

Governmental structure and competences

There is a so-called parallel model in Slovakia, in which the state administration is a completely separate, independent component of the public administration. For administrative purposes, Slovakia is divided into eight regions (see the key facts box at the beginning of the chapter), which are legal entities. The regions have self-administration (original) competences, but they also perform duties transferred from the state administration. The original competences of the regions are: roads of class II and III, area planning, regional development, their own investment ventures, secondary schools, hospitals, social facilities, cultural facilities, participation in civil defence, and so on. The competences of the regions include the issuing of generally binding regulations. The local level of self-government is represented by the 2,931 municipalities, which are the most important bodies of self-government in Slovakia. The most important tasks performed by local municipalities are: local roads, public transport, environment, water supply, sewerage and communal waste, local development, housing, pre-school and school facilities, social and health-care facilities, and participation in regional plans. The municipality is self-governing and fully autonomous within its own territory (PLUREL, 2010).